Descriptive Representation and Innovation in American Legislatures

IF 1.5 2区社会学 Q2 POLITICAL SCIENCE

Political Research Quarterly Pub Date : 2023-07-15 DOI:10.1177/10659129231186624

Jack W. Nickelson, Joshua M. Jansa

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引用次数: 0

Abstract

Previous scholarship has linked increased representation of women, racial/ethnic minorities, the LGB community, and the working class to more representative legislative agendas and roll call voting. But it is unclear if descriptive representation of historically excluded groups also affects policy innovativeness. Borrowing from interdisciplinary research, we argue that diverse legislatures are more innovative, so long as legislators operate in a quality deliberative environment. We measure the descriptive representation of seven different underrepresented groups in state legislatures from 1984 to 2016. We find that representation of women is a key predictor of innovation, operationalized as the tendency for states to adopt new policies early. We also find the effect of women is not dependent on critical mass, is undermined by high levels of polarization, and helps boost the capacity of legislatures to produce unique policy language. Some models are suggestive of a relationship between racial/ethnic minority (Black, Latinx, Native American) representation and innovation, but the results are inconsistent. The study provides insights into how representation of women can enhance legislative capacity to innovate in public policy.

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美国立法机构的描述性代表与创新

之前的研究将女性、少数族裔、LGB社区和工人阶级的代表性增加与更具代表性的立法议程和唱名投票联系起来。但目前尚不清楚，对历史上被排斥群体的描述性描述是否也会影响政策的创新性。借鉴跨学科研究，我们认为，只要立法者在高质量的审议环境中运作，多元化的立法机构就更具创新性。我们测量了1984年至2016年州立法机构中七个不同的代表性不足群体的描述性代表性。我们发现，女性代表是创新的关键预测指标，体现为各州更早采用新政策的趋势。我们还发现，妇女的作用不依赖于临界质量，受到高度两极分化的破坏，并有助于提高立法机构制定独特政策语言的能力。一些模型暗示了种族/少数民族(黑人、拉丁裔、美洲原住民)的代表性与创新之间的关系，但结果并不一致。这项研究提供了关于妇女代表权如何提高公共政策创新的立法能力的见解。

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来源期刊

Political Research Quarterly POLITICAL SCIENCE-

CiteScore

3.60

自引率

4.80%

发文量

109

期刊介绍： Political Research Quarterly (PRQ) is the official journal of the Western Political Science Association. PRQ seeks to publish scholarly research of exceptionally high merit that makes notable contributions in any subfield of political science. The editors especially encourage submissions that employ a mixture of theoretical approaches or multiple methodologies to address major political problems or puzzles at a local, national, or global level. Collections of articles on a common theme or debate, to be published as short symposia, are welcome as well as individual submissions.