Gender Cleavages and the Resolution of Local Policy Issues

Abstract

This paper presents the results of a decisional analysis of 30 recent policy issues in Lawrence, Kansas, a setting having several characteristics conducive to the effective participation of women. On 20 of these issues, cleavages or differences were observed involving men and women activists and policymakers; such cleavages were much less prevalent among citizens at large. Gender cleavages involving policymakers and activists were found to overlap only partially with other types of cleavages. Particularly on issues with stronger cleavages, the views of men tended to prevail over those of women. This greater responsiveness to the preferences of men than to the preferences of women was not adequately explained by the greater participation of men, for regression models suggest that policy changes are more sensitive to increases in men's participation than to increases in women's participation. Explanations of such gender bias are briefly explored. Do political communities adopt public policies that reflect equally the preferences of women and men political actors, or, alternatively, do communities exhibit gender bias: an unequal pattern of policy responsiveness such that the preferences of men are more reflected in policy decisions than are those of women? The importance of this question is strongly implied by democratic theorists who assert that unequal influence in political communities should be the result of germane factors such as intensity of concern (Kendall and Carey, 1968), political participation (Cohen, 1971, pp. 17-22), or persuasiveness (Walzer, 1983, p. 304) and should not be the result of extraneous factors such as personal