It Still Takes a Candidate: Why Women Don't Run for Office

by Jennifer L. Lawless , Richard L. Fox

• ISBN13: 9780521179249
• ISBN10: 0521179246
• Edition: 2nd
• Format: Paperback
• Copyright: 2010-06-21
• Publisher: Cambridge University Press

Summary

It Still Takes a Candidate serves as the only systematic, nationwide empirical account of the manner in which gender affects political ambition. Based on data from the Citizen Political Ambition Panel Study, a national survey conducted of almost 3,800 "potential candidates" in 2001 and a second survey of more than 2,000 of these same individuals in 2008, Jennifer L. Lawless and Richard L. Fox find that women, even in the highest tiers of professional accomplishment, are substantially less likely than men to demonstrate ambition to seek elective office. Women are less likely than men to be recruited to run for office. They are less likely than men to think they are qualified to run for office. And they are less likely than men to express a willingness to run for office in the future. This gender gap in political ambition persists across generations and over time. Despite cultural evolution and society's changing attitudes toward women in politics, running for public office remains a much less attractive and feasible endeavor for women than men.

Author Biography

Jennifer L. Lawless is Associate Professor of Government at American University, where she is also the Director of the Women Politics Institute. Richard L. Fox is Associate Professor of Political Science at Loyola Marymount University.

Table of Contents

List of Tables	p. ix
List of Figures	p. xi
Acknowledgments	p. xiii
Electoral Politics: Still a Man's World?	p. 1
Representation, Equality, and the Study of Gender in Electoral Politics	p. 5
Traditional Gender Socialization in the Context of U.S. Politics: The Central Argument and Its Implications	p. 8
Traditional Family Role Orientations	p. 9
Masculinized Ethos	p. 10
Gendered Psyche	p. 12
Organization of the Book	p. 14
Explaining Women's Emergence in the Political Arena	p. 18
Women and Elective Office: The Numbers	p. 20
Existing Explanations for Women's Underrepresentation	p. 22
Societal Rejection and Cultural Evolution: The Discrimination Explanation	p. 24
Institutional Inertia: The Incumbency Explanation	p. 28
The Candidate Eligibility Pool: The Pipeline Explanation	p. 30
The Missing Piece: Developing a Theory of Gender and Political Ambition	p. 33
The Citizen Political Ambition Panel Study	p. 36
The Gender Gap in Political Ambition	p. 44
Very Much the Same: Gender, Political Participation, Proximity, and Interest	p. 46
Very Much Different: Gender and Political Ambition	p. 49
Considering a Candidacy	p. 50
Deciding to Enter the First Race	p. 55
The Persistent Winnowing Effect	p. 56
The Gender Gap in Elective Office Preferences	p. 57
Conclusion	p. 59
Barefoot, Pregnant, and Holding a Law Degree: Family Dynamics and Running for Office	p. 61
Raised to Be a Candidate?	p. 64
Eligible Candidates' Family Structures and Roles	p. 69
Wife, Mother, and Candidate? Family Roles as Impediments to Political Ambition	p. 76
Are Times Changing? Generational Differences in Political Ambition	p. 84
Conclusion	p. 87
Gender, Party, and Political Recruitment	p. 89
Eligible Candidates' Political Attitudes and Partisanship	p. 91
Who Gets Asked to Run for Office?	p. 95
The Gender Gap in Political Recruitment	p. 97
The Role of Women's Organizations	p. 103
Political Recruitment and Considering a Candidacy	p. 106
Conclusion	p. 110
"I'm Just Not Qualified": Gendered Self-Perceptions of Candidate Viability	p. 112
The Gender Gap in Self-Perceived Qualifications and Its Impact on Political Ambition	p. 114
Explanations for the Gender Gap in Self-Perceived Qualifications	p. 122
The Sexist Environment	p. 122
Gender Differences in Defining Political Qualifications	p. 126
Different Yardsticks for Gauging Political Qualifications	p. 131
Conclusion	p. 134
Taking the Plunge: Deciding to Run for Office	p. 136
Why Would Anyone Run for Office? Negative Perceptions of the Electoral Environment and the Campaign Process	p. 138
Gender and the Decision to Enter a Race	p. 145
A Side Note on Political Culture and Structural Factors	p. 154
Prospective Interest in Running for Office	p. 157
Conclusion	p. 161
Gender and the Future of Electoral Politics	p. 163
Summarizing the Findings and Forecasting Women's Representation	p. 164
Recasting the Study of Gender and Elections	p. 171
	p. 177
The First-Wave Survey (2001)	p. 180
The Second-Wave Survey (2008)	p. 191
The Interview Questionnaire	p. 202
Variable Coding	p. 207
Works Cited	p. 213
Index	p. 231
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