Political Parties
Do Parties Know that ‘Women Win’? Party Leader Beliefs about Women’s Electoral Chances
by Kira Sanbonmatsu
Politics & Gender 2006 (December)
In an analysis of state legislative election results, the author finds few gender differences in candidates' vote share and success rates—two widely used measures of the status of women candidates. Yet many party leaders report that one gender has an electoral advantage. These party leader perceptions are related to the objective measures of women's electoral success to some extent. However, most analyses reveal a gap between elite perceptions and objective measures of women's status as candidates. This disjuncture suggests that scholars may have overestimated the extent of party leader and voter support for women.
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.
Gender and Elections: Shaping the Future of American Politics, 1st Edition
Eds. Susan J. Carroll, CAWP, Rutgers University and Richard L. Fox, Union College, New York
Cambridge University Press, 2005 First Edition, 240 pages
Gender and Elections offers a systematic, lively, multi-faceted account of the role of gender in the electoral process through the 2004 elections. This volume strikes a balance between highlighting the most important developments for women as voters and candidates in the 2004 elections and providing a more long-term, in-depth analysis of the ways that gender has helped shape the contours and outcomes of electoral politics in the United States. Individual chapters demonstrate the importance of gender in understanding and interpreting presidential elections, voter participation and turnout, voting choices, congressional elections, the participation of African American women, the support of political parties and women's organizations, candidate communications with voters, and state elections.
Democrats, Republicans, and the Politics of Women’s Place
by Kira Sanbonmatsu
University of Michigan Press, 2004, 328 pages
This comprehensive study of gender equality debates in the party system from 1968 to 2000 reveals the impact that these changes have had on the political parties. It brings new theory, data, and analyses to bear on the questions of party politics, electoral realignment, and the women's movement.
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.
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.
“Partisan Dynamics of the Gender Gap among State Legislators”
by Susan J. Carroll
Spectrum: The Journal of State Government (Fall 2002)
Overall, women state legislators today are more liberal in their political ideology and policy attitudes than their male colleagues. Today’s gender gap is due more to the disproportionate number of Democrats among women legislators. The greatest change over time has taken place among Republican women representatives, who are more conservative and more like their male counterparts.
"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.
Political Women Tell What It Takes
by Kathy A. Stanwick
Center for American Women and Politics, Eagleton Institute of Politics, Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey
1983, 37 pages
This report focuses on the roles that political parties, women's organizations, and individual women have played in recruiting and supporting women candidates and appointees.