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

by Jennifer L. Lawless , Richard L. Fox

• ISBN13: 9780521857451
• ISBN10: 0521857457
• Format: Hardcover
• Copyright: 2005-09-12
• Publisher: Cambridge University Press

Summary

It Takes a Candidate serves as the first systematic, nationwide empirical account of the manner in which gender affects political ambition. Based on data from the Citizen Political Ambition Study, a national survey conducted on almost 3,800 'potential candidates', we find that women, even in the highest tiers of professional accomplishment, are substantially less likely than men to demonstrate ambition to seek elected 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. 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.

Table of Contents

List of Tables	ix
List of Figures	xi
Acknowledgments	xiii
1 Electoral Politics: Still a Man's World?
Representation, Equality, and the Study of Gender in Electoral Politics	4	(3)
Traditional Gender Socialization in the Context of U.S. Politics: The Central Argument and Its Implications	7	(1)
Traditional Family Role Orientations	8	(1)
Masculinized Ethos	9	(2)
Gendered Psyche	11	(2)
Organization of the Book	13	(3)
2 Explaining Women's Emergence in the Political Arena	16	(21)
Women and Elective Politics: The Numbers	19	(1)
Existing Explanations for Women's Underrepresentation	19	(2)
Societal Rejection and Cultural Evolution: The Discrimination Explanation	21	(4)
Institutional Inertia: The Incumbency Explanation	25	(1)
The Candidate Eligibility Pool: The Pipeline Explanation	26	(2)
The Missing Piece: Developing a Theory of Gender and Political Ambition	28	(4)
The Citizen Political Ambition Study	32	(5)
3 The Gender Gap in Political Ambition	37	(14)
Very Much the Same: Gender, Political Participation, and Political Interest	38	(4)
Very Much Different: Gender and Political Ambition	42	(1)
Stage One: Considering a Candidacy	43	(4)
Stage Two: Deciding to Enter the First Race	47	(1)
The "Winnowing Effect"	47	(1)
The Gender Gap in Elective Office Preferences	48	(2)
Conclusion	50	(1)
4 Barefoot, Pregnant, and Holding a Law Degree: Family Dynamics and Running for Office	51	(24)
Raised to Be a Candidate?	53	(5)
Eligible Candidates' Family Structures and Roles	58	(6)
Wife, Mother, and Candidate? Family Roles as Impediments to Political Ambition	64	(6)
Are Times Changing? Generational Differences in Political Ambition	70	(3)
Conclusion	73	(2)
5 Gender, Party, and Political Recruitment	75	(20)
Eligible Candidates' Political Attitudes and Partisanship	78	(5)
Who Gets Asked to Run for Office?	83	(6)
Political Recruitment and Considering a Candidacy	89	(4)
Conclusion	93	(2)
6 "I'm Just Not Qualified": Gendered Self-Perceptions of Candidate Viability	95	(23)
The Impact of Self-Perceived Qualifications on Political Ambition	96	(6)
Explanations for the Gender Gap in Self-Perceived Qualifications	102	(1)
The Sexist Environment	103	(6)
Gender Differences in Defining Political Qualifications	109	(5)
Different Yardsticks for Gauging Political Qualifications	114	(2)
Conclusion	116	(2)
7 Taking the Plunge: Deciding to Run for Office	118	(27)
Why Would Anyone Run for Office? Negative Perceptions of the Electoral Environment and Campaign Process	120	(7)
Gender and the Decision to Enter a Race	127	(9)
A Side Note on Political Culture and "Structural" Factors	136	(3)
Prospective Interest in Running for Office	139	(4)
Conclusion	143	(2)
8 Gender and the Future of Electoral Politics	145	(12)
Summarizing the Findings and Forecasting Women's Representation	146	(7)
Recasting the Study of Gender and Elections	153	(4)
Appendix A: The Citizen Political Ambition Study Sample Design and Data Collection	157	(3)
Appendix B: The Survey	160	(11)
Appendix C: The Interview Questionnaire	171	(5)
Appendix D: Variable Coding	176	(5)
Works Cited	181	(14)
Index	195