Ideology and Polarization Among Women State Legislators

Abstract

In early work on women in Congress, scholars consistently identified a tendency among women legislators to be more liberal roll‐call voters than male copartisans. Recent changes in Congress point to the polarization of women, where Democratic women remain more liberal than Democratic men but Republican women are no different from, or more conservative than, Republican men. We use newly available state legislative roll‐call data to determine whether women state legislators are more liberal or polarized than male copartisans. We find that while Democratic women state legislators remain consistently more liberal than male copartisans in most state chambers, Republican women legislators are growing more conservative. Thus, women state legislators are increasingly polarized in most U.S. states. Legislator replacement and increasing polarization among state legislators in office contribute to this effect. We argue that polarization among women legislators has implications for the representation of women in the states.

Anti-abortion Policymaking and Women’s Representation

“…This study also adds important evidence to the growing body of work on the changing Republican woman (Och and Shames 2018). GOP women are growing increasingly conservative, assuming new leadership roles within the party (Deckman 2016;Osborn et al 2019;Thomsen 2015), and if our results are any indication, overshadowing their more numerous male colleagues as the go-to leaders on anti-abortion policy (Osborn 2012;Swers 2002Swers , 2013. Party polarization and the removal of MRW from some legislative chambers may explain this change (Thomsen 2015).…”

“…Thus, much like their liberal Democratic sisters, CRW are representing women’s interests as they define them , and in doing so, are placing themselves—and women’s interests—at the forefront of their party’s efforts to restrict abortion and maintain power. If the numbers of CRW elected to state legislatures continue to increase and partisan politics become more polarized and competitive, we can expect these trends to become even more pronounced (Osborn et al 2019).…”

Marginalization and Mobilization: The Roots of Female Legislators’ Collaborative Advantage in the States

“…As women enter into leadership and party pressure increases, however, both forces break down women's collaborative activities, at least as they relate to cosponsorship and bipartisan cosponsorship. We believe identifying the sources of collaborative behavior is exceedingly relevant given that female legislators have become increasingly polarized along party lines (Osborn et al 2019). These findings underscore the effect that exclusionary practices can have in legislatures.…”

Democratic Party Control Reduces Gender Inequality

“…3 Female‐elected officials also tend to do more to try to expand welfare benefits, increase the emphasis on health, and more broadly to institute a more liberal policy agenda (Clayton and Zetterberg 2018; Holman 2014; Koch and Fulton 2011; Poggione 2004; Reingold and Smith 2011). Finally, studies also show that female Democratic legislators are more likely than female Republican legislators to pursue liberal gender policies and that that gap is only increasing over time (Osborn 2012; Osborn et al 2019; Swers 2013). All of this suggests that growing female representation could be behind a decline in gender inequality under Democrats.…”

“…We know that female representation is growing disproportionately on the Democratic side and that female legislators now represent a substantial share of Democratic legislators (Thomsen 2015, 2019). We also know that having women in office does matter for a range of outcomes and that, in particular, female legislators—especially those who are on the Democratic side—tend to focus more on women's issues and to work harder to push those policies to the left (Clayton and Zetterberg 2018; Dolan 1997; Gerrity et al 2007; Holman 2014; Osborn 2012; Osborn et al 2019; Reingold and Smith 2011; Swers 2002, 2013). All of this suggests that growing female representation could be behind a decline in gender inequality under Democrats.…”