The Sense of a Woman: Gender, Ambition, and the Decision to Run for Congress

Do men and women differ in their decisionmaking calculus for higher office? To answer this question, we use a survey of state legislators (SLs) in 1998 to examine the conditions under which male and female SLs seek a position in the U.S. House of Representatives. We consider three ways in which gend...

Full description

Saved in:
Bibliographic Details
Published in:Political research quarterly 2006-06, Vol.59 (2), p.235-248
Main Authors: Sarah A. Fulton, Maestas, Cherie D., Maisel, L. Sandy, Stone, Walter J.
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Ambition
Candidates
Children
Congressional elections
Congressional legislation
Decision Making
Electoral campaigning
Females
Gender
Gender differences
Gender differentiation
Legislators
Legislatures
Men
Modeling
Opportunity
Political Campaigns
Political candidates
Political life
Political research
Politicians
Politics
Prestige
Sex
Social conditions
State legislators
Studies
U.S.A
Women
Women and politics
Women's participation
Citations: Items that this one cites
Items that cite this one
Online Access:Get full text
Tags: Add Tag
No Tags, Be the first to tag this record!
Description
Summary:Do men and women differ in their decisionmaking calculus for higher office? To answer this question, we use a survey of state legislators (SLs) in 1998 to examine the conditions under which male and female SLs seek a position in the U.S. House of Representatives. We consider three ways in which gender may influence ambition and the decision to run-indirectly, directly, and interactively-and we find evidence of all three effects. Female state legislators are less ambitious than males for a U.S. House seat, a difference that largely stems from gender disparities in child-care responsibilities. However, despite their lower ambition, female SLs are just as likely as their male counterparts to seek a congressional position. This apparent puzzle is solved by the finding that the expected benefit of office mediates the relationship between ambition and the likelihood of running. Female SLs are much more responsive to the expected benefit of office than are males, offsetting their diminished ambition level. The sense of a woman is reflected in female state legislators' increased sensitivity to the strategic considerations surrounding a congressional candidacy. Because men and women respond differently to the intersection of ambition and opportunity, gender constitutes an important, yet often neglected, explanatory variable in the decision-to-run calculus.
ISSN:1065-9129
1938-274X
DOI:10.1177/106591290605900206