The Impact of Women and Intersectionality on Bill Success in State Legislatures

Author

Maggie Lowrey

Date of Award

4-2022

Document Type

Thesis

Department

Political Science

First Advisor

Patrick Donnay

Abstract

Thousands of bills are introduced in state legislatures every year and there are a multitude of reasons as to why some of those bills become law and some do not. Female sponsorship and the intersectionality of female sponsors are the focus of my research. Previous research has found variable impact of these characteristics; however, little work has been done on the combined effects of race, gender, and partisanship on bill passage rate. I tested these ideas on bills that were introduced to state legislatures of forty states in 2015 from the Harvard Dataverse¹. By applying differing factors of race, gender, and partisanship to bill success, I am assessing whether racial differences among women in differing partisanship leads to a greater impact on bill passage in state legislatures.

Recommended Citation

Lowrey, Maggie, "The Impact of Women and Intersectionality on Bill Success in State Legislatures" (2022). Political Science Theses and Capstones. 19.
https://pines.bemidjistate.edu/capstone-polisci/19