A Seat at the Table

Kelly Dittmar is Assistant Professor of Political Science at Rutgers-Camden and Scholar at the Center for American Women and Politics at the Eagleton Institute of Politics at Rutgers University. Her research focuses on gender and American political institutions with a particular focus on how gender informs campaigns and the impact of gender diversity among elites in policy and political decisions, priorities, and processes. She is the author of Navigating Gendered Terrain: Stereotypes and Strategy in Political Campaigns (Temple University Press).Kira Sanbonmatsu is Professor of Political Science and Senior Scholar at the Center for American Women and Politics at the Eagleton Institute of Politics at Rutgers University.Her research interests include gender, race/ethnicity, political parties, and American politics. She is the author of Where Women Run: Gender and Party in the American States (University of Michigan Press) and Democrats, Republicans, and the Politics of Women's Place (University of Michigan Press), and the coauthor of More Women Can Run: Gender and Pathways to the State Legislatures (Oxford University Press). Her work has also appeared in journals such as Political Research Quarterly and Journal of Women, Politics, & Policy.Susan J. Carroll is Professor of Political Science and Women's and Gender Studies at Rutgers University and Senior Scholar at the Center for American Women and Politics (CAWP) of the Eagleton Institute of Politics. She is co-author of More Women Can Run: Gender and Pathways to State Legislatures (Oxford University Press, with Kira Sanbonmatsu) and co-editor of Gender and Elections: Shaping the Future of American Politics (Fourth Edition, Cambridge University Press, with Richard L. Fox).Carroll also has published numerous journal articles and book chapters focusing on women candidates, voters, elected officials, and political appointees in the United States.

Through the narratives of women political actors on the front line, the book successfully conveys the message that women's political presence matters for the sustainment of a representative democracy. Furthermore, Dittmar et al.'s attention to the intersections of gender, race, ethnicity, sexuality, seniority, geography, district, and political party affecting women's legislative behavior in representing their constituents deserves appreciation.

• Chapter 1: IntroductionChapter 2: RepresentationChapter 3: Obstacles and OpportunitiesChapter 4: Navigating Partisan PolarizationChapter 5: Congresswomen's Work across Party LinesChapter 6: Altering Policy Agendas and DebatesChapter 7: Changing the Institution, Image, and Exercise of PowerChapter 8: Conclusion: Representation MattersAppendix A: MethodologyAppendix B: List of Congresswomen InterviewedBibliography