How Race and Gender Are Shaping Politics

Race, Gender & Political Representation Book with Photo of author Kerry Haynie
Originally from Kannapolis, North Carolina, Kerry L. Haynie is Associate Professor of Political Science and African & African American Studies at Duke University. His latest book is Race, Gender, and Political Representation: Toward a More Intersectional Approach, with coauthors Beth Reingold and Kirsten Widner. With the most diverse U.S. Congress to date currently in office, Duke Faculty Advancement asked him to share insights from his research and describe his latest project. Below are excerpts from our conversation.

Women of Color as Legislators

“I was working with a colleague who was working on women and legislators, and we decided to do a joint project. We published a piece early in our careers looking at the role of race and gender and representation; before that time, the conventional thinking was that race and gender didn’t matter that much in terms of how legislators did their job or what institutions produce.

“And what we found in those early studies is that both race and gender make a difference. Black legislators are more likely than others to introduce Black-interest legislation, and women legislators are more likely than their male counterparts to introduce women’s-interest legislation.

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