Full Description
In recent years the numbers of women serving in public offices at various levels of government have increased markedly. Is the increasing presence of women in public office making a difference? Are women public officials having a distinctive impact on public policy and the political process? These questions are central to the studies in The Impact of Women in Public Office. These studies examine the impact of women public officials serving in various offices and locales at local, state, and national levels. They are the product of a large, co-ordinated research project sponsored by the Centre for American Women and Politics (CAWP) at Rutgers University and funded by the Charles H. Revson Foundation. The subjects of these studies range from a single, very prominent U.S. Senator, who served in Congress from the early 1940s to the early 1970s, to local council members in a New Jersey county in the 1980s. They include state legislators from across the country. The research presented in this volume offers compelling evidence that women public officials do have a gender-related impact on public policy and the political process.Nevertheless, context matters; these studies demonstrate that the impact of women public officials varies considerably across political environments. Finally, the research in this volume suggests that identification with feminism and/or of particular racial or ethnic group also influence how and to what extent women public officials are making a difference. Contributors include Edith J. Barrett, Susan Abrams Beck, Janet K. Boles, Susan J. Carroll, Debra L. Dodson, Lyn Kathlene, Elaine Martin, Nancy E. McGlen, Meredith Reid Sarkees, Janann Sherman, Sue Thomas, Sue Tolleson-Rinehart, and Susan Welch.
Contents
ContentsAcknowledgmentsIntroduction, by Susan J. Carroll Part I. Impact of Women in State and Local Offices1. Representing Women: Women State Legislators as Agents of Policy-Related Change Susan J. Carroll2. Words that Matter: Women's Voice and Institutional Bias in Public Policy Formation Lyn Kathlene3. Acting as Women: The Effects and Limitations of Gender in Local Governance Susan Abrams Beck4. . Local Elected Women and Policymaking: Movement Delegates or Feminist Trustees? Janet K. BolesPart II. The Importance of Political Context5. "Senator-at-Large for America's Women": Margaret Chase Smith and the Paradox of Gender Affinity Janann Sherman6. Foreign Policy Decision Makers: The Impact of Gender Nancy E. McGlen and Meredith Reid Sarkees7. Do Women Leaders Make a Difference? Substance, Style and Perceptions Sue Tolleson-Rinehart8. The Impact of Women in State Legislatures: Numerical and Organizational Strength Sue Thomas and Susan WelchPart III. The Effects of Identity Politics9. Black Women in State Legislatures: The Relationship of Race and Gender to the Legislative Experience Edith J. Barrett10. Feminist Judges: Challenging the Status Quo Elaine Martin11. Acting for Women: Is What Legislators Say, What They Do? Debra L. Dodson ContributorsIndex
