FROM CNN's Jack Cafferty:
Turns out you can add politics to the list of things that women do better than men. It's a long list.
[cnn-photo-caption image=http://i2.cdn.turner.com/cnn/2011/images/01/25/art.fem.politocian.jpg caption=""]
The Daily Beast reports on a new study that shows female politicians are among the most productive and persuasive ones in the country.
This research in the American Journal of Political Science is the first to compare the performance of male and female politicians. It shows women do a better job at securing pork for their home districts and shaping policy.
From 1984 to 2004, women politicians won about $50 million more a year for their districts than men did.
As for policy, women sponsored more bills and attracted more co-sponsors than their male counterparts. The female politicians' bills also made it further through the legislative process and got more media attention.
The authors say this is because women do a better job at "logrolling, agenda-setting, coalition building and other deal-making activities."
They suggest women make better politicians because they have to. Consider that women hold less than one in five of all national seats, so the ones who make it to Washington better be pretty good.
The study concludes that in order to overcome any bias against women in leadership roles, these female politicians have to work even harder to be seen as equals.
Sound familiar?
They call their study "The Jackie (and Jill) Robinson Effect," a reference to the first African-American player in Major League Baseball. He was also one of the greatest of all time.
The comparison here is that because of racism during Robinson's era, black baseball players had to be better than whites to make it to the big leagues.
Here’s my question to you: Why are women politicians more effective than men?
Interested to know which ones made it on air?
Ken in North Carolina writes:
Have you ever seen a nation send an all-women army into battle against women? You will not because they will go to war and come home a week later knowing how to get all the work done without guns, bullets and bombs. Women politicians are no different. They are good.
Daniel writes:
I think the study is biased and it's hard to make generalizations in any case. We have good men politicians and bad male politicians the same way we have good female politicians and Sarah Palin.
Ed in California writes:
Women are better survivors than men. A woman can out-think a man, every time. Women are more honest, more blunt and a lot more organized than men. They make way better decisions. It's too bad that politics is a "Boys Club". We all lose because of it!
Carol in Northampton, Massachusetts writes:
They are? I'm looking around. Hmmmm. No. Don't see that many effective women politicians. Very few men either. Effectiveness is not gender specific. It's person specific.
Kyle in California writes:
I believe women in politics and business feel they have to prove themselves to be accepted... I honestly think women can do a better job then men because they will attack their responsibilities with more professionalism and commitment. With that said, I don't want to see Hillary Clinton or Sarah Palin elected president.
Alex in Bremerton, Washington writes:
Remembering my six credit hours of psychology, women are generally more willing to compromise to achieve "half a loaf" results without burning bridges in the process. Men generally see any conflict as an "all or nothing" battle where winning is more important than achieving results.
Debbie in Charleston, South Carolina writes:
Women are more effective because we just get to work. We aren't hindered by the "mine is bigger than yours" mentality that men suffer from.
Rod in Chicago writes:
Oh brother. Another great question, Jack. This place is like the trailer park of political blogs.