Women and Politics

Julie Dolan is Professor of Political Science at Macalester College in St. Paul, Minnesota. She earned her PhD from American University. Her scholarly interests include American government and politics, women and politics, and bureaucratic politics. She has received a number of prestigious awards for her scholarship and publishes in a variety of journals including Women & Politics, Public Administration Review, PS: Political Science and Politics, the Journal of Public Administration Research and Theory. Her most recent research focuses on issues of political representation in the bureaucracy.Melissa M. Deckman is the Louis L. Goldstein Professor of Public Affairs and Chair of the Political Science Department at Washington College. She earned her PhD from American University. Her areas of specialty include religion and politics, women and politics, and American political behavior, and she publishes in a variety of journals, including Journal of Women, Politics, and Public Policy, PS: Political Science and Politics, and American Politics Research, which most recently published her work (coauthored with John McTague) on the impact of the “War on Women” on the 2012 presidential election. Her forthcoming book, Mama Grizzlies and Politics, examines the role of women in the Tea Party in America.Michele L. Swers is Professor of American Government in the Department of Government at Georgetown University. She earned her PhD from Harvard University. Her research and teaching interests encompass Congress, congressional elections, and women and politics. She has written two books on women and representation in Congress: The Difference Women Make: The Policy Impact of Women in Congress and Women in the Club: Gender and Policy Making in the Senate.Paru Shah is Associate Professor in the Department of Political Science at the University of Wisconsin—Milwaukee.. Her research and teaching focus on race, ethnicity and politics, urban politics and public policy in an American context. Her recent work focuses on the political emergence, ambitions, and paths to office for candidates of color and women candidates in local and state elections.

"The newest edition of Women and Politics by Dolan, Deckman, Swers, and Shah offers readers and instructors a coherent, comprehensive, and engaging view of the barriers and possibilities for women's access to power in the United States. Few texts bring such a diverse and rich set of perspectives together for a systematic presentation of all the components of women's access to power that is so accessible for students, instructors, and researchers."

• 1 Introduction and Theoretical Framework PART I: WOMEN’S PATHS TO POWER2 Women’s Paths to Power 3 The Gender Gap in Elections and Public Opinion 4 Gender and the Decision to Run for Office 5 Women on the Campaign Trail PART II: WOMEN IN POWER6 Women in Local Politics and Government 7 Women in Congress and the State Legislatures 8 Women in the Executive Branch 9 Women in the Judiciary Appendix A: “Declaration of Sentiments” and “Resolutions” Adopted by the Seneca Falls Convention of 1848 Appendix B: National Organization for Women’s Bill of Rights and Redstockings Manifesto