How Women Leaders Govern Differently

A record number of women currently serve in the United States Congress. They hold 23.5 percent of the 435 seats in the House of Representatives. And 26 out of the 100 members of the Senate are women.

However, the U.S. government still has a smaller percentage of female lawmakers than many other countries, including Mexico, Tunisia, Vietnam and Zimbabwe.

The Inter-Parliamentary Union tried to rate 193 countries by the number of women they have serving in national government positions. The United States finished in 76th place in the study.

The numbers are a little higher on the state government level; in 2019, about 29 percent of state legislators were women.

Two female members of the U.S. Senate -- Amy Klobuchar of Minnesota and Elizabeth Warren of Massachusetts – are among the candidates seeking to win the presidential nomination¹ of the Democratic Party. Some observers say the two are likely to be judged more critically than men during their efforts to become commander in chief.

"Women are expected to be twice as good," says Amanda Hunter. She is director of research and communications for the Barbara Lee Family Foundation. The organization aims to make sure women are equally represented in U.S. politics.

Women who are in office often change the nature of the political debate.

Former U.S. Senator Heidi Heitkamp says women in elected office often work on issues that are most important to families -- like paid family leave and security for retirees. They also take up issues like domestic violence and sexual abuse.

Heitkamp added, "I think there are a whole lot of things that are in the public...dialogue right now that would not be in that public dialogue if women weren't on the podium and on that stage."

Heitkamp, a Democrat² from North Dakota, served in the Senate from 2013 to 2019. During that time, she attended many dinners with female lawmakers from both major political parties. They worked together, for example, to avoid a federal government shutdown in 2013.

"A lot of women got into politics not -- I don't mean to generalize on men -- but not because they thought it was their destiny or they thought that the world couldn't survive without them," Heitkamp said. "Voters tend to believe that women are motivated not by power and ego³, but women are motivated because they want to see a change in the world."

A 2015 study found that female senators worked with each other more often, were more likely to work with members of other parties and were more active legislatively⁴ than male senators.

Right now, the country needs more female leaders, says Michael Steele of Maryland. He was the first African American to chair the Republican National Committee.

"Women tackle problems differently than men do," Steele noted⁵. "Our politics have gotten hot. Oftentimes, the cooler head is going to be the woman who comes to the table...and says, ‘You all need to grow up and start to bring things back to a rational point.'"

Words in This Story

domestic - adj. relating to or involving someone's home or family

dialogue -n. conversation between two or more people

podium - n. stand with a slanted⁶ surface that holds a book, notes, etc., for someone who is reading, speaking, or teaching

shutdown - n. the act of stopping the operation or activity of a business, machine, etc., for a period of time or forever

destiny - n. what happens in the future : the things that someone or something will experience in the future

tend - v. used to describe what often happens or what someone often does or is likely to do — followed by to + verb

motivate - v. to give (someone) a reason for doing something

ego - n. the opinion that you have about yourself

tackle - v. to deal with (something difficult)

rational - adj. based on facts or reason and not on emotions or feelings

1 nomination   

n.提名，任命，提名权

参考例句：

• John is favourite to get the nomination for club president.约翰最有希望被提名为俱乐部主席。
• Few people pronounced for his nomination.很少人表示赞成他的提名。

2 democrat   

n.民主主义者，民主人士；民主党党员

参考例句：

• The Democrat and the Public criticized each other.民主党人和共和党人互相攻击。
• About two years later,he was defeated by Democrat Jimmy Carter.大约两年后，他被民主党人杰米卡特击败。

3 ego   

n.自我，自己，自尊

参考例句：

• He is absolute ego in all thing.在所有的事情上他都绝对自我。
• She has been on an ego trip since she sang on television.她上电视台唱过歌之后就一直自吹自擂。

4 legislatively   

adv.立法地

参考例句：

• Indeed, experience with the legislatively imposed hybrid procedures has not been encouraging. 的确，立法规定的混合型程序的经历并不令人感到鼓舞。 来自英汉非文学 - 行政法
• The criminal pattern kidnapping and killing the kidnapped person is contained and aggravated crime legislatively. 从犯罪形态来看，“杀害被绑架人”的立法属于包容加重犯。 来自互联网

5 noted   

adj.著名的，知名的

参考例句：

• The local hotel is noted for its good table.当地的那家酒店以餐食精美而著称。
• Jim is noted for arriving late for work.吉姆上班迟到出了名。

6 slanted   

有偏见的； 倾斜的

参考例句：

• The sun slanted through the window. 太阳斜照进窗户。
• She had slanted brown eyes. 她有一双棕色的丹凤眼。