Women as Policymakers: The Case of Trial Judges

Previous research analyzing differences between men and women political elites has focused primarily on attitudinal differences, recruitment patterns, or background characteristics. In contrast, this research looks at possible behavioral differences. It examines the convicting and sentencing behavior of men and women judges in over 30,000 felony cases in Metro City. In particular, it compares the behavior of men and women judges in convicting and sentencing male and female defendants. The findings indicate that women judges generally did not convict and sentence defendants differently than men judges did. However, women judges were considerably more likely to sentence female defendants to prison than men judges were.