Research and Scholarship

This comprehensive report provides a historical outline of black women’s struggle for political representation and discusses the current landscape of political leadership for black women across the country as well as their growing political influence. It demonstrates the need for greater engagement, recruitment, and inclusion of black women in politics and government.

Women and men are political actors with distinct political preferences. These differences – or gender gaps – emerged in the 1980s and have been persistent since then in vote choice, party identification, and presidential performance ratings. In its latest edition of "A Closer Look," CAWP highlights what we know about gender gaps and asks key questions about potential gender differences in voting in 2014.

Polling data from 1981-2014 on differences between men and women on party identification and presidential performance ratings, from Ronald Reagan through Barack Obama.

Includes listing of percentages of men and women voting in presidential and non-presidential years from 1964 through 2012 and voter registration numbers from 1984 through 2012. Also includes a break down of differences between men and women voting by racial category (1984 - 2012) and age (1996 and 2012).

This book is part of the CAWP Series in Gender and American Politics published by the University of Michigan Press in association with CAWP. Greenlee investigates the complex relationship between motherhood and women's political attitudes.

This book is part of the CAWP Series in Gender and American Politics published by the University of Michigan Press in association with CAWP. Fridkin and Kenney examine in detail senators' official websites,  press releases and local news stories, as well as surveys of citizens to discern constituents' attitudes about their senators.    

What's the outlook for women running for the U.S. Senate in 2014 and how does it compare with past years? Find out in the Center for American Women and Politics' (CAWP) latest Closer Look research brief. In its latest edition of "A Closer Look," CAWP reports that with 34 gubernatorial races across the country, 29 women in 18 states have indicated that they are likely candidates. The brief highlights key races, sets the 2014 elections in the context of past records for women candidates, and outlines the importance of having more women senators.