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Power and Influence in State Legislative Policymaking: The Interaction of Gender and Position in Committee Hearing Debates

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  • Kathlene, Lyn

Abstract

There is an implicit assumption behind advocating for more minorities or women in elected office, namely, that these officials will bring a new power and influence to their underrepresented groups. However, for women, this idealized viewpoint ignores the social dynamics that subordinate women's words and actions even in “well-balanced” male and female group interactions. Using transcribed verbatim transcripts of 12 state legislative committee hearings, this research analyzes the conversational dynamics of committee members, witnesses, chairs, and sponsors. Sex differences among committee members are highly significant, even after accounting for political factors and structural features of the hearing. In addition, male and female chairs do not conduct hearings in the same way, and these differences affect the behavior of witnesses and committee members. The findings suggest that as the proportion of women increases in a legislative body, men become more verbally aggressive and controlling of the hearing. Women legislators may be seriously disadvantaged and unable to participate equally in legislative policymaking in committee hearings.

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  • Kathlene, Lyn, 1994. "Power and Influence in State Legislative Policymaking: The Interaction of Gender and Position in Committee Hearing Debates," American Political Science Review, Cambridge University Press, vol. 88(3), pages 560-576, September.
    • Handle: RePEc:cup:apsrev:v:88:y:1994:i:03:p:560-576_09
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    Cited by:

    1. Folke, Olle & Rickne, Johanna, 2012. "Female representation but male rule? Party competition and the political glass ceiling," Working Paper Series, Center for Labor Studies 2012:9, Uppsala University, Department of Economics.
    2. Joni Lovenduski & Pippa Norris, 2003. "Westminster Women: the Politics of Presence," Political Studies, Political Studies Association, vol. 51(1), pages 84-102, March.
    3. O’Brien, Diana Z. & Rickne, Johanna, 2016. "Gender Quotas and Women's Political Leadership," American Political Science Review, Cambridge University Press, vol. 110(1), pages 112-126, February.
    4. Diego Werneck Arguelhes & Juliana Cesario Alvim & Rafaela Nogueira & Henrique Wang, 2024. "“They don't let us speak”: Gender, collegiality, and interruptions in deliberations in the Brazilian Supreme Court," Journal of Empirical Legal Studies, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 21(1), pages 174-207, March.
    5. Baskaran, Thushyanthan & Hessami, Zohal, 2022. "The gender recontest gap in elections," European Economic Review, Elsevier, vol. 145(C).
    6. Lívia Markóczy & Sunny Li Sun & Jigao Zhu, 2021. "The Glass Pyramid: Informal Gender Status Hierarchy on Boards," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 168(4), pages 827-845, February.
    7. Gretchen Ritter & Nicole Mellow, 2000. "The State of Gender Studies in Political Science," The ANNALS of the American Academy of Political and Social Science, , vol. 571(1), pages 121-134, September.

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