Honors Theses
Date of Award
Spring 5-9-2024
Document Type
Undergraduate Thesis
Department
Political Science
First Advisor
Robert Brown
Second Advisor
Jonathan Winburn
Third Advisor
Stephanie Otts
Relational Format
Dissertation/Thesis
Abstract
As the significance of climate change and other environmental issues escalates, it becomes imperative for lawmakers to address these pressing challenges. At the same time, our country is slowly electing more women to office, and legislatures are becoming more representative of their constituencies. In my research, I investigate whether greater gender representation influences the adoption of environmental policies in the context of U.S. state legislatures. The study begins by examining descriptive representation and its relationship to substantive representation, highlighting how the presence of women in legislative offices can impact policy outcomes. Drawing on research that shows a gender gap between women and men on environmental attitudes, as well as findings that female officeholders tend to prioritize issues relevant to women, I examine the relationship between the proportion of female state legislators and the implementation of climate change policies in the U.S. for the years 2013-2023. By assessing the relationship between the women in state legislatures and climate change policy enactments for each state—gathered from the Climate XChange State Climate Policy Dashboard—I find support for my hypothesis. The findings indicate that as more women are elected to state legislatures, more climate change policy will be produced. These results suggest that women have a vital role to play in the development of environmental policy.
Recommended Citation
McGill, Isabelle, "Breaking the Green Ceiling: A Study on the Impact of State Legislatures' Gender Representation on the Implementation of Environmental Policy" (2024). Honors Theses. 3051.
https://egrove.olemiss.edu/hon_thesis/3051
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