The Dimensions and Policy Impact of Feminist Civil Society Democratic Policymaking on Violence against Women in the Fifty US States

Weldon, S. Laurel

doi:10.1080/1461674032000165914

Cited by 29 publications

(13 citation statements)

References 10 publications

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“…Perhaps for this reason, studies that have examined the impact of legislative women on state policy outcomes report mixed results, at best. On some issues, such as abortion and child support, studies show that female legislators can and do make a difference (Berkman and O'Connor 1993;Crowley 2004;Keiser 1997); but on other "women's issues" such as domestic violence and women's health, female lawmakers have no discernible impact (Tolbert and Steurnagel 2000;Weldon 2004Weldon , 2006a. In the most comprehensive study to date, Cowell-Meyer and Langbein (2009) find that the percentage of women in state legislatures is associated with the adoption of only eight of the 34 women-friendly policies examined; and in three instances, the relationship is in the opposite direction.…”

Section: Theorizing Gender Race and Ethnicity In Welfare Policy Andmentioning

confidence: 98%

Welfare Policymaking and Intersections of Race, Ethnicity, and Gender in U.S. State Legislatures

Reingold

Smith

2011

American J Political Sci

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Welfare policy in the American states has been shaped profoundly by race, ethnicity, and representation. Does gender matter as well? Focusing on state welfare reform in the mid-1990s, we test hypotheses derived from two alternative approaches to incorporating gender into the study of representation and welfare policymaking. An additive approach, which assumes gender and race/ethnicity are distinct and independent, suggests that female state legislators—regardless of race/ethnicity—will mitigate the more restrictive and punitive aspects of welfare reform, much like their African American and Latino counterparts do. In contrast, an intersectional approach, which highlights the overlapping and interdependent nature of gender and race/ethnicity, suggests that legislative women of color will have the strongest countervailing effect on state welfare reform—stronger than that of other women or men of color. Our empirical analyses suggest an intersectional approach yields a more accurate understanding of gender, race/ethnicity, and welfare politics in the states.

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Section: Theorizing Gender Race and Ethnicity In Welfare Policy Andmentioning

confidence: 98%

Welfare Policymaking and Intersections of Race, Ethnicity, and Gender in U.S. State Legislatures

Reingold

Smith

2011

American J Political Sci

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“…The general consensus of the extensive body of research on women and politics is that “women in office do make a difference” (Reingold, , p. 129), although there are notable exceptions (Thomas, ; Weldon, ). Generally, women in public office support female‐friendly, child‐friendly, and social welfare policies at a higher rate than their male counterparts (Carroll, ; Norton, ; Swers, ).…”

Section: Women In Public Officementioning

confidence: 99%

Sex and the City: Female Leaders and Spending on Social Welfare Programs in U.S. Municipalities

Holman

2014

Journal of Urban Affairs

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Scholars of urban politics often argue that cities will shy away from extensive funding of social welfare programs, as fiscal realities make developmental policies far more attractive. Despite these arguments, cities continue to fund social welfare programs. One possible explanation is that some local officials prefer funding welfare programs. This research demonstrates that the presence of a female mayor has a large, positive influence on the likelihood a city participates in funding social welfare programs and the amount of monetary resources a city dedicates to these programs. High levels of female representation on city councils and a mayor‐council form of government both interact with the presence of a female mayor to increase the provision and size of social welfare programs in cities.

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“…For example, many initial studies found little evidence to support the contention that increases in women's representation led to differences in policy outcomes [25,38]. And even though women legislators influenced regulation related to parental notifications of abortion, they did not affect the funding of abortions [39], nor did they influence women's health initiatives in the 1990s [13] or shape policies related to domestic violence [14,40]. Updating and refining the work of Hansen [41], Cowell-Meyer and Langbein [12] studied the extent to which growth in women's representation affected 34 "women-friendly policies" in a highly comprehensive comparative state analysis.…”

Section: Descriptive and Substantive Representationmentioning

confidence: 99%

The Influence of Women Legislators on State Health Care Spending for the Poor

Courtemanche

Green

2017

Social Sciences

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Abstract:In the realm of representational politics, research exploring the relationship between descriptive representation and substantive representation is conflicted with some scholars finding policy outcomes influenced by the presence of women in office and others displaying a complicated or null relationship. We enter the discussion by investigating the effect of increased representation of women across state legislatures on state health care spending for poor children, the disabled, and elders, issues which disproportionately affect women. Using a 50-state dataset spanning from 1999 to 2009 we find that spending is indeed more generous when the number of women representatives is substantial, regardless of party. This generosity, however, is conditional upon the presence of considerable aggregate need. The findings suggest that contextual factors must be considered when exploring the influence of women on policy outcomes.

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The Dimensions and Policy Impact of Feminist Civil Society Democratic Policymaking on Violence against Women in the Fifty US States

Cited by 29 publications

References 10 publications

Welfare Policymaking and Intersections of Race, Ethnicity, and Gender in U.S. State Legislatures

Welfare Policymaking and Intersections of Race, Ethnicity, and Gender in U.S. State Legislatures

Sex and the City: Female Leaders and Spending on Social Welfare Programs in U.S. Municipalities

The Influence of Women Legislators on State Health Care Spending for the Poor

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