Support for Women's Interests in the 103rd Congress

During 1992, the widely acclaimed “Year of the Woman,” 48 women were elected to the U.S. House of Representatives. Since research at the state level finds women legislators more likely to advocate women's interests than their male colleagues, this influx of women offers an opportunity to investigate whether congressional women provide similar policy responsiveness to American women. Using Ordinary Least Squares (OLS) regression on roll-call data for the 103rd Congress, 1 find that women members of Congress are more likely than their male counterparts to vote for women's interests on the floor of the House of Representatives.