Doctoral Dissertation Research: Women Legislators and Partisan Bridging

Duke University, Durham NC

Investigators

Abstract

The negative consequences of political polarization have been discussed at length by scholars, politicians, and political commentators alike as evidence of a desperate need for a renewal of bipartisanship. Yet scholarship on bipartisanship --why it occurs, how it occurs, and when it occurs-- remains quite limited. This project develops a theory of "partisan bridging" that predicts when and why certain legislators might be willing to cross the partisan aisle in search of compromise. While this theory is generalizable across a wide array of groups and contexts, the focus here is on female legislators because women have been at the forefront of what bipartisanship can be found in legislatures. Preliminary results suggest that female legislators' policy preferences encourage bipartisan behavior and that they are not punished as much for bipartisan behavior as are male legislators. Thus, although the distance between the parties seems to be insurmountable, this research suggests that bipartisan behavior can still occur and that it may be female legislators who will lead the charge. This research will contribute to two distinct literatures: that on Congress and its polarization and that concerning female legislators and their impact on political institutions. By placing legislators' personal policy preferences at the forefront, this theoretical work on partisan bridging builds on the work of Fenno (1973) and Burden (1994) and reminds scholars that Mayhew's (1974) portrait of legislators as "single-minded seekers of reelection" might not capture the full complexity of legislative behavior. By addressing the puzzle of women's continued bipartisan behavior, this work sheds light on the constraints and opportunities female legislators face when making policy decisions. This research also furthers our understanding of the role of partisanship as a mediating factor in women's representation of women. More generally, this work suggests that polarization's consequences might be conditioned upon the level of gender diversity in our legislatures. This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.