The Policy Priorities of African American Women in State Legislatures

Abstract

Much of the research on African American legislative behavior has focused on men in office, while the literature on female legislators has looked primarily at white women. Far less is known of the growing number of African American female politicians. As the findings of this paper reveal, black women are similar to nonblack women in their strong support for prowomen's policy issues, and they are like black men in their solid support for minority-targeted policies. On the other hand, they are unlike other groups in their near unanimous agreement on the policies that are most important to them and that they are most likely to pursue while in office. Unlike other race and gender groups, black women in state legislatures seem to share a strong consensus on which policy areas should receive priority. To these women, the most pressing issues are education, health care, economic development, and employment.