Mirya R Holman | Tulane University (original) (raw)
Papers by Mirya R Holman
Cities in the USA engage in action on climate change, even as the federal government remains resi... more Cities in the USA engage in action on climate change, even as the federal government remains resistant to comprehensive climate policy. While experts generally agree that local level adaptation and mitigation policies are critical to avoiding the worst climate impacts, the degree to which cities communicate climate change issues to their constituents has yet to be fully explored. In this article, we evaluate how US cities communicate climate change-related issues, problems, and policies. We use a computer-assisted approach to evaluate climate change efforts by cities by examining the full text of press releases of 82 large cities in the USA. We first identify who discusses climate change, finding that many large cities in the USA address climate change in their public communication. Second, we examine the content of these discussions. Many cities discuss weather-related concerns in conjunction with broad collaborative efforts to address global warming, while city-based policy discussions focus more on energy and transportation efforts. Third, we evaluate the local factors associated with these discussions. We find that the city's climate vulnerability is particularly influential in shaping the level and timing of climatic communication.
Legislative Studies Quarterly
Collaboration plays a key role in crafting good public policy. We use a novel dataset of over 140... more Collaboration plays a key role in crafting good public policy. We use a novel dataset of over 140,000 pieces of legislation considered in U.S. state legislatures in 2015 to examine the factors associated with women’s collaboration with each other. We articulate a theory that women’s collaboration arises from opportunity structures, dictated by an interaction of individual and institutional characteristics. Examining the effect of a combination of characteristics, we find support for an interactive view of institutions, where women’s caucuses accelerate collaboration in Democratic controlled bodies and as the share of women increases. Collaboration between women also continues in the face of increased polarization in the presence of a caucus, but not absent one. Our findings speak to the long-term consequences of electing women to political office, the importance of institutions and organizations in shaping legislative behavior, and the institutionalization of gender in politics.
Journal of Political Marketing
The 2016 U.S. Presidential election was unique for many reasons, especially the widespread endors... more The 2016 U.S. Presidential election was unique for many reasons, especially the widespread endorsement of falsehoods about the candidates and the electoral process. Using a unique experiment fielded the week prior to the election, we examine whether correcting information can overcome misperceptions about election fraud. We find that providing counter information is generally ineffective at remedying misperceptions and can, depending on the source, increase endorsements of misperceptions among Republicans. Although information from a fact-checking source is generally unconvincing, when given with evidence from an unlikely source – in our experiment, Breitbart News – both Republicans and Democrats decrease beliefs in voter fraud.
State and Local Government Review
Women are underrepresented in most elected and appointed positions in local government in the Uni... more Women are underrepresented in most elected and appointed positions in local government in the United States. This essay details what we know about women’s representation in cities and counties, with a discussion of the factors associated with women’s higher or lower levels of representation. The effects of women’s lack of parity are then discussed, including policy attitudes, the policy process, and policy outcomes. In sum, this essay organizes knowledge on women in local government, identifies gaps in what we know, and promotes future investigations to expand our knowledge of gender politics, local politics and governance, and public policy.
A significant body of research documents the volatility of household financial circumstances over... more A significant body of research documents the volatility of household financial circumstances over the life cycle (Rank and Hirschl 2001; Hacker 2006; Rank and Hirschl 2010). The US bankruptcy system is among the policy interventions directed to serious financial disruptions, although its long-term effectiveness remains disputed (Zagorsky and Lupica 2008; Han and Li 2010). Millions of people—largely middle class, as measured by homeownership, occupational prestige, and educational levels (Warren and Thorne 2012)—have passed through the bankruptcy system in the past decade to manage the effects of financial disruption. Bankruptcy filers encounter more extreme problems than those experienced by other households that face difficult financial constraints but do not file for bankruptcy (Bucks 2012). Nonetheless, data on bankruptcy filers offer a rich picture of the circumstances that disrupt households and of filers' choices among credit and coping mechanisms. Medical problems provide a particularly compelling example of how unexpected financial outlays can combine with other destabilizing factors to affect household finances. This chapter draws on the 2007 Consumer Bankruptcy Project (2007 CBP) to further enrich the picture of medical-related financial trouble. 1 The 2007 CBP is the first academic effort to study bankruptcy filers in a true national sample, the first to capture several measures of out-of-pocket medical expense for the entire sample, and the first to examine the specific ways in which financially distressed households manage out-of-pocket medical obligations (Jacoby and Holman 2010).
Research on negative campaigning has largely overlooked the role of stereotypes. In this study, w... more Research on negative campaigning has largely overlooked the role of
stereotypes. In this study, we argue that the gender and partisan stereotypes associated with traits and policy issues interact with a candidate’s gender and partisanship to shape the effectiveness of campaign attacks. We draw on expectancy violation theory to argue that candidates may be evaluated more harshly when attacks suggest the candidate has violated stereotypic assumptions about their group. Thus, attacks on a candidate’s ‘‘home turf,’’ or those traits or issues traditionally associated with their party or gender, may be more effective in reducing support for the attacked candidate. We use two survey experiments to examine the effects of stereotype-based attacks—a Trait Attack Study and an Issue Attack Study. The results suggest that female candidates are particularly vulnerable to trait based attacks that challenge stereotypically feminine strengths. Both male and female candidates proved vulnerable to attacks on policy issues stereotypically associated with their party and gender, but the negative effects of all forms of stereotype-based attacks were especially large for democratic women. Our results offer new insights into the use of stereotypes in negative campaigning and their consequences for the electoral fortunes of political candidates.
The Catholic Church often plays a policy and mobilization role in American politics. We assess th... more The Catholic Church often plays a policy and mobilization role in American politics. We assess the degree to which the Catholic Church hierarchy – including national and state conferences of bishops – can provide uniform information to parishioners about political participation. Using a textual analysis of information distributed to parishioners in Florida in the 2012 election, we evaluate how much political information is conveyed to parishioners, the sources of this information, and the factors associated with higher or lower levels of information. While we find that most parishes provided information related to the election, there is wide diversity in the types and sources of information. And, while the Catholic hierarchy attempted to provide messaging about the importance of political participation, not all parishes complied with these efforts. Our findings are consistent with the ideas that the local community and hierarchical structure combine to shape the behavior of the parishes.
Women are underrepresented among political science faculty and leave academic careers at far grea... more Women are underrepresented among political science faculty and leave academic careers at far greater rates than their male colleagues. Women's lower research productivity is one reason for the declining number of women at advanced academic ranks. Mentoring can provide necessary advice and feedback to encourage scholarly production, but research shows that female scholars face challenges in traditional mentoring arrangements. We propose that peer mentoring can provide a missing link by supporting research productivity. Using a case study of an existing peer-mentoring group, we document how writing groups can provide flexible mechanisms for peer mentoring that circumvent the obstacles women face with mentoring and complement existing mentoring relationships. We discuss the structure of this group, as well as a survey-based assessment of it, to demonstrate how this approach can be readily adopted by other women in the profession seeking to expand their network of mentors to include peers in their subfield.
Research on evaluations of leaders has frequently found that female leaders receive lower ratings... more Research on evaluations of leaders has frequently found that female leaders receive lower ratings in times of national
security crisis. However, less is known about countervailing factors. We contend that partisanship and leadership
experience in relevant domains are two factors that can counteract the negative effects of terrorist threat on evaluations
of female political leaders. To test this expectation, we implemented a national study in 2012 containing terrorist threat
and non-threat conditions, and then asked participants to evaluate political leaders. The results show that Republican
leaders, including women, are unaffected by terrorist threat; in contrast, Democratic leaders are punished during times
of terrorist threat, but this negative effect is smaller for then-Secretary of State Hillary Clinton compared to Nancy
Pelosi, who lacks similar experience. In short, Republican partisanship is a strong countervailing factor, while leadership
experience in national security more modestly countervails.
This study synthesizes two theoretical literatures to explain gender differences in Twitter usage... more This study synthesizes two theoretical literatures to explain
gender differences in Twitter usage and effectiveness among
US Congressional candidates. The first suggests that candidates
in perceived disadvantaged positions, females in this
case, innovate to improve their chances of success, and the
second, that female politicians often adopt stereotypically masculine
behaviors to be successful. On the basis of these theories,
we hypothesize and confirm that female candidates are
more likely than males to integrate Twitter into their campaigns,
but our results are less conclusive regarding a difference
in the likelihood that females use negative campaigning
tactics via Twitter. Our results also indicate that those females
who use Twitter more than their male counterparts tended to
do better electorally, but this difference is conditional. Female
Republican candidates who tweeted more increased their vote
share, but the opposite is true for Democrats. We speculate
that this differential effect may be a product of different audiences
for social media in each party’s electorate.
Immigration enforcement and policy making has increasingly devolved to the local level in the Uni... more Immigration enforcement and policy making has increasingly devolved to the local level in the United States. American sheriffs present a unique opportunity to evaluate decisions made about immigration policies in the local context. In dealing with immigration concerns in their counties, sheriffs act both within the confines of federal and state mandates and as local policymakers. However, little research comprehensively assesses the role sheriffs play in immigration policy making. Using data from an original, national survey of more than five hundred elected sheriffs in the United States, we provide a broad account of sheriffs’ roles in immigration enforcement and policy making. Our research demonstrates that sheriffs’ ideology and personal characteristics shape their personal attitudes about immigrants. In
turn, these attitudes play a key role in influencing local enforcement decisions. Sheriffs’ immigration attitudes relate strongest to checks of the immigration status of witnesses and victims and those stopped for traffic violations or arrested for non-violent crimes. Our results demonstrate the important role of the sheriff in understanding local variation in immigration policy and the connection between the personal preferences of representatives and policy making that can emerge across policy environments and levels of government.
Political institutions in the U.S. continue to be dominated by men. Media and scholarly accounts ... more Political institutions in the U.S. continue to be dominated by men.
Media and scholarly accounts often focus on how demand factors,
such as political parties and elite networks, and supply factors,
such as women’s self-confidence and political interest, combine to
depress women’s representation. Yet, we know little about
whether these narratives matter for women’s political ambition or
how they might influence women of color. We demonstrate that
blaming women’s underrepresentation on supply vs. demand
causes clear changes in women’s political ambition. Attributing
women’s lack of parity to demand factors allows white and Asian
women to “discount” the possibility that failure rests on their own
abilities, thus increasing women’s political ambition. Alternatively,
framing women’s underrepresentation as due to supply factors
depresses white and Asian women’s political ambition possibly
because of stereotype threat. Black women respond in an
opposite manner, with depressed political ambition in demand
scenarios, while Latinas are unaffected by these narratives. Our
findings contribute to understanding how frames intersect with
racial and ethnic identity to influence political ambition.
Religious identity serves as a central cleavage in American politics. However, little attention h... more Religious identity serves as a central cleavage in American politics. However, little attention has been granted to how gendered views of authority conveyed in religious doctrine shape political identities and attitudes. Using a nation-wide sample of adult Americans, we demonstrate that gendered notions of divine and human authority exert considerable influence on political thinking. In particular, belief in a masculine God and preferences for traditional gender roles strongly relate to political conservatism. Adherence to gendered notions of authority influences political identity and policy preferences, even when controlling for more conventional indicators of religiosity. Accounting for gendered beliefs about authority also partially explains well-documented gender gaps in American politics, providing insight into women’s apparently contradictory tendencies toward both political liberalism and religiosity. The relationships uncovered here, coupled with the continued salience of both gender and religion in contemporary political campaigns, underscore the importance of attending to the gendered dimensions of authority.
Organized religion affords the faithful a variety of civic skills that encourage political partic... more Organized religion affords the faithful a variety of civic skills that encourage political participation. Women are more religious than are men by most measures, but religious women do not participate in politics at elevated rates. This discrepancy suggests a puzzle: religion may have a different effect on the political mobilization of men and women. In the present paper, we explore the effect of biblical literalism—a widespread belief that the Bible is the actual word of God, to be taken literally—on political participation. Using the 2012 American National Election Study, we find support for our two hypotheses: (a) biblical literalism is associated with lower levels of gender consciousness, as measured by perceptions of discrimination and strength of ties to women as a group, and (b) reductions in these two factors account for lower political participation among women. Our findings provide new insights into the ways religious and gender identities intersect to influence political mobilization among women, with interesting implications for an American political climate where gender and religion both represent fundamental identities that shape political behavior.
Campaigns invoke identity appeals to specific groups of voters, including women. To understand wh... more Campaigns invoke identity appeals to specific groups of voters, including women. To understand whether these
campaign appeals matter in affecting voters’ choices, we must better understand how women respond to these
appeals, the causal mechanism driving responses, and whether male and female candidates can use these ads with equal
effectiveness. Using a nationally representative sample of American voters and an experimental design, we test an
identity-based appeal aimed at women. We find that, although candidates of either gender can use these ads to affect
women’s votes, only female candidates are able to prime female voters’ gender identity. The use of these appeals by
male candidates persuades female voters of their positive traits. Male voters are generally unaffected by the appeals.
Given the integration of women and men in the general population, our results demonstrate the utility of targeted
appeals in encouraging support from a specific group and avoiding backlash from others.
How does the threat of terrorism affect evaluations of female (vs. male) political leaders, and d... more How does the threat of terrorism affect evaluations of female (vs. male) political leaders, and do these effects vary by
the politician’s partisanship? Using two national surveys, we document a propensity for the U.S. public to prefer male
Republican leadership the most in times of security threat, and female Democratic leadership the least. We theorize
a causal process by which terrorist threat influences the effect of stereotypes on candidate evaluations conditional
on politician partisanship. We test this framework with an original experiment:a nationally representative sample was
presented with a mock election that varied the threat context and the gender and partisanship of the candidates. We
find that masculine stereotypes have a negative influence on both male and female Democratic candidates in good times
(thus reaffirming the primacy of party stereotypes), but only on the female Democratic candidate when terror threat
is primed. Republican candidates—both male and female—are unaffected by masculine stereotypes, regardless of the
threat environment.
Objective This article examines sheriffs’ attitudes and their offices’ policies concerning violen... more Objective
This article examines sheriffs’ attitudes and their offices’ policies concerning violence against women and assesses the connection between their attitudes and policies.
Methods
Using data from an original, national survey completed in the fall of 2012 of elected sheriffs (N = 553), we evaluate a battery of rape and domestic violence myths and examine the presence of various violence against women policies.
Results
We find that many sheriffs express belief in inaccurate myths concerning violence against women. We find strong connections between sheriffs’ attitudes about women's equality and their attitudes about violence against women. In turn, their attitudes about gender-based violence relate to training and policies for addressing these cases.
Conclusion
In an office like that of the sheriff, with both bureaucratic and political elements, attitudes of political leaders influence policies. Our findings suggest an important connection between elected officials’ attitudes and policy actions beyond the traditional legislative arena.
Politicians and leaders use metaphors and frames in political communication to provide citizens w... more Politicians and leaders use metaphors and frames in political communication to provide citizens with meaning, persuade, and promote emotional reactions. At the same time, a large body of scholarship documents the propensity for female leaders to “speak in a different voice” when in political office. Research to date on policy metaphors, however, rarely compares male and female leaders’ use of metaphors or evaluates the use of these metaphors in local politics. Using State of the City addresses from 16 cities to evaluate the connection between policy agendas, metaphors, and mayoral gender, I find that male and female leaders emphasize similar issues in their speeches, but use different frames to present these issues, with female leaders using more nurturing framing than do male leaders. In addition, while both male and female mayors emphasize economic development as the central issue in their speeches, female mayors use more inclusive framing in these discussions.
We provide a novel approach to understanding the political ambition gap between men and women by ... more We provide a novel approach to understanding the political ambition gap between men and women by
examining perceptions of the role of politician. Across three studies, we find that political careers are viewed
as fulfilling power-related goals, such as self-promotion and competition. We connect these goals to a
tolerance for interpersonal conflict and both of these factors to political ambition. Women’s lack of interest in
conflict and power-related activities mediates the relationship between gender and political ambition. In an
experiment, we show that framing a political career as fulfilling communal goals—and not power-related
goals—reduces the ambition gap.
In this article, we develop an argument for better integrating the political science curricula on... more In this article, we develop an argument for better integrating the political science curricula on methodology with gender politics. We demonstrate how these two areas are presently distinct and nonoverlapping with an analysis of commonly used methodology and women and politics textbooks. We examine the implications of these results for female students’ engagement with political methodology—an area in which women are persistently underrepresented—by drawing on research from STEM educators. Stereotype threat (Steele 1997; Steele and Aronson 1995) provides a framework for thinking about the myriad of ways the curriculum influences learning outcomes for female students and highlights the utility of greater crossover between the two subject areas. To facilitate better integration of methodology and gender politics, we identify opportunities for instructors to incorporate methods into courses on gender and gender into courses on methods. We also develop a number of different in-class activities and resources to help faculty to bridge the gap between gender and methodology.
Cities in the USA engage in action on climate change, even as the federal government remains resi... more Cities in the USA engage in action on climate change, even as the federal government remains resistant to comprehensive climate policy. While experts generally agree that local level adaptation and mitigation policies are critical to avoiding the worst climate impacts, the degree to which cities communicate climate change issues to their constituents has yet to be fully explored. In this article, we evaluate how US cities communicate climate change-related issues, problems, and policies. We use a computer-assisted approach to evaluate climate change efforts by cities by examining the full text of press releases of 82 large cities in the USA. We first identify who discusses climate change, finding that many large cities in the USA address climate change in their public communication. Second, we examine the content of these discussions. Many cities discuss weather-related concerns in conjunction with broad collaborative efforts to address global warming, while city-based policy discussions focus more on energy and transportation efforts. Third, we evaluate the local factors associated with these discussions. We find that the city's climate vulnerability is particularly influential in shaping the level and timing of climatic communication.
Legislative Studies Quarterly
Collaboration plays a key role in crafting good public policy. We use a novel dataset of over 140... more Collaboration plays a key role in crafting good public policy. We use a novel dataset of over 140,000 pieces of legislation considered in U.S. state legislatures in 2015 to examine the factors associated with women’s collaboration with each other. We articulate a theory that women’s collaboration arises from opportunity structures, dictated by an interaction of individual and institutional characteristics. Examining the effect of a combination of characteristics, we find support for an interactive view of institutions, where women’s caucuses accelerate collaboration in Democratic controlled bodies and as the share of women increases. Collaboration between women also continues in the face of increased polarization in the presence of a caucus, but not absent one. Our findings speak to the long-term consequences of electing women to political office, the importance of institutions and organizations in shaping legislative behavior, and the institutionalization of gender in politics.
Journal of Political Marketing
The 2016 U.S. Presidential election was unique for many reasons, especially the widespread endors... more The 2016 U.S. Presidential election was unique for many reasons, especially the widespread endorsement of falsehoods about the candidates and the electoral process. Using a unique experiment fielded the week prior to the election, we examine whether correcting information can overcome misperceptions about election fraud. We find that providing counter information is generally ineffective at remedying misperceptions and can, depending on the source, increase endorsements of misperceptions among Republicans. Although information from a fact-checking source is generally unconvincing, when given with evidence from an unlikely source – in our experiment, Breitbart News – both Republicans and Democrats decrease beliefs in voter fraud.
State and Local Government Review
Women are underrepresented in most elected and appointed positions in local government in the Uni... more Women are underrepresented in most elected and appointed positions in local government in the United States. This essay details what we know about women’s representation in cities and counties, with a discussion of the factors associated with women’s higher or lower levels of representation. The effects of women’s lack of parity are then discussed, including policy attitudes, the policy process, and policy outcomes. In sum, this essay organizes knowledge on women in local government, identifies gaps in what we know, and promotes future investigations to expand our knowledge of gender politics, local politics and governance, and public policy.
A significant body of research documents the volatility of household financial circumstances over... more A significant body of research documents the volatility of household financial circumstances over the life cycle (Rank and Hirschl 2001; Hacker 2006; Rank and Hirschl 2010). The US bankruptcy system is among the policy interventions directed to serious financial disruptions, although its long-term effectiveness remains disputed (Zagorsky and Lupica 2008; Han and Li 2010). Millions of people—largely middle class, as measured by homeownership, occupational prestige, and educational levels (Warren and Thorne 2012)—have passed through the bankruptcy system in the past decade to manage the effects of financial disruption. Bankruptcy filers encounter more extreme problems than those experienced by other households that face difficult financial constraints but do not file for bankruptcy (Bucks 2012). Nonetheless, data on bankruptcy filers offer a rich picture of the circumstances that disrupt households and of filers' choices among credit and coping mechanisms. Medical problems provide a particularly compelling example of how unexpected financial outlays can combine with other destabilizing factors to affect household finances. This chapter draws on the 2007 Consumer Bankruptcy Project (2007 CBP) to further enrich the picture of medical-related financial trouble. 1 The 2007 CBP is the first academic effort to study bankruptcy filers in a true national sample, the first to capture several measures of out-of-pocket medical expense for the entire sample, and the first to examine the specific ways in which financially distressed households manage out-of-pocket medical obligations (Jacoby and Holman 2010).
Research on negative campaigning has largely overlooked the role of stereotypes. In this study, w... more Research on negative campaigning has largely overlooked the role of
stereotypes. In this study, we argue that the gender and partisan stereotypes associated with traits and policy issues interact with a candidate’s gender and partisanship to shape the effectiveness of campaign attacks. We draw on expectancy violation theory to argue that candidates may be evaluated more harshly when attacks suggest the candidate has violated stereotypic assumptions about their group. Thus, attacks on a candidate’s ‘‘home turf,’’ or those traits or issues traditionally associated with their party or gender, may be more effective in reducing support for the attacked candidate. We use two survey experiments to examine the effects of stereotype-based attacks—a Trait Attack Study and an Issue Attack Study. The results suggest that female candidates are particularly vulnerable to trait based attacks that challenge stereotypically feminine strengths. Both male and female candidates proved vulnerable to attacks on policy issues stereotypically associated with their party and gender, but the negative effects of all forms of stereotype-based attacks were especially large for democratic women. Our results offer new insights into the use of stereotypes in negative campaigning and their consequences for the electoral fortunes of political candidates.
The Catholic Church often plays a policy and mobilization role in American politics. We assess th... more The Catholic Church often plays a policy and mobilization role in American politics. We assess the degree to which the Catholic Church hierarchy – including national and state conferences of bishops – can provide uniform information to parishioners about political participation. Using a textual analysis of information distributed to parishioners in Florida in the 2012 election, we evaluate how much political information is conveyed to parishioners, the sources of this information, and the factors associated with higher or lower levels of information. While we find that most parishes provided information related to the election, there is wide diversity in the types and sources of information. And, while the Catholic hierarchy attempted to provide messaging about the importance of political participation, not all parishes complied with these efforts. Our findings are consistent with the ideas that the local community and hierarchical structure combine to shape the behavior of the parishes.
Women are underrepresented among political science faculty and leave academic careers at far grea... more Women are underrepresented among political science faculty and leave academic careers at far greater rates than their male colleagues. Women's lower research productivity is one reason for the declining number of women at advanced academic ranks. Mentoring can provide necessary advice and feedback to encourage scholarly production, but research shows that female scholars face challenges in traditional mentoring arrangements. We propose that peer mentoring can provide a missing link by supporting research productivity. Using a case study of an existing peer-mentoring group, we document how writing groups can provide flexible mechanisms for peer mentoring that circumvent the obstacles women face with mentoring and complement existing mentoring relationships. We discuss the structure of this group, as well as a survey-based assessment of it, to demonstrate how this approach can be readily adopted by other women in the profession seeking to expand their network of mentors to include peers in their subfield.
Research on evaluations of leaders has frequently found that female leaders receive lower ratings... more Research on evaluations of leaders has frequently found that female leaders receive lower ratings in times of national
security crisis. However, less is known about countervailing factors. We contend that partisanship and leadership
experience in relevant domains are two factors that can counteract the negative effects of terrorist threat on evaluations
of female political leaders. To test this expectation, we implemented a national study in 2012 containing terrorist threat
and non-threat conditions, and then asked participants to evaluate political leaders. The results show that Republican
leaders, including women, are unaffected by terrorist threat; in contrast, Democratic leaders are punished during times
of terrorist threat, but this negative effect is smaller for then-Secretary of State Hillary Clinton compared to Nancy
Pelosi, who lacks similar experience. In short, Republican partisanship is a strong countervailing factor, while leadership
experience in national security more modestly countervails.
This study synthesizes two theoretical literatures to explain gender differences in Twitter usage... more This study synthesizes two theoretical literatures to explain
gender differences in Twitter usage and effectiveness among
US Congressional candidates. The first suggests that candidates
in perceived disadvantaged positions, females in this
case, innovate to improve their chances of success, and the
second, that female politicians often adopt stereotypically masculine
behaviors to be successful. On the basis of these theories,
we hypothesize and confirm that female candidates are
more likely than males to integrate Twitter into their campaigns,
but our results are less conclusive regarding a difference
in the likelihood that females use negative campaigning
tactics via Twitter. Our results also indicate that those females
who use Twitter more than their male counterparts tended to
do better electorally, but this difference is conditional. Female
Republican candidates who tweeted more increased their vote
share, but the opposite is true for Democrats. We speculate
that this differential effect may be a product of different audiences
for social media in each party’s electorate.
Immigration enforcement and policy making has increasingly devolved to the local level in the Uni... more Immigration enforcement and policy making has increasingly devolved to the local level in the United States. American sheriffs present a unique opportunity to evaluate decisions made about immigration policies in the local context. In dealing with immigration concerns in their counties, sheriffs act both within the confines of federal and state mandates and as local policymakers. However, little research comprehensively assesses the role sheriffs play in immigration policy making. Using data from an original, national survey of more than five hundred elected sheriffs in the United States, we provide a broad account of sheriffs’ roles in immigration enforcement and policy making. Our research demonstrates that sheriffs’ ideology and personal characteristics shape their personal attitudes about immigrants. In
turn, these attitudes play a key role in influencing local enforcement decisions. Sheriffs’ immigration attitudes relate strongest to checks of the immigration status of witnesses and victims and those stopped for traffic violations or arrested for non-violent crimes. Our results demonstrate the important role of the sheriff in understanding local variation in immigration policy and the connection between the personal preferences of representatives and policy making that can emerge across policy environments and levels of government.
Political institutions in the U.S. continue to be dominated by men. Media and scholarly accounts ... more Political institutions in the U.S. continue to be dominated by men.
Media and scholarly accounts often focus on how demand factors,
such as political parties and elite networks, and supply factors,
such as women’s self-confidence and political interest, combine to
depress women’s representation. Yet, we know little about
whether these narratives matter for women’s political ambition or
how they might influence women of color. We demonstrate that
blaming women’s underrepresentation on supply vs. demand
causes clear changes in women’s political ambition. Attributing
women’s lack of parity to demand factors allows white and Asian
women to “discount” the possibility that failure rests on their own
abilities, thus increasing women’s political ambition. Alternatively,
framing women’s underrepresentation as due to supply factors
depresses white and Asian women’s political ambition possibly
because of stereotype threat. Black women respond in an
opposite manner, with depressed political ambition in demand
scenarios, while Latinas are unaffected by these narratives. Our
findings contribute to understanding how frames intersect with
racial and ethnic identity to influence political ambition.
Religious identity serves as a central cleavage in American politics. However, little attention h... more Religious identity serves as a central cleavage in American politics. However, little attention has been granted to how gendered views of authority conveyed in religious doctrine shape political identities and attitudes. Using a nation-wide sample of adult Americans, we demonstrate that gendered notions of divine and human authority exert considerable influence on political thinking. In particular, belief in a masculine God and preferences for traditional gender roles strongly relate to political conservatism. Adherence to gendered notions of authority influences political identity and policy preferences, even when controlling for more conventional indicators of religiosity. Accounting for gendered beliefs about authority also partially explains well-documented gender gaps in American politics, providing insight into women’s apparently contradictory tendencies toward both political liberalism and religiosity. The relationships uncovered here, coupled with the continued salience of both gender and religion in contemporary political campaigns, underscore the importance of attending to the gendered dimensions of authority.
Organized religion affords the faithful a variety of civic skills that encourage political partic... more Organized religion affords the faithful a variety of civic skills that encourage political participation. Women are more religious than are men by most measures, but religious women do not participate in politics at elevated rates. This discrepancy suggests a puzzle: religion may have a different effect on the political mobilization of men and women. In the present paper, we explore the effect of biblical literalism—a widespread belief that the Bible is the actual word of God, to be taken literally—on political participation. Using the 2012 American National Election Study, we find support for our two hypotheses: (a) biblical literalism is associated with lower levels of gender consciousness, as measured by perceptions of discrimination and strength of ties to women as a group, and (b) reductions in these two factors account for lower political participation among women. Our findings provide new insights into the ways religious and gender identities intersect to influence political mobilization among women, with interesting implications for an American political climate where gender and religion both represent fundamental identities that shape political behavior.
Campaigns invoke identity appeals to specific groups of voters, including women. To understand wh... more Campaigns invoke identity appeals to specific groups of voters, including women. To understand whether these
campaign appeals matter in affecting voters’ choices, we must better understand how women respond to these
appeals, the causal mechanism driving responses, and whether male and female candidates can use these ads with equal
effectiveness. Using a nationally representative sample of American voters and an experimental design, we test an
identity-based appeal aimed at women. We find that, although candidates of either gender can use these ads to affect
women’s votes, only female candidates are able to prime female voters’ gender identity. The use of these appeals by
male candidates persuades female voters of their positive traits. Male voters are generally unaffected by the appeals.
Given the integration of women and men in the general population, our results demonstrate the utility of targeted
appeals in encouraging support from a specific group and avoiding backlash from others.
How does the threat of terrorism affect evaluations of female (vs. male) political leaders, and d... more How does the threat of terrorism affect evaluations of female (vs. male) political leaders, and do these effects vary by
the politician’s partisanship? Using two national surveys, we document a propensity for the U.S. public to prefer male
Republican leadership the most in times of security threat, and female Democratic leadership the least. We theorize
a causal process by which terrorist threat influences the effect of stereotypes on candidate evaluations conditional
on politician partisanship. We test this framework with an original experiment:a nationally representative sample was
presented with a mock election that varied the threat context and the gender and partisanship of the candidates. We
find that masculine stereotypes have a negative influence on both male and female Democratic candidates in good times
(thus reaffirming the primacy of party stereotypes), but only on the female Democratic candidate when terror threat
is primed. Republican candidates—both male and female—are unaffected by masculine stereotypes, regardless of the
threat environment.
Objective This article examines sheriffs’ attitudes and their offices’ policies concerning violen... more Objective
This article examines sheriffs’ attitudes and their offices’ policies concerning violence against women and assesses the connection between their attitudes and policies.
Methods
Using data from an original, national survey completed in the fall of 2012 of elected sheriffs (N = 553), we evaluate a battery of rape and domestic violence myths and examine the presence of various violence against women policies.
Results
We find that many sheriffs express belief in inaccurate myths concerning violence against women. We find strong connections between sheriffs’ attitudes about women's equality and their attitudes about violence against women. In turn, their attitudes about gender-based violence relate to training and policies for addressing these cases.
Conclusion
In an office like that of the sheriff, with both bureaucratic and political elements, attitudes of political leaders influence policies. Our findings suggest an important connection between elected officials’ attitudes and policy actions beyond the traditional legislative arena.
Politicians and leaders use metaphors and frames in political communication to provide citizens w... more Politicians and leaders use metaphors and frames in political communication to provide citizens with meaning, persuade, and promote emotional reactions. At the same time, a large body of scholarship documents the propensity for female leaders to “speak in a different voice” when in political office. Research to date on policy metaphors, however, rarely compares male and female leaders’ use of metaphors or evaluates the use of these metaphors in local politics. Using State of the City addresses from 16 cities to evaluate the connection between policy agendas, metaphors, and mayoral gender, I find that male and female leaders emphasize similar issues in their speeches, but use different frames to present these issues, with female leaders using more nurturing framing than do male leaders. In addition, while both male and female mayors emphasize economic development as the central issue in their speeches, female mayors use more inclusive framing in these discussions.
We provide a novel approach to understanding the political ambition gap between men and women by ... more We provide a novel approach to understanding the political ambition gap between men and women by
examining perceptions of the role of politician. Across three studies, we find that political careers are viewed
as fulfilling power-related goals, such as self-promotion and competition. We connect these goals to a
tolerance for interpersonal conflict and both of these factors to political ambition. Women’s lack of interest in
conflict and power-related activities mediates the relationship between gender and political ambition. In an
experiment, we show that framing a political career as fulfilling communal goals—and not power-related
goals—reduces the ambition gap.
In this article, we develop an argument for better integrating the political science curricula on... more In this article, we develop an argument for better integrating the political science curricula on methodology with gender politics. We demonstrate how these two areas are presently distinct and nonoverlapping with an analysis of commonly used methodology and women and politics textbooks. We examine the implications of these results for female students’ engagement with political methodology—an area in which women are persistently underrepresented—by drawing on research from STEM educators. Stereotype threat (Steele 1997; Steele and Aronson 1995) provides a framework for thinking about the myriad of ways the curriculum influences learning outcomes for female students and highlights the utility of greater crossover between the two subject areas. To facilitate better integration of methodology and gender politics, we identify opportunities for instructors to incorporate methods into courses on gender and gender into courses on methods. We also develop a number of different in-class activities and resources to help faculty to bridge the gap between gender and methodology.
Research on negative campaigning has largely overlooked the role of stereotypes. In this study, w... more Research on negative campaigning has largely overlooked the role of stereotypes. In this study, we argue that the gendered and partisan nature of traits and policy issues interact with a candidate's gender and partisanship to shape the effectiveness of negative messages. We draw on expectancy-violation theory to argue that candidates may be evaluated more harshly when attacks suggest the candidate has violated stereotypic assumptions about their group. Thus, attacks on a candidate's " home turf, " or those traits or issues traditionally associated with their party or gender, may be more effective in reducing support for the attacked candidate. We use two survey experiments to examine the effects of stereotype-based attacks – a Trait Attack Study and an Issue Attack Study. The results suggest that female candidates are particularly vulnerable to trait based attacks that challenge stereotypes associated with women and the Democratic Party. The negative effects of all forms of stereotype-based attacks were especially large for Democratic women. Both male and female candidates proved vulnerable to attacks on policy issues stereotypically associated with their party and gender. Our results offer new insights into the use of stereotypes in negative campaigning and their consequences for the electoral fortunes of political candidates.