Gendered Priorities? Policy Communication in the U.S. Senate

Abstract

Women running for Congress make different choices than men about how to connect with constituents on social media, but few studies investigate how these variable strategies shape in-office messaging, particularly those of U.S. senators. This article extends research on gendered congressional communication by looking at how women in the Senate build reputations on Twitter, specifically assessing whether they set themselves apart with the policy agendas they promote online. Senators take advantage of Twitter’s low-cost and user-driven messaging to cultivate a reputation with their legislative expertise, and this research shows that women are curating a more comprehensive and broad agenda than gender stereotypes would otherwise suggest. Senators’ legislative communication on Twitter shows that women on both sides of the aisle are expanding their policy agenda to reach beyond “female issues.” Women are often stereotyped as less policy-oriented and only capable in gender-specific policy areas, but women in the Senate are actively communicating about contested policy issues and articulating diverse agendas. By adopting a comprehensive policy agenda for their public image, women in the Senate are both meeting and defying expectations about the policy topics they are willing and ready to act on.