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Despite a growing body of literature examining the consequences of women’s inclusion among lobbyists, our understanding of the factors that lead to women’s initial emergence in the profession is limited. In this study, we propose that gender diversity among legislative targets incentivizes organized interests to hire women lobbyists, and thus helps...
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Context 1
... since our data come from lists of registered lobbyists, we control for total registration criteria, and two idiosyncratic registration procedures. Strickland (2019b) Table 2 presents statistical models predicting each of our four dependent variables. Model 1 presents results for the total number of women lobbyists in a state. ...Context 2
... findings mirror those displayed in Table 3 of the main text: the percent of women serving in partisan majorities is positively correlated with numbers of women lobbyists. We also find that women lobby contracts are correlated with women in partisan majorities. 2 These results, along with those presented in Table A2, lead us to conclude that partisan affiliations do not affect the link between legislative gender diversity and the prospects of women lobbyists. ...Citations
... Put simply, interest groups are likely to employ more female lobbyists if they deal with a more gender diverse set of policy-makers. Recent work has found evidence of this in the US: Strickland and Stauffer (2021) find that interest groups hire female lobbyists when working in more diverse legislatures. ...
... We argue that interest groups use gender as a heuristic to choose which individuals get more access (Strickland and Stauffer, 2021). There are three main reasons why female lobbyists are likelier to be given access by female policymakers. ...
... Second, policy-makers are likelier to give access to lobbyists with whom they share previous professional linkages (e.g. a lobbyist who interned at a policy-maker's office) or issue based connections (e.g. being part of a common advocacy coalition) (Krook and Mackay, 2011;Strickland and Stauffer, 2021). Female policy-makers are more likely to share these links with female lobbyists. ...
Gender equality in political representation is a cornerstone of contemporary democracies. Although much scholarly attention has been devoted to understanding gender inequality in government, less is known about gender representation within interest groups. We posit that gender representation in interest groups is influenced by the gender diversity of government officials. To test this hypothesis, we utilize a unique dataset that includes the gender composition of the entire population of government officials and interest group representatives in the European Union (EU). We examine it along with data from more than 4000 consultation meetings between lobbyists and EU officials. Using an instrumental variable design, we find that interest groups are more likely to engage female lobbyists when interacting with more gender-diverse policy-making bodies. Conceptually, this paper advances discussions on the link between political representation and gender mainstreaming. Empirically, it offers one of the first comprehensive analyses on the links between lobbyists access to government and gender.
... In the legislative context,Strickland and Stauffer (2022) argue that the presumed value that women place in gender diversity helps to explain hiring practices among lobbying firms in response to changes in legislative diversity.11 American Bar Association, First Year And Total J.D. Enrollment By Gender 1947-2011 1-2 (2011) (on file with authors 12 American Bar Association, First Year And Total J.D. Enrollment By Gender 1947-2011 1-2 (2011) (on file with authors)13 Only about 22 percent of equity partners and 32 percent of non-equity partners were women in 2022, and they constituted only 12 percent of managing partners, 28 percent of governing committee members, and 27 percent of practice group leaders. ...
Federal law clerks play a vital role in the development and implementation of the law. Yet, women remain underrepresented in these positions. We suggest that one reason for this underrepresentation may be differences in hiring practices among judges in the federal judiciary. Specifically, we hypothesize that male judges and conservative judges may be less likely to hire female law clerks than female judges and liberal judges for two reasons. First, gendered attitudes held by judges may make some judges prone to hire women and/or others more resistant to these hires. Second, due to ideological asymmetries between the law clerk pool and judges in the federal judiciary, conservative judges and male judges may be less likely to hire women law clerks. Using data on clerks hired in the federal judiciary between 1995 and 2005, we find support for both mechanisms.
... In other words, groups are not powerless to prevent shirking. Our findings join a growing list of studies that suggest that groups behave strategically when choosing which advocates to hire and that group resources and context matter for such hiring trends (see Strickland and Stauffer 2022;Strickland and Crosson 2023). 8 Indeed, in models not presented that examined numbers of tobacco lobbyists among only non-health interests, both professional and advocacy groups hired discernibly fewer tobacco lobbyists than institutions. ...
Lobbyists sometimes represent clients with seemingly adversarial policy interests. We seek to explain the occurrence of such ostensible conflicts of interest. In hiring lobbyists, interests encounter a tradeoff between access and agency. Although some lobbyists promise access to lawmakers, they may not lobby as contracted. Interests hire seemingly conflicted lobbyists more often when access is costlier and reputational risks are smaller. We examine the hiring of tobacco lobbyists by health interests, given the possibilities for shirking and reputational damage. We find that institutions such as hospitals hire tobacco lobbyists regularly and more often than membership-based health groups. Intergroup competition for access and lobby laws, especially anti-conflict laws, affect the use of tobacco lobbyists independent of rates of multi-client lobbying. Conflicts are more common today than ever but interests can protect themselves somewhat from opportunistic agents. Our findings also suggest that reforms can improve the representation of client interests.
... In the aggregate this implies that the gender diversity among lobbying teams receiving access will be a reflection of the gender diversity among policymakers. This aligns with findings from Strickland and Stauffer's (2022) study, which revealed a positive association between gender diversity among policymakers and the presence of female lobbyists and former women legislators transitioning into lobbying roles. Interest groups may strategically employ female lobbyists to reflect and respond to the diversity among policymakers. ...
... Such interest in lobbyist demographics highlights a shortcoming of scholarship on lobbying and organized interests: namely, a lack of information regarding the emergence of identity-based interest groups and historical and contemporary ethnic and racial diversity of lobbyists. To date, although there is considerable research on the gender diversity of American lobbyists (see Strickland and Stauffer 2022), as well as numerous case studies of civil rights advocacy efforts, scholars have paid little attention to how communities of organized interests and lobbyists have diversified along ethnic and racial dimensions. There are few estimates of how many lobbyists come from different backgrounds. ...
... Organized interests hired lobbyists to gain access, build relationships, and achieve influence (Wright 1989). Hiring advocates for access has been documented well for particular kinds of lobbyists, including revolving-door and women lobbyists (see Blanes i Vidal, Draca, and Fons-Rosen 2012;Strickland and Stauffer 2022). Interest groups hired lobbyists to achieve access. ...
... Existing research on the emergence of women lobbyists presents just such a linear narrative. These studies suggest that women gradually entered the lobby profession (diversification) and came to represent more clients (inclusion) with time (Bath, Gayvert-Owens, and Nownes 2005;Nownes and Freeman 1998), especially after the election of women to legislative office (Strickland and Stauffer 2022). In the case of nonwhite lobbyists, we expect the diversification of state legislatures improved both the diversity and inclusivity of communities of state lobbyists. ...
We examine the historical effects of ethnic and racial diversification among legislators on identity group mobilization and the hiring of nonwhite lobbyists. We propose that diversification among legislators encouraged identity groups to lobby, that these groups hired lobbyists who reflected their members’ identities, and that all interests also hired lobbyists who reflected the identities of new legislative targets. We apply a Bayesian estimation approach to infer the identities of lobbyists who were active in the American states over several decades. We find that the election of African Americans to state legislatures encouraged black identity groups to lobby, that all identity groups, including those representing Hispanics or Latinos, generally hired lobbyists who reflected their members’ identities, and that the election of Asian Americans to state legislatures encouraged interests generally to hire Asian-American lobbyists. Hispanic or Latino lobbyists gained clients in response to diversification in more Democratic legislatures.
... So, a study by LaPira et al. (2020, p. 820) notes that "Using data from more than 25,000 individuals registered to lobby the federal government from 2008 to 2015, we show that women account for 37% of the lobbyist population in Washington, that female lobbyists are more likely to work as in-house employees than for contract lobbying firms, and that the largest Washington lobbying firms are strongly biased towards employing men". This administrative activity carried out by women in the field of lobbying represents a challenge for the future of the profession and an emerging line of research on the effects of incorporating women as lobbyists (Strickland and Stauffer 2022;Junk et al. 2021;Lucas and Hyde 2012). ...
Public relations are fundamental in organisations to establish an adequate relationship between the company and its public, and in the field of relations with public authorities, lobbying has become a very important activity. Two types of action can be distinguished: direct lobbying and grassroots lobbying. The aim of this research is to determine the professional and academic profiles of Spanish lobbyists to determine which type of activity is most common. To achieve this, the professional profiles of 370 Spanish lobbyists were analysed on LinkedIn, and a questionnaire was sent to them to find out about their experience, academic background, and typical activities. The results indicate that Spanish lobbyists are organised around companies and consultancies specialising in political communication and communication advice. The need to formalise lobbying activity, explain its tasks, recognise the exercise of influence, and establish an official register is highlighted. Regarding academic training, new Spanish lobbyists have studied Communication with postgraduate degrees in Political Science and Sociology rather than legal studies, as previously thought. There is also a growing presence of women in this field. In addition, it was determined that 88% of Spanish lobbyists focus on direct lobbying, and only 12% focus on grassroots lobbying.
Recent reforms to the Canadian Senate have reduced partisanship in the upper house, where party discipline was already low and there is no electoral imperative. Without party directives, senators may have more latitude than members of Parliament to represent the interests of marginalized groups, including women’s groups. In this article, we ask: have women’s advocacy groups recognized the Senate as a promising venue for women’s substantive representation? Through an examination of lobbying records, we find that in the post-reform period, women’s groups devote a greater share of their advocacy to the Senate than to the House of Commons. These findings suggest that the affected representatives of women are engaged in strategic representational behaviour. Moreover, we find that senators who meet most often with women’s groups have been identified elsewhere as critical actors in women’s substantive representation. This article advances the study of women’s representation by making connections between critical actors and the affected representatives of women.
Women legislators face a variety of gendered barriers both outside and inside the legislature. Yet, little previous scholarship has quantitatively examined whether legislative insiders are biased against women and their accomplishments. We explore a new potential explanation for gender inequity in legislatures: that women in office may get less credit than men for similar achievements. If legislative insiders systematically undervalue women’s work, women will have a harder time gaining influence within the chamber; alternatively, those working in and with the legislature may be uniquely aware of the effort that goes into representational activities and can observe the work that women perform firsthand. To examine this question, we combine elite evaluations of legislators from the North Carolina General Assembly with data on committee assignments, legislative effectiveness, electoral performance, and more. We find little systematic evidence that women legislators’ accomplishments are valued less than those of the men with whom they serve.
We provide evidence that there are substantial racial and gender gaps among lobbyists. These gender and racial differences are also greater among conservative leaning groups. However, we show, these gaps are decreasing over time. Does demand for minority and female lobbyists play a role in these trends? Although previous work has highlighted the relative scarcity of women and minorities in positions leading to the lobbyist profession (supply), we know less about whether interest groups are interested in hiring qualified women and minorities for such positions (demand). Using a conjoint experiment embedded in a survey of individuals involved in hiring lobbyists, we find greater demand for female and minority lobbyists than for their male and White counterparts, especially among ideological liberals. Our work shows that the lobbying industry does not appear to discount the candidacies of potential female and minority lobbyists.
Turnover among legislators encourages lobbyists to exit their profession since turnover is associated with decreased wages and increased workplace stress for lobbyists. I examine the exits of 5566 lobbyists who registered in eighteen states in 1973. Turnover among legislators is associated with increased rates of exit among lobbyists. I also test for whether various individual traits determine exit. Contrary to expectations, former legislators who lobby are not more likely to exit in response to turnover among incumbents than other lobbyists, including turnover in the chambers in which they served. These findings suggest that legislator turnover ends relationships with lawmakers or reduces skills among lobbyists, but that non‐revolver lobbyists are more affected by such turnover than others. These findings matter for institutional reforms that affect legislative turnover, and the representation of organized interests.
