Replication Data for: All Male Panels? Representation and Democratic Legitimacy

What does women’s presence in political decision-making bodies signal to citizens? Do these signals differ based on the body’s policy decisions? And do women and men respond to women’s presence similarly? Though scholars have demonstrated the substantive and symbolic benefits of women’s representation, little work has examined how women’s presence affects citizens’ perceptions of democratic legitimacy. We test the relationship between representation and legitimacy beliefs through survey experiments on a nationally representative sample of U.S. citizens. First, we find that women’s equal presence legitimizes decisions that go against women’s interests. We show suggestive evidence that this effect is particularly pronounced among men, who tend to hold less certain views on women’s rights. Second, across decision outcomes and issue areas, women’s equal presence legitimizes decision-making processes and confers institutional trust and acquiescence. These findings add new theoretical insights into how, when, and for whom inclusive representation increases perceptions of democratic legitimacy.

女性在政治决策机构中的任职，会向公民传递何种信号？此类信号是否会因决策机构的政策决议而异？女性与男性对女性任职的反应是否一致？尽管已有学者证实了女性代表制的实质性与象征性收益，但鲜有研究探讨女性任职会如何影响公民对民主合法性的认知。本研究依托针对美国公民的全国代表性样本开展的调查实验，检验代表制与合法性认知之间的关联。其一，研究发现女性的平等任职可使违背女性利益的决议获得合法性。我们还提供了提示性证据，表明该效应在男性群体中尤为显著——这类群体往往对女性权利议题的态度不够笃定。其二，无论决议结果与议题领域如何，女性的平等任职均可使决策过程获得合法性，并提升公众的制度信任与决策遵从度。本研究结果为包容性代表制在何种情境下、以何种路径、针对哪些群体提升公民对民主合法性的认知，提供了全新的理论视角。