Study: Women lawmakers are more effective

On average, female members tended to get more done legislatively than men, and that’s even more pronounced when they are in the party out of power in the House, when men become even less cooperative, according to a study released Tuesday by two academics who tried to calculate legislative effectiveness of all members of the House.

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“When we looked at minority party women, they tended to continue to push their policy goals, tended to continue to reach across party lines to build coalitions and were more likely to make laws based on that,” said Craig Volden, professor of public policy and politics at the University of Virginia. “Men, on average, tended to move more to an obstructionist position when in the minority party.”

Mr. Volden and Alan Wiseman, an associate professor of political science and law at Vanderbilt University, graded members of the House based on how many bills they introduced, how significant the legislation was and how far each bill made it in the legislative process. The website compares lawmakers’ effectiveness to a benchmark score based on seniority, committee leadership positions and whether or not their party holds the majority.

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