RACE TRUMPS GENDER - WOMEN, AFRICAN-AMERICANS, AND THE SENATE CONFIRMATION OF THOMAS,CLARENCE

In this article the authors examine with greater precision the impacts of various constituencies in the struggle over the confirmation of Cl arence Thomas to the Supreme Court. Using multivariate logistical regr ession models, they challenge the conventional interpretation that rac ial constituency concerns 'trumped'' gender constituency concerns in t he voting decisions of senators. Rather, their findings indicate that senators from states with more professionalized female workforces were more, not less, likely to vote in favor of Thomas's confirmation. In a concluding section, they provide an explanation for these findings a nd discuss their implications.