All the Senate’s Women: Sex and Group Decision-Making in U.S. Legislative Bodies

• In Event: Playing Nicely with Others?: Gender, Cooperation, and Collaboration

Abstract

From Golda Meir to Theresa May, female top executives have been keenly studied as to how their behavior compares with that of their male colleagues when it comes to matters of war and peace. However, little has been written about whether and how the presence of women within foreign policy decision-making bodies has an impact on the groups’ decision making. Does an all-male decision-making body differ, in (1) the policy decisions they make; (2) their discourse; or (3) their processes from a body that has a token woman, or a body that has reached a ‘tipping point’ of one-third women? Drawing on research from social psychology, business, and organizational theory that suggests that all-male groups differ from mixed-gender groups with regards to collegiality, risk-taking, and attitudes towards war, I examine the work of U.S legislative bodies that deal with foreign policy. With a focus on the Senate committees on Foreign Relations; Armed Services; and Appropriations; as well as the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence; and the House committees on Foreign Affairs; Armed Services; Homeland Security; and the House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence, I look at whether diversifying the gender balance of committees and subcommittees has changed the bodies’ operations and policy outcomes.

Author

• Chana M. Solomon-Schwartz, University of Tennessee - Knoxville