Hostname: page-component-586b7cd67f-dsjbd Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-11-22T05:16:20.474Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

Single-Member Districts and the Representation of Women in American State Legislatures: The Effects of Electoral System Change

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  25 January 2021

James D. King
James D. King*
Affiliation:
University of Wyoming
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Abstract

This study assesses the effects of changing electoral structure on the representation of women in American state legislatures. Specifically, how does converting from multimember districts (MMDs) to single-member districts (SMDs) affect the proportion of women serving in the state legislature? I use a quasi-experimental design, comparing election results from the four states that eliminated MMDs during the reapportionment following the 1990 census to those in eight states whose systems did not change during this period. The weight of the evidence suggests that abandoning MMDs for SMDs decreases the representation of women in state legislatures.

Type
Research Article
Information
State Politics & Policy Quarterly , Volume 2 , Issue 2 , Summer 2002 , pp. 161 - 175
Copyright
Copyright © The American Political Science Association, 2002

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

Anderson, Kristi. 1975. “Working Women and Political Participation, 1952-1972.” American Journal of Political Science 19:439–453.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Arceneaux, Kevin. 2001. “The ‘Gender Gap’ in State Legislative Representation: New Data to Tackle an Old Question.” Political Research Quarterly 54:143–160.Google Scholar
Berkman, Michael B. 1994. “State Legislators in Congress: Strategic Politicians, Professional Legislatures, and the Party Nexus.” American Journal of Politics Science 38:1025–1055.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Beyle, Thad. 1999. “The Governors.” In Politics in the American States, ed. Gray, Virginia, Hanson, Russell L., and Jacob, Herbert. 7th ed. Washington, DC: CQ Press.Google Scholar
Bratton, Kathleen A., and Haynie, Kerry L.. 1999. “Agenda Setting and Legislative Success in State Legislatures: The Effects of Gender and Race.” Journal of Politics 61:658–679.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Bullock, Charles S., and Gaddie, Ronald Keith. 1993. “Changing from Multimember to Single-Member Districts: Partisan, Racial, and Gender Consequences.” State and Local Government Review 25:155–163.Google Scholar
Campbell, Donald T. 1969. “Reforms as Experiments.” American Psychologist 24:409–429.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Campbell, Donald T., and Stanley, Julian C.. 1963. Experimental and Quasi-Experimental Designs for Research. Boston, MA: Houghton Mifflin.Google Scholar
Carroll, Susan J. 1989. “The Personal Is Political: The Intersection of Private Lives and Public Roles among Women and Men in Elective and Appointive Office.” Women and Politics 9:51–67.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Carroll, Susan J. 1994. Women as Candidates in American Politics. 2nd ed. Bloomington, IN: Indiana University Press.Google Scholar
Center for the American Woman and Politics. Various years. “Fact Sheet: Women in State Legislatures.” New Brunswick, NJ: Eagleton Institute of Politics, Rutgers University.Google Scholar
Center for the American Woman and Politics. 2001. “Fact Sheet: Women in Elective Office 2001.” New Brunswick, NJ: Eagleton Institute of Politics, Rutgers University.Google Scholar
Clark, Janet. 1991. “Getting There: Women in Public Office.” Annals of the American Academy of Political and Social Science 515:63–76.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Clark, Janet, Darcy, R., Welch, Susan, and Ambrosius, Margery. 1984. “Women As Candidates in Six States.” In Political Women: Current Roles in State and Local Government, ed. Flammang, Janet. Beverly Hills, CA: Cambridge University Press.Google Scholar
Cook, Thomas D., and Campbell, Donald T.. 1979. Quasi-Experimentation Design and Issues for Field Settings. Chicago: Rand McNally College Publishing.Google Scholar
Darcy, R., Hadley, Charles D., and Kirksey, Jason F.. 1993. “Election Systems and the Representation of Black Women in American State Legislatures.” Women and Politics 13(2):73–89.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Darcy, R., Welch, Susan, and Clark, Janet. 1985. “Women Candidates in Single- and Multi-Member Districts: American State Legislative Races.” Social Science Quarterly 66:945–953.Google Scholar
Darcy, R., Welch, Susan, and Clark, Janet. 1994. Women, Elections, and Representation. 2nd ed. Lincoln, NE: University of Nebraska Press.Google Scholar
Diamond, Irene. 1977. Sex Roles in the State House. New Haven, CT: Yale University Press.Google Scholar
Francis, Wayne L., and Kenny, Lawrence W.. 1997. “Equilibrium Projections of the Consequences of Term Limits upon Expected Tenure, Institutional Turnover, and Membership Experience.” Journal of Politics 59:240–252.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Grofman, Bernard, and Handley, Lisa. 1991. “The Impact of the Voting Rights Act on Black Representation in Southern State Legislatures.” Legislative Studies Quarterly 16:111–128.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Hardy, Richard J., and Newcomer, Kathryn E.. 1981. “The Impact of Reapportionment on Policy Expenditures.” Law and Policy Quarterly 3:464–484.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Hibbs, Douglas A. Jr. 1974. “Problems of Statistical Estimation and Causal Inference in Time-Series Regression Models.” In Sociological Methodology 1973-1974, ed. Costner, Herbert L.. San Francisco, CA: Jossey-Bass Publishers.Google Scholar
Hill, David B. 1981. “Political Culture and Female Political Representation.” Journal of Politics 43:159–168.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Hogan, Robert E. 2001. “The Influence of State and District Conditions on the Representation of Women in U.S. State Legislatures.” American Politics Research 29:4–24.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
King, James D., and Wambeam, Rodney A.. 1995/1996. “Impact of Election Day Registration on Voter Turnout: A Quasi-Experimental Analysis.” Policy Studies Review 14:263–278.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Kirkpatrick, Jeane J. 1974. Political women. New York: Basic Books.Google Scholar
Lewis-Beck, Michael S. 1986. “Interrupted Time Series.” In New Tools for Social Scientists: Advances and Applications in Research Methods, eds. Berry, William D. and Lewis-Beck, Michael S.. Beverly Hills, CA: Sage.Google Scholar
Matland, Richard E., and Brown, Deborah Dwight. 1992. “District Magnitude's Effect on Female Representation in U.S. State Legislatures.” Legislative Studies Quarterly 17:469–492.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Meier, Kenneth J. 1980. “Executive Reorganization of Government: Impact on Employment and Expenditures.” American Journal of Political Science 24:396–412.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Meier, Kenneth J., and Brudney, Jeffrey L.. 1993. Applied Statistics for Public Administration. Belmont, CA: Wadsworth.Google Scholar
Moncrief, Gary F., and Thompson, Joel A.. 1992. “Electoral Structure and State Legislative Representation: A Research Note.” Journal of Politics 54:246–256.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Moncrief, Gary F., Thompson, Joel A., Haddon, Michael, and Hoyer, Robert. 1992. “For Whom the Bell Tolls: Term Limits and State Legislatures.” Legislative Studies Quarterly 17:37–47.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Morgan, David R., and Pelissero, John. 1980. “Urban Policy: Does Political Structure Matter?” American Political Science Review 74:999–1006.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Nechemias, Carol. 1987. “Changes in the Election of Women to U.S. State Legislative Seats.” Legislative Studies Quarterly 12:125–142.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Newcomer, Kathryn E., and Hardy, Richard J.. 1981. “Quasi-Experimental Time-Series Designs in Policy-Impact Analysis.” In The Analysis of Policy Impact, eds. Grumm, John G. and Wasby, Stephen J.. Lexington, MA: D.C. Heath.Google Scholar
Niemi, Richard G., Hill, Jeffrey S., and Grofman, Bernard. 1985. “The Impact of Multimember Districts on Party Representation in U.S. State Legislatures.” Legislative Studies Quarterly 10:441–455.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Opheim, Cynthia. 1994. “The Effect of U.S. State Legislative Term Limits Revisited.” Legislative Studies Quarterly 19:49–59.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Pritchard, Anita. 1992. “Changes in Electoral Structures and the Success of Women Candidates: The Case of Florida.” Social Science Quarterly 73:62–70.Google Scholar
Reingold, Beth. 2000. Representing Women: Sex, Gender, and Legislative Behavior in Arizona and California. Chapel Hill, NC: University of North Carolina Press.Google Scholar
Reynolds v. Sims. 1964. 377 U.S. 533.Google Scholar
Rule, Wilma. 1990. “Why More Women Are State Legislators: A Research Note.” Western Political Quarterly 43:437–448.Google Scholar
Rule, Wilma. 1992. “Multimember Legislative Districts: Minority and Anglo Women's and Men's Recruitment Opportunity.” In United States Electoral Systems: Their Impact on Women and Minorities, eds. Rule, Wilma and Zimmerman, Joseph F.. New York: Greenwood Press.Google Scholar
Saint-Germain, Michelle A. 1989. “Does Their Difference Make a Difference? The Impact of Women on Public Policy in the Arizona Legislature.” Social Science Quarterly 70:956–968.Google Scholar
Squire, Peverill. 1992. “Legislative Professionalism and Membership Diversity in State Legislatures.” Legislative Studies Quarterly 17:69–79.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Thomas, Sue. 1994. How Women Legislate. New York: Oxford University Press.Google Scholar
Thompson, Joel A., and Moncrief, Gary F.. 1993. “The Implications of Term Limits for Women and Minorities: Some Evidence from the States.” Social Science Quarterly 74:300–309.Google Scholar
Vandenbosch, Sue. 1996. “A Negative Relationship between Religion and the Percentage of Women State Legislators in the United States.” Journal of Legislative Studies 2:322–338.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Welch, Susan, and Studlar, Donley T.. 1990. “Multi-Member Districts and the Representation of Women: Evidence from Britain and the United States.” Journal of Politics 52:391–412.CrossRefGoogle Scholar