Women as Major Players in American Politics

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In recent years, the increase of women as major players in American politics has changed the political landscape. Despite women accounting for over fifty percent of the nation’s population, in 2011, women account for just over twenty percent of the nation’s state legislators, and sixteen percent of U.S. House of Representative and U.S. Senate members. This number is largely unchanged from the percent of women who held positions in these public offices in 1993 (Halloran, 2010). Although the numbers for women represented look bleak, major advances have been made in women’s abilities to make a large impact in national politics. Three women; Hillary Clinton, Sarah Palin, and Nancy Pelosi; have bursted into the national political spotlight and have paved the way for women to be considered serious contenders for powerful political positions in the United States. Despite the political and ideological differences these three women share with one another, Clinton, Palin, and Pelosi share one characteristic that have helped launch them into positions of political power and influence: they all worked hard to make it to the top by being lifelong visionaries. Vision is defined in many different ways. Conger (1999) defined vision as an idealized goal to be achieved in the future. Boal and Bryson (1999) defined vision as an image of the future that articulates the values, purposes, and identity of followers. Klenke (2011) argued that vision is the future time perspective that drives current leader behaviors (p. 83). Clinton, Palin, and Pelosi were visionary in their climb to the political spotlight by being driven, confident, and and influential to the American public. Clinton may very well be considered an archetype of women in ... ... middle of paper ... ...-did-hillary-clintons-historic-run-really-break-the-glass-ceiling?PageNr=3 Klenke, K. (2011). Organizations in context for women’s leadership. Bingley, UK: Emerald Group Publishing Limited. Lexington, M. (2006, November 2). Madam speaker? The Economist. Retrieved from http://www.economist.com/node/8108149 Newport, F. (2008, March 26). If McCain vs. Obama, 28% of Clinton backers go for McCain. Gallup. Retrieved from http://www.gallup.com/poll/105691/mccain-vs-obama-28-clinton-backers-mccain.aspx New York Times. (2011, September 1). Sarah Palin. The New York Times. Retrieved from http://topics.nytimes.com/top/reference/timestopics/people/p/sarah_palin/index.html Orr, J. (2009, February 27). Poll: Palin GOP favorite in 2012. Christian Science Monitor. Retrieved from http://www.csmonitor.com/USA/Politics/The-Vote/2009/0227/poll-palin-gop-favorite-in-2012

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