ABSTRACT
Since the traits of a woman and a politician are generally perceived to be antithetical, a woman politician must confront the question of how to be an effective lawmaker after she wins an election. A significant factor that directly affects the professional life of women legislators is that the process of decision making in Korean political culture is from the top down, and that personal factors rather than the intrinsic merits of an issue or policy often influence decisions. Behavioral consequences of the alternating strategy are contrastive, gender-based patterns of social behavior that befit different spheres and situations. Employing men rather than women as their personal assistants or secretaries seemed to offer a practical advantage for women legislators, since their male aides could more easily gather political information through informal contacts with their counterparts among male politicians.
