Political Women and American Democracy

This book provides a critical synthesis of scholarly research on women in American politics.

Christina Wolbrecht (Author), Karen Beckwith (Author), Lisa Baldez (Author)

9780521713849, Cambridge University Press

Paperback, published 24 March 2008

278 pages
23.4 x 16 x 1.8 cm, 0.4 kg

'Thorough and insightful, this edited collection will benefit scholars at every level of expertise. It is a must-read for gender and politics scholars. However, it should be a must-read for every scholar whose work touches on US electoral and legislative politics. … If the potential of Political Women and American Democracy is ultimately recognised, its influence will ultimately go beyond the gender and politics subfield, to shape the work of the broader US politics field, inspiring scholars previously unaware of gender's centrality to their own work to think in new ways.' Politics and Gender

What do we know about women, politics, and democracy in the United States? The last thirty years have witnessed a remarkable increase in women's participation in American politics and an explosion of research on female political actors, and the transformations effected by them, during the same period. Political Women and American Democracy provides a critical synthesis of scholarly research by leading experts in the field. The collected essays examine women as citizens, voters, participants, movement activists, partisans, candidates, and legislators. The authors provide frameworks for understanding and organizing existing scholarship; focus on theoretical, methodological, and empirical debates; and map out productive directions for future research. Political Women and American Democracy is an invaluable resource for scholars and students studying and conducting women and politics research.

1. Introduction: what we saw at the Revolution: women in American politics and political science Christina Wolbrecht
2. Gender as a category of political analysis in American political development Gretchen Ritter
3. Gender, public opinion, and political reasoning Leonie Huddy, Erin Cassese, and Mary-Kate Lizotte
4. Gender in the aggregate, gender in the individual, gender and political action Nancy Burns
5. What revolution? Incorporating intersectionality in women and politics Jane Junn and Nadia Brown
6. Women's movements and women in movements: influencing American democracy from the 'outside'? Lee Ann Banaszak
7. Representation by gender and parties Kira Sanbonmatsu
8. Women as candidates in American politics: the continuing impact of sex and gender Kathleen Dolan
9. Women as office holders: linking descriptive and substantive representation Beth Reingold
10. Theorizing women's representation in the United States Suzanne Dovi
11. Political women in comparative democracies: a primer for Americanists Lisa Baldez
Conclusion: between participation and representation: political women and democracy in the United States Karen Beckwith.

Subject Areas: Comparative politics [JPB], Sociology [JHB], Gender studies: women [JFSJ1]