The authors' analysis suggests that term limits, unaccompanied by efforts to recruit women to run for term-limited seats, may be insufficient to increase the number of women state legislators. 

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. 

This chapter examines the influence of committee assignments on women legislators' ability to achieve their policy goals. It analyzes whether or not there is discrimination in the committee assignment process that can create obstacles for women legislators to make policy influence.

The 2nd edition of this textbook describes the role of gender in the American electoral process through the 2008 elections. Tailored for courses on women and politics, elections, and gender politics, it strikes a balance between highlighting the most important developments for women as voters and candidates in the 2008 elections and providing a deeper analysis of the ways that gender has helped shape electoral politics in the United States.  Individual chapters demonstrate the importance of gender in understanding presidential elections, voter participation and turnout, voting choices, the participation of African American women