Rethinking Madam President:

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 they are at all relevant to the race for the presidency. The authors tackle a range of provocative issues: the conflation of the presidency with masculinity; media coverage focusing, even today, on the novelty of a female candidate; public support for women that often evaporates in the voting booth; and more. Although Madam President is not an impossibility, they conclude, it would be a mistake to ignore the very significant hurdles that women still face on the path to the Oval Office.