A Divergence in Legislation Between Men and Women in Politics

There is a significant gap between female and male representation in United States’ legislative positions.The disproportionate representation of women in government presents the threat of a large demographic of Americans not having their values reflected in legislation.The purpose of this study is to determine if male and female representatives legislate on different issues, specifically if they are working for the benefit of the demographic they represent. To test this, the legislative history of two House of Representatives members, one male and one female, was reviewed. 50 bills sponsored by each of them (100 bills total) were coded and analyzed, then split into categories of humanitarian issues and logistical to see if they legislated differently. The results showed that women tend to legislate on more humanitarian issues, while men legislate on logistical issues. Since women generally view politics differently than men, this shows it is important more women are elected into legislative positions.