Abstract
The role of women in American politics, especially local politics, has changed dramatically in the past three decades. American women increasingly have moved into elective office holding. This participatory pattern is apparent in all political venues but is especially apparent in local politics. Despite some dramatic changes in women’s participation in politics and in leadership roles, women, who make up 52 percent of the American population, do not hold more than half of all political offices in the United States. Nevertheless, women have become important players in American politics and there are women who hold leadership positions in which they have power to affect changes in public policies.
This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution.
Buying options
Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout
Purchases are for personal use only
Learn about institutional subscriptionsPreview
Unable to display preview. Download preview PDF.
References
About.com, 2012. US Liberal Politics. http://usliberals.about.com/od/liberalleadership/a/Senate-Committee-Chairs-112th-Congress.htm. Accessed April 12, 2012.
Bachrach, Peter and Morton Baratz. 1962. “Two Faces of Power.” American Political Science Review, 56(4): 947–52.
Berg, Linda. 2001. “Envisioning the Future of Feminist Leadership in Congress.” National NOW Times (Special Edition 2001), 1. http://www.now.org/nnt/special-2001/congress.html. Accessed March 17, 2009.
Bratton, Kathleen A. and K.L. Haynie. 1999. “Agenda Setting and Legislative Success in State Legislatures: The Effects of Gender and Race.” The Journal of Politics, 61(3) August: 658–79.
Caiazza, Amy. 2002. Does Women’s Representation in Elected Office Lead to Women-Friendly Policy? Washington, DC: IWPR.
Catalyst. 2013. 2011 Catalyst Census: Fortune 500 Women Board of Directors. http://www.catalyst.org/knowledge/2011-catalyst-census-fortune-500-women-board-directors. Accessed May 15, 2013.
Center for American Women and Politics. 2012. Women in State Legislatures. http://www.cawp.rutgers.edu/fast_facts/levels_of_office/documents/elective.pdf. Accessed May 30, 2012.
—. 1999. Women State Legislators: Leadership Positions and Committee Chairs 1999. http://www.cawp.rutgers.edu/facts.
Cigler, Alan and Bert Loomis. 1998. Interest Group Politics. Washington, DC: Congressional Quarterly Press.
Conway, Margaret and Marian Lief Palley 2002. “Welfare Policy and Women’s State Legislative Leadership.” Paper presented at Annual Conference of Southern Political Science Association, New Orleans, LA.
Darcy, Robert, Susan Welch and Janet Clark. 1987. Women, Elections and Representation. New York: Longman.
Deen, R. and T. Little. 1999. “Getting to the Top: Factors Influencing the Selection of Women to Positions of Leadership in State Legislatures, 1999.” State and Local Government Review, 31(2) Spring: 123–34.
de Tocqueville, Alexis. 2000. Democracy in America. Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 2000.
Dovi, Suzanne. 2002. “Preferable Descriptive Representatives: Will Just Any Woman, Black or Latino Do.” American Political Science Review, 96(4): 729–43.
Easton, David. 1953. The Political System: An Inquiry into the State of Political Science. New York: Alfred Knopf.
Gelb, Joyce and Marian Lief Palley. 1996. Women and Public Policies: Reassessing Gender Politics. Charlottesville, VA: University Press of Virginia.
Hawkesworth, Mary, Kathleen J. Casey, Krista Jenkins and Kathleen E. Kleerman. 2001. Legislating By and For Women: A Comparison of the 103rd and 104th Congresses. New Brunswick, NJ: Center for American Women and Politics, Eagleton Institute of Politics, Rutgers University.
Heclo, Hugh. 1978. “Issue Networks and the Executive Establishment.” The New American Political System, edited by Anthony King, 87–124. Washington, DC: American Enterprise Institute.
Institute for Women’s Policy Research (IWPR). 2004. The Status of Women in the States, 2004. Washington, DC: IWPR.
Kanter, Rosabeth Moss. 1977. “Some Effects of Proportions on Group Life: Skewed Sex Ratios and Reponses to Token Women.” American Journal of Sociology, 82(5): 965–90.
Lasswell, Harold. 1958. Politics: Who Gets What, When and How. New York: Meridian.
Lasswell, Harold and Abraham Kaplan. 1950. Power and Society. New Haven, CT: Yale University Press.
Levy, Dena, Charles Tien and Rachelle Aved. 2001. “Women and Congress: Running, Winning and Ruling.” Women and Politics, 23(1/2): 105–28.
Michelle M. Taylor- Richardson and Roseanna M. Heath. 2003. “Do Women Legislators Have Different Policy Priorities Than Their Male Colleagues? A Critical Case Test.” Women and Politics, 24(4): 77–100.
Palley, Marian Lief. 2004. “Gender and Public Policy Decision Making in State and Local Jurisdictions.” International Area Review, 7: 3–19.
Pearson, Kathryn and Logan Dancey 2011. “Speaking for the Underrepresented in the House of Representatives: Voting Women’s Interests in a Partisan Era.” Politics and Gender, 7(4): 495.
Ripley, Randall and Grace Franklin. 1987. Congress, the Bureaucracy and Public Policy, Fourth Edition. Chicago, IL: Dorsey
Skocpol, Theda. 1992. Protecting Soldiers and Women. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press.
“State Sen. Elaine Richardson—Seizing a Redisricting Opportunity in Arizona,” 2002. Notes from Emily, June, 8.
Swers, Michelle. 2001. “Women and Congress: Running, Winning and Ruling,” Women and Politics, 23(1/2): 167–85.
Thomas, Sue. 1994. How Women Legislate. New York: Oxford University Press.
Turow, S. 2004. “Over-60 Voters Counted in ‘04.” The News Journal. Wilmington, DE, December 29, A9.
U.S. Census Bureau. 2012. “United States—Age and Sex”. 2009 American Community Survey 1-Year Estimates. United States Census Bureau. Retrieved April 1, 2012. http://johnsimonds.com/2005/10/19/more-on-maturing-workforce-of-the-population-over-60/. Accessed April 1, 2012.
Weiden, Laurel. 2002. “Institutional Sources of Representation for Women.” Journal of Politics, 64(4): 1153–74.
White, Deborah. 2012. “US Senate Committee Chairs in 112th Congress,” Religion and Ethics Newsweekly. http://usliberals.about.com/od/liberalleadership/a/Senate-Committee-Chairs-112th-Congress.htm. Accessed May 2, 2013.
Copyright information
© 2014 Marian Lief Palley and Howard A. Palley
About this chapter
Cite this chapter
Palley, M.L., Palley, H.A. (2014). The Role of Politics in Influencing the Women’s Health Agenda. In: The Politics of Women’s Health Care in the United States. Palgrave Pivot, New York. https://doi.org/10.1057/9781137008633_3
Download citation
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1057/9781137008633_3
Publisher Name: Palgrave Pivot, New York
Print ISBN: 978-1-349-43571-5
Online ISBN: 978-1-137-00863-3
eBook Packages: Palgrave Political Science CollectionPolitical Science and International Studies (R0)