Let’s Work Together: Bill Success via Women’s Cosponsorship in U.S. State Legislatures

Abstract

Not all pieces of legislation introduced for consideration are equally likely to be successful. The characteristics of legislation’s cosponsors can influence bill passage rates. Despite facing marginalization in legislative bodies and more electoral vulnerability, women are effective lawmakers. We argue that one way by which women overcome marginalization and gendered expectations of performance is bill success from legislation cosponsored with other women. Testing this expectation on bills (140,000+) introduced in U.S. state legislatures in forty states in 2015, we find increased bill success from women’s cosponsorship with each other and women from the other party. Using variation in the share of women in legislative chambers and in legislative leadership, we find evidence to suggest that women’s success emerges both from marginalization and gendered opportunities.

The Second Sex in the Second District: The Policy Effects of Electing Women to County Government

“…Even when a critical mass of women is obtained in policymaking institutions that results in regulatory policy change, research suggests that women struggle to impact funding on women’s issues (Berkman and O’Connor 1993). In addition, formal policy networks, used by women to impact policy output in state and national legislatures (Holman and Mahoney 2018; Wojcik and Mullenax 2017; Holman, Mahoney and Hurler 2021), may not be present at the local level (Boles 2001). With only ad hoc informal networks, or no networks at all, women at the local level may find it exceedingly difficult to impact a process as path-dependent as the budget.…”

“…Evidence suggests that women excel at collaborative policymaking (Bratton and Rouse 2011; Swift and Vandermolen 2021). Women policymakers are also adept at utilizing networking opportunities to help them overcome gendered institutions and other biases (Holman and Mahoney 2018; Wojcik and Mullenax 2017; Holman, Mahoney and Hurler 2021). Research shows that when women obtain substantial descriptive representation in legislatures, they succeed in impacting the legislative process (Saint-Germain 1989).…”

“…Indeed, women policymakers in county governments will use intergovernmental transfers to advance their own preferred policies, especially since other research shows that local expenditures, particularly on social welfare policy, are often the result of generous intergovernmental transfers from the state and federal government (Craw 2006; Kantor 1995). Given women’s apparent propensity to work through formal and informal networks to impact policy (Holman and Mahoney 2018; Wojcik and Mullenax 2017; Holman, Mahoney and Hurler 2021), we assert that women will do two things to positively impact budgetary outlays: (1) they will work through contacts, such as their local and state delegations to higher levels of government to secure allocations for their counties and (2) they will use transfers to increase the size of their budgets rather than displace portions of it.…”

Take (Her) to the Limit: Term Limits do Not Diminish Women's Overperformance in Legislative Office

“…While term limits degrade men's performance in office, women officeholders continue to overperform even under this institutional constraint. Our findings that women's overperformance is more likely due to their higher quality have implications for efforts to increase the representativeness of political bodies, the quality of representation in state legislatures, and the gendered consequences of institutional reforms.Women in legislative office outperform men in a wide range of activities, including bill introductions or success, constituent services, and committee work (anzia and Berry 2011;Holman, Mahoney, and Hurler 2021;Barnes 2016;eatough and Preece 2022;thomsen and sanders 2020). two potential explanations for women's overperformance are that women are of a higher quality when they enter office (Fulton 2012; Ondercin 2022) or because women face elevated voter expectations when seeking reelection (Lazarus and steigerwalt 2018; Bauer 2020b; Kaslovsky and rogowski 2020).…”

“…Women in legislative office outperform men in a wide range of activities, including bill introductions or success, constituent services, and committee work (anzia and Berry 2011;Holman, Mahoney, and Hurler 2021;Barnes 2016;eatough and Preece 2022;thomsen and sanders 2020). two potential explanations for women's overperformance are that women are of a higher quality when they enter office (Fulton 2012; Ondercin 2022) or because women face elevated voter expectations when seeking reelection (Lazarus and steigerwalt 2018; Bauer 2020b; Kaslovsky and rogowski 2020).…”