How Dramatically Did Women's Suffrage Change the Size and Scope of Government?
JOHN R. LOTT, JR.
Yale Law School
Journal of Political Economy, Vol. 107, Number 6, Part 1, pp. 1163-1198, December 1999
University of Chicago Law School, John M. Olin Law & Economics Working Paper No. 60
Date abstract first published in a SSRN Journal : May 14, 1999
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Abstract:
This paper examines the growth of government during this century as a result of giving women the right to vote. Using cross-sectional time-series data for 1870 to 1940, we examine state government expenditures and revenue as well as voting by U.S. House and Senate state delegations and the passage of a wide range of different state laws. Suffrage coincided with immediate increases in state government expenditures and revenue and more liberal voting patterns for federal representatives, and these effects continued growing over time as more women took advantage of the franchise. Contrary to many recent suggestions, the gender gap is not something that has arisen since the 1970s, and it helps explain why American government started growing when it did.
Accepted Paper Series
Contact Information for JOHN
R. LOTT, JR.
(Contact Author)
John.Lott@yale.edu (Email address for JOHN
R.
LOTT, JR.)
Yale Law School
P.O. Box 208215
New Haven, CT 06520-8215
USA
(203) 432-2366 (Phone)
(203) 432-8260 (Fax)
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