ABSTRACT

As critical mass theorists have argued, the number of female legislators is important in the enactment of gender-status laws. Female legislators share strong beliefs on women's rights and have easily coordinated their legislative activities on gender issues. In addition, their strong coordination and consequent political influence have often allowed them to form a legislative majority by influencing male legislators. Gender policies, however, are frequently associated with non-gender policy dimensions on which female legislators tend to have different ideas. Thus, when a gender issue is interpreted in terms of a conspicuous non-gender policy dimension, critical mass theory may not work properly; the heterogeneity of female legislators regarding non-gender policy dimensions can weaken their legislative coordination, thereby hampering gender-status lawmaking. This article examines these propositions by reviewing the legislative histories of violence against women and the legality of abortion in the United States.

摘要

正如临界大众理论家所说，女性立法者的数量对于制定性别地位法很重要。女性立法者对妇女权利有着坚定的信念，并且很容易协调她们在性别问题上的立法活动。此外，他们强大的协调性和随之而来的政治影响力，往往使他们能够通过影响男性立法者来形成立法多数。然而，性别政策经常与女性立法者往往有不同想法的非性别政策维度相关联。因此，当一个性别问题被解释为一个显着的非性别政策维度时，临界质量理论可能无法正常工作；女性立法者在非性别政策层面的异质性会削弱她们的立法协调，从而阻碍性别地位立法。本文通过回顾美国暴力侵害妇女的立法历史和堕胎的合法性来检验这些主张。