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While there is much research examining gender gaps in political attitudes, there is less examining how gender gaps differ within social groups. This article helps fill that void by examining gender gaps among American Indians. Using two surveys, the initial findings suggest that among American Indians, women have a stronger American Indian identity, are more likely to support women's/compassion issues, and are more likely to be Democrats. It further finds that the gender gap in party is more likely the result of the gender gap in compassion issues than in American Indian identity. Additional analysis finds that among American Indians who prioritize their American Indian identity, the partisan gender gap is reversed, with men being significantly more likely to be Democrats. Although this study finds some similarities between the gaps among American Indians and whites, it also finds some unique gaps among American Indians. This suggests the need to look at the intersectionality of gender and social groups to fully understand the gender gaps.

AbstractPolicy representation requires legislators to advance the interests of their constituents. As a consequence, much research on representation examines the congruence between constituents' preferences and legislators' behaviors. This article argues it is more realistic to think of policy representation as listening—a process—than congruence—an outcome. Listening involves legislators monitoring constituent interests and using that information in making decisions. Using data from a survey of state legislators in 26 states, this research finds that monitoring contributes to using constituent information and offers a measure of listening based on these two behaviors. Furthermore, it finds that compared with the decisions of others, the decisions (measured as cosponsoring gay, lesbian, and bisexual [GLB] issue legislation) of legislators who listen are more strongly influenced by district preferences (measured as district votes on same-sex marriage ballot initiatives). This suggests that listening contributes to representation.

Objectives. This article updates and expands the research on sex differences in legislators' relationships with constituents. Methods. states is used to collect data on constituent-initiated contact, hours legislators spend keeping in touch with constituents or conducting casework, legislators' use of constituent information, and accuracy of legislators' perceptions of constituents. Results. The findings suggest that female legislators do not differ from male legislators in the time they spend contacting constituents or doing casework or in the accuracy of their perceptions of constituents. However, female legislators received more contact from constituents, and were more likely to attend meetings and use constituent-derived information. Conclusion. small effects on the amount of contact legislators have with constituents, it does affect the way legislators contact their constituents. This is likely because engagement has become an important role for legislators. Thus, while legislators all have to be actively engaged, they have some flexibility in how they engage with constituents. Adapted from the source document.