Candidate Recruitment

  • Gender Pools and Puzzles: Charting a 'Women's Path' to the Legislature

    by Kira Sanbonmatsu
    Politics & Gender 2006, Volume 2 (September)

    The “social eligibility pool” stands as one of the most common, and most powerful, explanations for women's underrepresentation in elective office. In this article, Sanbonmatsu revisits the eligibility pool account of women's representation and argues that it has significant shortcomings as a causal explanation. She proposes that scholars direct their attention to how changes occur in beliefs about the types of backgrounds that are thought to be desirable in politicians—the “informal qualifications” for public office. She suggests that scholars work to identify the conditions under which women can take a “women's path” to the legislature from

    Article
    Research
    CAWP Scholar
    Candidate Recruitment
    State Legislature
  • Where Women Run: Gender and Party in the American States

    by Kira Sanbonmatsu 
    University of Michigan Press, 2006, 264 pages

    Drawing on surveys and case studies of party leaders and legislators in six states, the author analyzes the links between parties and representation, exposing the mechanism by which parties’ informal recruitment practices shape who runs – or doesn’t run – for political office in the United States. 

    Book
    Research
    CAWP Scholar
    Political Parties
    Candidates and Campaigns
    Candidate Recruitment
  • Women in State Government: Historical Overview and Current Trends

    by Susan J. Carroll 
    Chapter in The Book of the States, edited by The Council of State Governments, 2004

    Women have significantly increased their numbers among state government officials over the past several decades. However, despite a recent increase in the number of women governors, women’s progress, especially at the statewide elective and state legislative levels, has slowed. The future for women in state government would seem to depend, at least in part, upon the strength of efforts to actively recruit women for elective and appointive positions.

    Article
    Research
    CAWP Scholar
    Candidate Recruitment
    Women Political Appointees
    Impact of Women Public Officials
    State Legislature
    Statewide Executive
  • Candidate Recruitment and Women's Election to the State Legislatures

    by Kira Sanbonmatsu
    Center for American Women and Politics, Eagleton Institute of Politics, Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey, 2003, 47 pages

    This report points out that where women run is a critical but overlooked question in studies on women’s successes in running for office. The report finds that candidate emergence and recruitment differs across states. To varying degrees, party recruitment, beliefs about women’s electability, interest groups, and the presence of women legislators, women leaders, and women’s organizations in a state all play a role in the likelihood of a woman running for the legislature.

    Report
    Research
    CAWP Scholar
    Political Parties
    Candidates and Campaigns
    Candidate Recruitment
  • Women and American Politics: New Questions, New Directions

    Edited by Susan J. Carroll 
    Oxford University Press, 2003, 262 pages

    This volume presents a research agenda, developed by leading scholars of American politics, suggesting directions that could fruitfully shape the study of women and American politics in the early twenty-first century. Contributors suggest approaches, methods, and topics for future research on political recruitment, campaign strategy, money, political leadership, parties and women's organizations, the gender gap in voting and public opinion, media, women of color, and participation outside of conventional electoral politics.

    Book
    Research
    CAWP Scholar
    Political Parties
    Civic and Political Activism
    Candidates and Campaigns
    Candidate Recruitment
    Gender and Race/Ethnicity
    Women Voters and the Gender Gap
  • Gender, Political Ambition, and the Initial Decision to Run for Office

    by Richard L. Fox 
    Center for American Women and Politics, Eagleton Institute of Politics, Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey, 2003, 14 pages 

    Funding for this report was provided by the Center for American Women and Politics, Rutgers University. The report sheds light on how women and men think about running for office and the manner in which their attitudes will affect the future prospects of gender parity in U.S. governing bodies. Fox concentrates his research on factors such as age, party affiliation, personal income, external support, and notoriety.

    Article
    Research
    Candidates and Campaigns
    Candidate Recruitment
  • "Political Parties and the Recruitment of Women to State Legislatures"

    by Kira Sanbonmatsu
    Journal of Politics 2002, Volume 64 (August)

    This article analyzes the role of political parties in shaping women's representation across the U.S. states. 

    Article
    Research
    CAWP Scholar
    Political Parties
    Candidate Recruitment
    State Legislature
  • Women and American Politics: A Research Agenda for the 21st Century

    Center for American Women and Politics, Eagleton Institute of Politics, Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey, 1996, 29 pages 

    In April 1994, CAWP convened a group of 79 scholars, researchers, political practitioners, and activists to help identify existing gaps in our knowledge, discuss the reasons for the gaps, and imagine the kinds of research projects needed to address unanswered questions in our understanding of women's political behavior.

    Report
    Research
    Candidate Recruitment
    Candidates and Campaigns
    Civic and Political Activism
    Women Voters and the Gender Gap
  • Equality Deferred: Women Candidates for the New Jersey Assembly 1920-1993

    by Richard P. and Katheryne McCormick 
    Center for American Women and Politics, 1994, 49 pages 

    This report explores the history of women's candidacies for the New Jersey Assembly and analyzes some of the reasons for the status of women as office-seekers in the state. 

    Report
    New Jersey
    Research
    Candidates and Campaigns
    Candidate Recruitment
    State Legislature
  • Women as Candidates in American Politics

    by Susan J. Carroll
    Indiana University Press, 1994, second edition, 264 pages

    This book examines political parties' recruitment of women candidates, the factors that affect the outcomes of women's primary election campaigns, the future officeholding ambitions of women candidates, and women candidates' views on women's issues. 

    Book
    Research
    CAWP Scholar
    Candidates and Campaigns
    Candidate Recruitment