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Gender As a Variable in Studies of War and Peace: Variance and Context
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Alternatively, descriptive representation could be a proxy for a political culture that embraces gender equality and values that embrace for feminine ways of addressing state conflict such as diplomacy and negotiation rather than aggression. Women’s representation has the greatest face validity as an empirical indicator of women’s power in society – more women in the legislature indicates that women hold more positions of power. There are several conditions necessary for women’s representation to influence policy outcomes in any policy area. For women’s descriptive representation to have an influence, gender differences in policy preferences of the mass public must be evident and then reflected in gender differences in the policy positions and priorities of elected representatives. These differences in preferences and priorities then need to be expressed in terms of agenda setting and votes on legislation. There are several constraints on the translation of women’s representation to state use of force. First, as discussed above. The studies examining attitudinal differences are based on mass opinion surveys. These studies show no consistent “gender gap”, show mostly majority agreement, and affected by question wording and the survey environment. Furthermore, will women in office behave as if they are expressing opinions in a poll? Studies on women in the U.S. Congress demonstrated the gendered nature of the institution and the context in which policy decisions regarding uses of force are made. I take research on women in Congress as evidence regarding how women may behave and the constraints they may face while recognizing that party systems, institutional arrangements within and outside the legislature will influence how gender operates in other national. Nevertheless, we can gain some insight into the mechanism that may link gender differentiation in values to policy outcomes. Roll-call votes are one place to start in determining whether women vote differently than men. Past studies have found no conclusive evidence that women tend to be more liberal than their male colleagues but do find a difference between women and male legislators in terms of votes on women’s issues (see Swers 2003 for a summary of these studies). The lack of sex differences suggest that women legislators are constrained in votes by other forces such as party and ideology. Women are also faced with various non-formal constraints that alter how values may be translated into roll call votes. While women may hold different values, it is not always the case that these can be directly translated into votes on legislation in parliaments. For example, it is not enough that women are elected to legislatures, they must also hold key positions on committees that assures that key legislation is not blocked at the committee stage (Norton 1995). The gendered nature of committee hierarchies suggests that male dominated committees may indeed block various policy alternatives that women may prefer. Women legislators may then never get the opportunity to express preferences. We might then suggest that legislatures with greater gender equality may consider policy options that would be considered if women were not represented. In terms of expectations about the effect of gender equality on state responses to conflict, we would see greater variance in terms of the options considered. Additionally, institutional norms will structure debate in legislatures. Leadership styles that tend toward competition rather than inclusive or collaborative leadership may also alter policy responses considered (Rosenthal 1998). Women when speaking in legislatures also face hostility from male colleagues which tends to increase as the number of women increases (Kathlene 1989, 1994). The potential for women to act as leaders and participate in debate is structured then by informal norms that seem to recreate gendered hierarchies that are found in other public as well as the private sphere.
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| | Authors: Banducci, Susan. |
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8
Alternatively, descriptive representation could be a proxy for a political culture that embraces
gender equality and values that embrace for feminine ways of addressing state conflict such as
diplomacy and negotiation rather than aggression.
Women’s representation has the greatest face validity as an empirical indicator of women’s
power in society – more women in the legislature indicates that women hold more positions of
power. There are several conditions necessary for women’s representation to influence policy
outcomes in any policy area. For women’s descriptive representation to have an influence, gender
differences in policy preferences of the mass public must be evident and then reflected in gender
differences in the policy positions and priorities of elected representatives. These differences in
preferences and priorities then need to be expressed in terms of agenda setting and votes on
legislation.
There are several constraints on the translation of women’s representation to state use of force.
First, as discussed above. The studies examining attitudinal differences are based on mass opinion
surveys. These studies show no consistent “gender gap”, show mostly majority agreement, and
affected by question wording and the survey environment. Furthermore, will women in office
behave as if they are expressing opinions in a poll?
Studies on women in the U.S. Congress demonstrated the gendered nature of the institution and
the context in which policy decisions regarding uses of force are made. I take research on women
in Congress as evidence regarding how women may behave and the constraints they may face
while recognizing that party systems, institutional arrangements within and outside the legislature
will influence how gender operates in other national. Nevertheless, we can gain some insight into
the mechanism that may link gender differentiation in values to policy outcomes. Roll-call votes
are one place to start in determining whether women vote differently than men. Past studies have
found no conclusive evidence that women tend to be more liberal than their male colleagues but
do find a difference between women and male legislators in terms of votes on women’s issues
(see Swers 2003 for a summary of these studies). The lack of sex differences suggest that women
legislators are constrained in votes by other forces such as party and ideology.
Women are also faced with various non-formal constraints that alter how values may be
translated into roll call votes. While women may hold different values, it is not always the case
that these can be directly translated into votes on legislation in parliaments. For example, it is not
enough that women are elected to legislatures, they must also hold key positions on committees
that assures that key legislation is not blocked at the committee stage (Norton 1995). The
gendered nature of committee hierarchies suggests that male dominated committees may indeed
block various policy alternatives that women may prefer. Women legislators may then never get
the opportunity to express preferences. We might then suggest that legislatures with greater
gender equality may consider policy options that would be considered if women were not
represented. In terms of expectations about the effect of gender equality on state responses to
conflict, we would see greater variance in terms of the options considered.
Additionally, institutional norms will structure debate in legislatures. Leadership styles that tend
toward competition rather than inclusive or collaborative leadership may also alter policy
responses considered (Rosenthal 1998). Women when speaking in legislatures also face hostility
from male colleagues which tends to increase as the number of women increases (Kathlene 1989,
1994). The potential for women to act as leaders and participate in debate is structured then by
informal norms that seem to recreate gendered hierarchies that are found in other public as well as
the private sphere.
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