Female representation and legislative behavior in the Italian Parliament : 1987-2008

While dynamics in female legislative recruitment have been considered in several studies and researches about the Italian politics less attention has been paid to the legislative activity of women elected in the Italian parliament, and to whether it differs somehow from that of their male colleagues. Once elected in the parliament, do women MPs display, vis à vis men MPs, distinctive legislative interests? What type of priorities do they display in their legislative work? How do women’s priorities change as the number of women MPs increases over time? And if any, what is the impact of women MPs’ activity on the policy priorities embraced by men MPs? Through a quantitative analysis of the bills introduced in the Italian Chamber of deputies in six legislatures, over a time span of twenty years, this paper tries to answer these questions.