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Does the Descriptive Representation of Gender Influence Accountability for Substantive Representation?

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  20 May 2014

Philip Edward Jones
Philip Edward Jones*
Affiliation:
University of Delaware
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Abstract

Does the descriptive representation of gender affect how constituents respond to their legislators' substantive policy records? Previous work offers two distinctly opposing theories: the first, that descriptive representation may weaken accountability for substantive representation, if it leads female constituents to misperceive the incumbent's positions or give them a “free pass” on policy congruence; the second, that it may strengthen accountability, if it leads female constituents to pay greater attention to the incumbent and his or her record. Using survey data from three electoral cycles, I show that women are more likely to correctly identify their U.S. senators' policy records and weigh that record more heavily in their evaluations when they are represented by women. The descriptive representation of gender thus strengthens the links between the policy positions legislators take in office and how they are evaluated by their constituents.

Type
Research Article
Information
Politics & Gender , Volume 10 , Issue 2 , June 2014 , pp. 175 - 199
Copyright
Copyright © The Women and Politics Research Section of the American Political Science Association 2014 

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