Gender and Voting Decisions in the US Court of Appeals: Testing Critical Mass Theory

Although a wide body of research examines whether gender influences judicial decisions, past studies do not analyze whether a critical mass of female judges affects the voting behavior of the US court of appeals. To address this gap in the existing literature, I examine whether a critical mass of female judges influences the voting decisions of court of appeals judges in civil rights and economic activity cases. Providing support for critical mass theory, I find that female judges are more likely to vote liberally in civil rights and economic activity cases when there is a critical mass of female judges.