Women and Elective Office Past, Present, and Future

by Thomas, Sue; Wilcox, Clyde

• ISBN13: 9780195180824
• ISBN10: 0195180828
• Edition: 2nd
• Format: Hardcover
• Copyright: 2005-09-02
• Publisher: Oxford University Press

Summary

Since the publication of the first edition of this book, former U.S. Senator Carol Moseley Braun's campaign for the presidency in 2004 and the widespread discussion of a run in 2008 by Senator Hillary Rodham Clinton have significantly raised the profile of women on the national politicalstage. At the same time, progress in electing women to the U.S. Congress and state legislatures has stalled. The essays in Women and Elective Office: Past, Present and Future, which feature research on women as political candidates and officeholders, address this paradox. Recruitment patterns, mediaportrayals, and voter reactions to women candidates are analyzed along with the impact of women in office relative to the challenges they face. The 2nd edition includes increased coverage of women on the congressional level, women officeholders of color, and analysis of women parliamentariansworldwide. In total, Women and Elective Office offers a comprehensive look at the experiences and influence of women politicians today, while considering women's prospects for political leadership in the twenty-first century.

Author Biography

Sue Thomas is Senior Policy Researcher at Pacific Institute for Research and Evaluation. She has previously served as Director of Women's Studies at Georgetown University and is the author of How Women Legislate (OUP, 1994).

Clyde Wilcox is professor of government at Georgetown University. His most recent books include the Financiers of Congressional Elections: Investors, Ideologues, and Intimates, and Religion and Politics in Comparative Perspective: The One, the Few, and the Many.

Contributors include: Lisa Garcia Bedolla, Barbara Burrell, Debra L. Dodson, Kathleen Dolan, Georgia Duerst-Lahti, Michael J. Epstein, Kim Fridkin, Marcia L. Godwin, Ronald Inglehart, Lyn Kathlene, Carin Larson, Richard G. Niemi Barbara Norrander, Pippa Norris, Heather L. Ondercin, Lynda W. Powell, Cindy Simon Rosenthal, Jean Reith Schroedel, Michele L. Swers, Katherine Tate, Susan Welch, Janelle Wong, and Gina Serignese Woodall.

Table of Contents

Contributors	xi
Introduction	3	(194)
Sue Thomas
1 Campaign Financing: Women's Experience in the Modern Era	26	(15)
Barbara Burrell
2 How the Public Views Women Candidates	41	(19)
Kathleen Dolan
3 Women Candidates for Congress	60	(21)
Heather L. Ondercin and Susan Welch
4 Different Portraits, Different Leaders? Gender Differences in U.S. Senators' Presentation of Self	81	(13)
Kim L. Fridkin and Gina Serignese Woodall
5 Do Women and Men State Legislators Differ?	94	(16)
Michael J. Epstein, Richard G. Niemi, and Lynda W. Powell
6 Women in Congress: Do They Act as Advocates for Women's Issues?	110	(19)
Michele L. Swers and Cohn Larson
7 Making a Difference: Behind the Scenes	129	(23)
Debra L. Dodson
8 Indelible Effects: The Impact of Women of Color in the U.S. Congress	152	(24)
Lisa Garcia Bedolla, Katherine Tate, and Janelle Wong
9 Change in Continuity in the Geography of Women State Legislators	176	(21)
Barbara Norrander and Clyde Wilcox
10 Women Leading Legislatures: Getting There and Getting Things Done	197	(16)
Cindy Simon Rosenthal
11 In a Different Voice: Women and the Policy Process	213	(17)
Lyn Kathlene
12 Institutional Gendering: Theoretical Insights into the Environment of Women Officeholders	230	(14)
Georgia Duerst-Lahti
13 Women as Political Leaders Worldwide: Cultural Barriers and Opportunities	244	(20)
Pippo Norris and Ronald Inglehart
14 Prospects for Cracking the Political Glass Ceiling: The Future of Women Officeholders in the Twenty-first Century	264	(17)
Jean Reith Schroedel and Marcia L. Godwin
References	281	(30)
Index	311