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BOOKS
Chasing Equality: Women’s Rights and US Public PolicySusan Gluck Mezey and Megan A. Sholar Despite women's many gains in the political, economic, and social spheres, equality remains elusive—and in some areas, ground is being lost. Why? Why does the pay gap between women and men persist? Why is sexual harassment and assault so prevalent in schools and universities? Why are efforts to diminish women's individual autonomy, restricting their access to reproductive health More > |
The Women of 2018: The Pink Wave in the US House Elections ... and Its Legacy in 2020Barbara Burrell Avengers. PerSisters. The pink wave. And even badasses. These terms have been used to refer to the unprecedented number of female candidates who ran for elected office in the United States in 2018. Barbara Burrell explores this phenomenon—in the context of women's candidacies for election to the US House of Representatives—discussing who the women were, why they chose to run, More > |
Madam President? Gender and Politics on the Road to the White HouseLori Cox Han and Caroline Heldman, editors With Kamala Harris now the Democratic Party's presidential nominee, scholars and pundits alike continue to speculate about why Hillary Clinton lost the presidency to Donald Trump in 2016. Their conclusions may differ, but few would disagree that Clinton's nomination by a major party changed the political landscape in significant ways—nor that the results of the 2016 election provoked More > |
The Presidents’ Wives: The Office of the First Lady in US Politics, 2nd EditionRobert P. Watson Robert Watson's groundbreaking study on the presidents' wives proved that the first lady can be an influential force in presidential politics and is a subject worthy of scholarly attention. Now, this fully revised second edition incorporates the first ladyships of Hillary Rodham Clinton, Laura Bush, and Michelle Obama in each chapter. The new edition also includes a decade-and-a-half of More > |
Gender and Foreign Policy in the Clinton AdministrationKaren Garner Though recent US government attention to global women's rights and empowerment is often presented as a new phenomenon, Karen Garner argues that nearly two decades ago the Clinton administration broke barriers to challenge women's unequal status vis-à-vis men around the world and to incorporate their needs into US foreign policy and aid programs. Garner draws on a wide range of More > |
Women and Executive Office: Pathways and PerformanceMelody Rose, editor What unique challenges do women face as they seek and attain high-ranking positions in the executive branches of government? How can these challenges be overcome? Is there an established "pipeline" to office, or must women find their own ways to achieve power? Is there any relationship between gender and job performance? Addressing these questions, the authors of Women and Executive More > |
Women and Congressional Elections: A Century of ChangeBarbara Palmer and Dennis Simon Since 1916, when the first woman was elected to the US Congress, fewer than 10 percent of all members have been women. Why is this number so extraordinarily small? And how has the presence of women in the electoral arena changed over the past hundred years? Barbara Palmer and Dennis Simon combine a rich analytical narrative, data on nearly 40,000 candidates, and colorful stories from the campaign More > |
Elusive Equality: Women’s Rights, Public Policy, and the Law, 2nd editionSusan Gluck Mezey Elusive Equality explores how government institutions—the executive branch, the federal courts, Congress, and state legislatures—affect the legal status of women. In this fully revised and updated edition, Susan Gluck Mezey traces the evolving legal parameters of gender equality from early court rulings through the most recent legislation and judicial decisions. She also examines More > |
Women and US Politics: The Spectrum of Political Leadership, 2nd EditionLori Cox Han In this wide-ranging text, Lori Cox Han explores whether—and if so, how—the presence of women on the center stage of US politics is changing the political process. Han first provides a solid context, thoroughly covering the history of the women's movement, suffrage, the contours of feminism, and issues of equality. She then turns to women as voters, activists, candidates, More > |
Hillary Clinton’s Race for the White House: Gender Politics and the Media on the Campaign TrailRegina G. Lawrence and Melody Rose Senator Hillary Clinton won 18 million votes in 2008—nearly twice that of any presidential contender in recent history—yet she failed to secure the Democratic nomination. In this compelling look at Clinton’s historic candidacy, Regina Lawrence and Melody Rose explore how she came so close to breaking the ultimate glass ceiling in US politics, why she fell short, and what her More > |
Legislative Women: Getting Elected, Getting AheadBeth Reingold, editor This wide-ranging study grapples with the increasingly complex array of opportunities and challenges that face women today as both legislative candidates and elected officials. Offering cutting-edge, original research, Legislative Women expands our knowledge on an array of critical topics. The contributors address everything from campaign finance to the significance of race and ethnicity, from More > |
Rethinking Madam President: Are We Ready for a Woman in the White House?Lori Cox Han and Caroline Heldman, editors From the newsroom to pop culture, all signs suggest that the United States is finally ready for a woman in the White House. But is the vision of an imminent Madam President truly in line with today’s political reality? Rethinking Madam President offers a critical assessment of the inroads made by female candidates into the previously male bastion of electoral success, exploring whether More > |
Creating Gender: The Sexual Politics of Welfare PolicyCathy Marie Johnson, Georgia Duerst-Lahti, and Noelle H. Norton Seldom do we notice, let alone explicitly acknowledge, that public policies set distinct parameters for gender. But as Creating Gender compellingly demonstrates, in reality governments do use policy—to legitimize and support some gender-based behaviors, while undermining others. Looking in depth at the case of welfare reform, but considering a wide range of policy arenas, the authors More > |
Abortion Politics in North AmericaMelissa Haussman Despite legal affirmations of women's rights to abortion, actual access to the procedure in North America is increasingly curtailed. Melissa Haussman analyzes this disturbing disparity between official policies and daily realities in the United States, Canada, and Mexico. Haussman examines the successes of US antichoice groups—groups that have extended their reach to effectively contest More > |
Women and Power on Capitol Hill: Reconstructing the Congressional Women's CaucusIrwin N. Gertzog The Congressional Caucus for Women's Issues (CCWI) was the most effective bipartisan organization in the House—until changes wrought by the "Republican revolution" of 1994 threatened its very survival. Irwin Gertzog analyzes the origin, development, and influence of the CCWI and explores how the women associated with it have emerged from near oblivion to reassert their role in More > |
Anticipating Madam PresidentRobert P. Watson and Ann Gordon, editors Madam President? The question is not if, but rather when the United States will elect a female president—but that may be the only certainty involved in shattering this most visible glass ceiling in U.S. society. Who will be included in the field of candidates for Madam President, and why? How will she have to position herself for a viable run at the Oval Office? Once in office, will More > |
The President's Cabinet: Gender, Power, and RepresentationMaryAnne Borrelli Are female office holders most acceptable when they most resemble men? Why has a woman never led the Department of the Treasury, or Defense, or Veterans Affairs? Reflecting on these and similar questions, MaryAnne Borrelli explores women's selection for—and exclusion from—U.S. cabinet positions. Borrelli considers how the rhetoric employed in the selection and confirmation More > |
The Other Elites: Women, Politics, and Power in the Executive BranchMaryAnne Borrelli and Janet M. Martin, editors The Other Elites features original essays that provide important insights for both presidential studies and the study of women in US politics. The contributors to this innovative book have two purposes: to study the career paths of women within the executive branch of US government, and to consider gender as a variable in the study of complex organizations. Using historical, comparative, More > |
Sex as a Political Variable: Women as Candidates and Voters in U.S. ElectionsRichard A. Seltzer, Jody Newman, and Melissa Vorhees Leighton Though women constitute 52 percent of U.S. voters, as of October, 1996 only 10 percent of the members of Congress and one of the 50 state governors are women. Why, more than 75 years after they won the right to vote, are women so severely underrepresented in elected office? Why does it seem that, as voters, their influence is not equal to their numbers? Much of the conventional wisdom and More > |