Credit Claiming from the U.S. House

Abstract

Drawing from David Mayhew’s concept of legislative credit claiming, the authors examine the ways in which male and female members of Congress engage in creditclaiming activities. Through content analysis of 116 newsletters sent out by male and female members of the 107th Congress, the authors focus on the frequency of credit claiming, the types of policy issues for which men and women most commonly take credit, and whether members of Congress share credit with other individuals or take sole credit for their accomplishments. They find that women take credit more often than do men but are more balanced in the types of issues they emphasize in their newsletters. In addition, women are less likely than men to share credit with others. These findings suggest that women are cognizant of voter stereotypes and behave in ways that counter any negative implications.