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women in leadership introduction
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Does one’s sex still count in politics? Today, there are ninety-four women in Congress. Looking at this figure alone, one can argue that women are well represented, therefore there appears to be no gender bias. The reality is that a bias does exist. Not a bias that prevents women from being elected into office; but a bias that may affect how voters perceive women candidates to be on certain issues. Indirectly, this bias may make a women’s success of winning an election less likely. Some stereotypes of female politicians are that they have expertise on domestic issues such as education and healthcare because of their feminine roles as caretakers. Women candidates are also perceived to be warm and sensitive (Alexander and Andersen 1993; King and Matland 2003; Dolan and Sanbonmatsu 2009). These stereotypes help shape a voter’s opinion when he/she enters the voting booth. The studies listed earlier show how these and other stereotypes influence voters about female candidates and their leadership abilities, as well as their position in domestic and foreign policy. Alexander and Andersen (1993) took a survey of 98 respondents during the 1990 campaigns in Syracuse, New York. During this time there were three male-female races being contested. Alexander and Andersen not only look at female stereotypes; they also look at the effect that incumbency and familiarity with the candidate had on voters (527). Years later, King and Matland (2003) conducted an experiment where 820 adults were given a set of questions involving two fictitious Republican candidates; one male, one female. These questions were to determine whether the perception of the candidate changes due to gender stereotypes and/or party affiliation (King and Mat...
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...E. Matland. 2003. “Sex and the Grand Old Party: An Experiment Investigation of the Effect of Candidate Sex on Support for a Republican Candidate.” American Political Research. 31(6): 595-612.
Koch,J. W. 2000. “Do citizens apply gender stereotypes to infer candidates’ ideological orientations?” The Journal of Politics, 62: 414-429.
Koch,J. W. 2002. “Gender stereotypes and citizens’ impressions of house candidates’ ideological orientations.” American Journal of Political Science, 46(2): 453-462.
McDermott,M. L. 1997. “Voting cues in low-information elections: Candidate gender as a social information variable in contemporary United States elections.” American Journal of Political Science, 41(1): 270-283.
Rapoport,R. B., Metcalf, K. L., & Hartman,J. A. 1989. “Candidate traits and voter inferences: An experimental study.” Journal of Politics, 51(4): 917-932.
Witt, Linda, Karen M. Paget, and Glenna Matthews. Running as a Woman: Gender and Power in American Politics. New York: Free Press, 1994.
The initial effects of women’s suffrage on the national level was limited. To a great extent it remains limited; women have always been underrepresented at the federal level. In the first election after the 19th Amendment, 25 states failed to elect a woman, (Rothschild, p. 11). Currently, 26 states do not have a women in their congressional delegation, (Gendergap, p.1). There are also six states that have never elected a woman to federal office, (Rothschild, p.2). They are Alaska, Iowa, Vermont, New Hampshire, Delaware, and Mississippi. While women represent 52 percent of the population, they represent only 21 percent in Congress. Thus it can be seen that women still have steps to take to achieve true political equality with men.
On November 1912, women won the right to vote in Arizona. This period of time marked a lot of changes for women and politics in Arizona. Women had to struggle against a male dominated society that influenced their vote despite their new freedom to vote as they saw fit. The right to vote eventually led to a proliferation of women running for local, state, and national offices. Those running for office faced skepticism about their capabilities as a politician, concern over whether they had the drive, intelligence, and strength to face down opponents within the political arena. Despite these obstacles, women have proven to be successful politicians and have infiltrated the ranks of male dominated government systems, both within states and nationwide. Today, women are virtually equal to men as far as their capabilities are concerned, yet are still under-represented in the national political scene. By reviewing a brief history of a few women in politics in Arizona and examining current political themes, a platform is formed that allows an understanding and recognition of the struggles and progression of women in politics today.
When questioned about her political career, Clinton quipped, “‘I suppose I could have stayed home and baked cookies and had teas…but what I decided to do was fulfill my profession’” by running for office (237). Clinton continues to further the legacy of Chisholm and other trailblazing women by demonstrating her bravery in running for office. Still, as one Republican official described her, Clinton is often viewed as “‘grating, abrasive and boastful’” (236). Generally, female candidates are expected to be “more caring, compassionate, and emotional than their male counterparts, who tend to be seen as tough, assertive, and decisive” (Bauer). This issue is common among female candidates, and this expectation has certainly impacted Clinton’s campaign. Despite her background as Secretary of State, Clinton is continually questioned by her opponent about her strength. This constant doubt over fortitude is almost exclusively an issue for female candidates – and is one that has plagued Clinton’s political career, especially in this election
During my childhood, I listened to kids around me explain to parents and peers what they dreamed to be when they grew up; a policeman, a firefighter, or a ballerina were all popular answers. I, however, had a different dream; upon being asked, I would answer, “I am going to be the president of the United States.” This, unsurprisingly, often elicited a few chuckles from the inquirer. I was only a little kid, after all, decades away from even the possibility of running for such an office. What if, however, this amused response had different connotations; what if my gender was affecting people’s perception of my chances to be elected?
...ds, William. <a href="http://click.linksynergy.com/fs-bin/stat?id=pcZ8g7DjAzA&offerid=6424&type=2&subid=0&url=http%253A//search.borders.com/fcgi-bin/db2www/search/search.d2w/Details%253F%2526mediaType%253DBook%2526prodID%253D3901535" >Political Attitudes in the Nation & the States<IMG border=0 alt=icon width=1 height=1 src="http://ad.linksynergy.com/fs-bin/show?id=pcZ8g7DjAzA&bids=6424&type=2&subid=0" >. University North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Institute for Research in Social Science. 1974Mulcahy, Kevin and Katz, Richard. <a href="http://click.linksynergy.com/fs-bin/stat?id=pcZ8g7DjAzA&offerid=6424&type=2&subid=0&url=http%253A//search.borders.com/fcgi-bin/db2www/search/search.d2w/Details%253F%2526mediaType%253DBook%2526prodID%253D14579075" >America Votes: What You Should Know About Elections Today<IMG border=0 alt=icon width=1 height=1 src="http://ad.linksynergy.com/fs-bin/show?id=pcZ8g7DjAzA&bids=6424&type=2&subid=0" >. New Jersey, Prentice Hall Inc. 1976.U.S. News & World Report Politics Inside and Out Washington D.C., U.S. News and World Report. 1970
In order to explain how and why the lack of minor female political leaders affects the American Society, it’s best to explain how the gender inequality, in general, affects the American people. Gender inequality in ...
...d the media to focus more on their on appearance, personality, and family life, than the media focuses on their male counterpart. In turn, their political beliefs take a back seat to personality pieces, hindering their campaigns. Female candidates are then viewed less seriously as politicians, when their portrayal is so one-dimensional. Women don’t get the opportunity to engage in political discourse, when they have to spend time talking about their family, taste, and clothing. This Personal trivia then drowns out dialogue on serious issues. Women perceive the electoral arena as sexist and biased, because female candidates politics are valued less than their personality, family and appearance.
Brady, H. E., Johnston, R., & Sides, J. (2007, May 18). The Study of Political Campaigns. Retrieved November 16, 2011, from GWU: http://home.gwu.edu/~jsides/study.pdf
Campbell et al., use survey data. In terms of methods, the model uses longitudinal data from the years 1948, 1952, 1956, while analyzing numerous interviews with the voters themselves (which constitute the American National Election Study, otherwise known as ANES). Based on how respondents answer, the Michigan Model groups individuals based on party identification and partisan preferences. The Michigan Model puts an emphasis on party identification as a psychological attachment, in that it’s created through the socialization of one’s parents. For those with a sense of attachment the strength, and direction of their party identification are crucial in accounting for attitude and behavior (Campbell et al., 1960). “The political party serves as the group, or base, for which the individual develops either a positive or negative identification with some degree of intensity (Campbell et al., 1960, pg. 122)”. This study’s main concern focused not on which way one tends to vote, but rather the influence of party identification on the vote. Party identification leads to one’s partisan feelings and attitudes, not the other way around, and tends to cause individuals to focus, see, and listen to information that is favorable to their party identification (also known as selective perception). Overtime, the Michigan Model claims that although party identification can fluctuate, it remains stable over time, and that issues and policies only play a small role in the voters’ decision (Campbell et al., 1960). The American Voter emphasizes that for a policy decision to affect the vote, the voter must at least have some knowledge in the issue or perceive a difference in the candidates. This study, however, was met with heavy resistance over the next few years, and still today, scholars nit-pick at specific areas of the study by crafting their own
The underrepresentation of female’s interests and values is a global phenomenon as there is no country where women are equally represented on all levels of government. Since most women in the Western World gained the right to vote, there is no area of human life or development sector which is immune from the impact of inequitable gender relations. The central thesis of this paper is that women’s underrepresentation in elected office creates serious problems. This paper begins by analysing the key barriers of women to get into politics, especially into leading positions. It will then go on to the argument that women have special interests and needs, and that male politicians cannot represent those concerns adequately. Additionally, this paper describes further problems in today’s political world, such as women’s identification with
...r president, 42% of respondents favored a man, 31% favored a woman, and women and men were more likely to favor their own sex. Therefore, from what we are shown, women tend to be favored less than men as potential candidates. The reasons behind this are of the associations employers will make between the leadership role and masculine skills and traits. Skill and trait theory however are good tools for employers to assess a potential candidates ability to be a leader. Using this as a recruitment tool gives individuals a clearer image of what they need to undertake to become a leader and fulfill the position. It can also highlight the areas they are lacking in. However when negative stereotype and prejudice is involved in recruitment and selection, then the usefulness of this tool is no longer apparent, lop sided judgments makes this recruitment tool weak and solvent.
Cole, Margaret. "The Woman's Vote: What Has It Achieved?." Political Quarterly 80.(2009): S117-S125. Academic Search Complete. Web. 1 May 2012.
Electing more female officials into Congress and state legislature to fulfill the gender gap in the American legislation will give women more pathways to equal rights in laws and policies. Currently, women only represent twenty percent of the American national legislation, and even less in many state legislations. Furthermore, this underrepresentation in the American government leads to a gender gap and misrepresents America’s body of approximately fifty percent female population. The general belief that the overwhelming amount of men in American legislation office causes women not to participate in politics. However, according to the American University in D.C. their study showed the perceived gender gap in government prevents women for running for political office. Nevertheless, the study found that novice politicians are more likely to run for office if encouraged by a fellow incumbent politician to run for a competitive seat; thus, it only takes more encouragement to fulfill the gender gap in politics
In Hillary Clinton’s 2008 campaign for president, there were people who criticized her for looking too haggard and they questioned whether or not her prior political success was because of her husband, Bill Clinton (Lawless). This narrow media coverage of her appearance is a consequence of our culture’s issues with stereotypes in gender. The men that were running were not questioned as to whether their success was dependent on others, however, since society placed the stereotype that women are being valued only for their appearance. The main issue with this is that without the initial gender stereotypes, all candidates, business owners, news anchors and people would be treated equally and