On average, women in Congress are more effective lawmakersthan men

The growing representation of women in the House and Senate has spurred new questions about differences between male and female legislators. By tracking nearly 140,000 public bills introduced into the House from 1973 to 2008, Craig Volden, Alan E. Wiseman, and Dana E. Wittmer have been able to measure the effectiveness of legislators at moving their bills through the house. They find that on average, female legislators, especially those in the minority party, are more effective than men.