April 20, 2005

• What about Newt?

• A Note about the 9/11 commission and class next Monday

• Senator Hagel next Monday, Karen Hughes on May 3rd

• Welcome, Amanda Fuchs

• Women & Politics

“Knowing Congress as a Gendered Institution”

-Georgia Duerst-Lahti

Gender in Congress

• Argument: Gender analysis should be part of legislative institutional analysis

• Gender is more than sex difference• Gender incorporates socially induced

practices; practices become part of institutions

• Gender has normative dimensions…with masculinism proving potent in most public institutions

Views on Power

“If founding mothers rather than founding fathers had organized Congress originally, and dominated

it through evolution, Congress likely would be a very different institution.”

•Men: individuate, get noticed by speaking out and standing out, view dominance is at stake•Women: connect, build relationships, cooperation

Impact on Congress

• Low numbers of women results in:– Limited effect on the rules– Fewer numbers in Leadership positions– Less influence on institutional processes

• Structure of Congress is decentralized– Fosters individual power bases that can deter

change

“Norms” and Practices

“Oftentimes informal norms can lead to formal structures and formal rules can lead to informal structures.”

• Key Question: To what extent do women self-select into or out of Congress as a result of norms?

• Legislative discourse: women talked over by male counterparts

• Weakening seniority practices may work against women

• Deference to women on “feminine” policy areas may work to women’s advantages

Issues

“The founders inherited laws, institutions, and values that portrayed politics as an exclusively male enterprise, and they accepted that system much to their own advantage.”

• Prominence of lawyers as a gateway profession• Expect masculinity reflected in legislative bodies• Collective goal of individual independence• Gender equality is not achieved if women must

acquire a masculine character to succeed

“Women as Candidates in Congressional Elections”

-Richard E. Matland and David C. King

Previous Research

• Election Results: Women who make it to general election tend to perform as well as the men– Issues: women may never make it to the

general election, superior women doing as well as average men is not equality, election results do not show if sex affected the voter’s decision calculus

Previous Research

• Survey Evidence: – women voters will cross party lines to support

a woman candidate– there was no evidence of men crossing party

lines simply to support men– party and issue cues were overwhelmingly

used as the most relevant cue to voting– a small subsection of voters based their votes

on gender contrary to party affiliation

Previous Research

• Experimental Evidence– Concerning issues that male candidates are

thought superior at handling: results are ambiguous

– Character: female candidates seen as more honest

– Issues: experiments use students as subjects, experiments have given respondents little information to evaluate the candidates

Results of Study

• Gender effects are present even with party labels

• Female candidates have some advantages in congressional campaigns

• Republicans: gender appears to signal that the candidate is more liberal than a Republican male

• Independents and Democrats: gender does not send a strong ideological signal; view female Republicans as more likely to share their concerns

Results of Study

• Republican women may have advantages over Republican men as general election candidates

• Republican women appear to have problems within their own party

“The Difference Women Make”

-Michele L. Swers

Findings“…female legislators do exhibit a profound commitment to

the pursuit of policies for women, children, and families.”• Increased numbers do not necessarily mean increased

power over outcomes• Limited access to leadership has decreased the amount

of power women can exert over public policy• Most women in Congress are Democrats—the minority

party—further diminishing the influence of women• Moderate Republicans, socially conservative Democrats,

and defense-hawk Democrats must balance between preferences and power considerations

Credits

• Presentation based on: Georgia Duerst-Lahti. 2003. “Knowing Congress as a Gendered Institution: Manliness and the Implications of Women in Congress.” In Cindy Simon Rosenthal (ed) Women Transforming Congress. University of Oklahoma Press. (in the course packet).· Richard E. Matland & David C. King. 2003. "Women as Candidates in Congressional Elections." in Cindy Simon Rosenthal, ed., Women Transforming Congress. University of Oklahoma Press. (available online and in the course packet).Images from: http://www.pbs.org/newshour/bb/election/october96/debates_10-4.html Accessed 4/20/2005 http://feinstein.senate.gov/108women.htm Accessed 4/20/2005

“Through the Glass Ceiling”-Senator Susan Collins

Collins on Campaigning

• “I got to answer nosey questions about my personal life…”

• “My wardrobe got more ink than my proposals for economic development.”

• “I got to participate in debates in which I was criticized for being too aggressive while my male opponents were described as forceful.”

Lessons

• Don’t assume the stupid issues will just go away.

• Make it clear to the news media that equal treatment with male opponents is expected.

• Take nothing for granted…you have to fight for it.

“Why Women Don’t Run: Explaining Women’s

Underrepresentation in America’s Political Institutions”

-Laurel Elder

Context

• 2004: Women hold only 13.6% of seats in Congress, 10% of governorships, 22.3% of state legislative seats

• Studies show that women and men in similar races raise equal amounts of money, win the same percentage of overall vote, and have similar success rates.

• Reason for low numbers: WOMEN DO NOT RUN

Hypotheses

• Gender Role Attitudes: public perception that politics is for men

• Structural: gender gap in the resources that facilitate political activity

• Situational: the result of the additional roles women take on

• Political Role Gender Socialization: children learn at a young age that politics is for men

Result

• College women in sample were more committed to the concept of gender equality than college men.

• Example: College students disagreeing with statement “Women should take care of running the home and leave the running of the country to men.”– Women: 95.6%– Men: 76%

Results

• Men more likely than women to have considered running for office

• “Ambition” gap exists even in young populations and between men and women of similar socioeconomic status

• No gender gap for junior high students• Women less likely than men to believe

they were knowledgeable enough to be good politicians

Results

• No significant gender gap in evaluation of statement that family responsibilities might prevent them from carrying out their duties as an elected official

• Significant predictors for women’s political desire: age (-), marriage (+), family obligations (-)

• Female role models have a positive impact on women’s political interest

Conclusion

• Political gender role socialization is still occurring during adolescent years

• Situational hypothesis results are contradictory– Having children hinders a woman’s political

ambition– Women more likely to consider marriage and

children in the decision calculus than men– Marriage boosts women’s desire for politics

Credits

• Presentation based on: Senator Susan Collins. 2004. “Through the Glass Ceiling.” Pgs. 93-7 in Lia Larson (ed), Skirting Tradition: Women in Politics Speak to the Next Generation. Harvard University Institute of Politics;· Laurel Elder. 2004. “Why Women Don’t Run: Explaining Women’s Underrrpresentation in America’s Political Institutions.” Women & Politics 26(2):27-55.

• Images from: “Sen. Susan Collins” http://www.wlbz2.com/assetpool/images/0312114732_Susan%20Collins.jpg Accessed 4/20/2005; “Pie Chart” http://www.cawp.rutgers.edu/Facts2.html Accessed 4/20/2005.