It Takes a Candidate: Why Women Don't Run for Office

Cover......Page 1
Half-title......Page 3
Title......Page 5
Copyright......Page 6
Contents......Page 7
List of Tables......Page 11
List of Figures......Page 13
Acknowledgments......Page 15
1 Electoral Politics: Still a Man’s World?......Page 19
Representation, Equality, and the Study of Gender in Electoral Politics......Page 22
Traditional Gender Socialization in the Context of U.S. Politics: The Central Argument and Its Implications......Page 25
Traditional Family Role Orientations......Page 26
Masculinized Ethos......Page 27
Gendered Psyche......Page 28
Organization of the Book......Page 31
2  Explaining Women\'s Emergence in the Political Arena......Page 34
Women and Elective Politics: The Numbers......Page 36
Existing Explanations for Women\'s Underrepresentation......Page 37
Societal Rejection and Cultural Evolution: The Discrimination Explanation......Page 39
Institutional  Inertia: The Incumbency Explanation......Page 43
The Candidate Eligibility Pool: The Pipeline Explanation......Page 44
The Missing Piece: Developing a Theory of Gender and Political Ambition......Page 46
The Citizen Political Ambition Study......Page 50
3 The Gender Gap in Political Ambition......Page 55
Very Much the Same: Gender, Political Participation, and Political Interest......Page 56
Very Much Different: Gender and Political Ambition......Page 59
Stage One: Considering a Candidacy......Page 61
Stage Two: Deciding to Enter the First Race......Page 64
The \"Winnowing Effect\"......Page 65
The Gender Gap in Elective Office Preferences......Page 66
Conclusion......Page 68
4 Barefoot, Pregnant, and Holding a Law Degree: Family Dynamics and Running for Office......Page 69
Raised to Be a Candidate?......Page 71
Eligible Candidates\' Family Structures and Roles......Page 76
Wife, Mother, and Candidate? Family Roles as Impediments to Political Ambition......Page 82
Massachusetts attorney Denise Zauderer offered a similar assessment:......Page 86
Are Times Changing? Generational Differences in Political Ambition......Page 88
Conclusion......Page 91
5 Gender, Party, and Political Recruitment......Page 93
Eligible Candidates Political Attitudes and Partisanship......Page 96
Who Gets Asked to Run for Office?......Page 101
Political Recruitment and Considering a Candidacy......Page 107
Conclusion......Page 111
6 ``I\'m Just Not Qualified\'\': Gendered Self-Perceptions of Candidate Viability......Page 113
The Impact of Self-Perceived Qualifications on Political Ambition......Page 114
Explanations for the Gender Gap in Self-Perceived Qualifications......Page 120
The Sexist Environment......Page 121
Gender Differences in Defining Political Qualifications......Page 127
Different Yardsticks for Gauging Political Qualifications......Page 132
Conclusion......Page 134
7 Taking the Plunge: Deciding to Run for Office......Page 136
Why Would Anyone Run for Office? Negative Perceptions of the Electoral Environment and Campaign Process......Page 138
Gender and the Decision to Enter a Race......Page 145
A Side Note on Political Culture and “Structural” Factors......Page 154
Prospective Interest in Running for Office......Page 157
Conclusion......Page 161
8 Gender and the Future of Electoral Politics......Page 163
Summarizing the Findings and Forecasting Women\'s Representation......Page 164
Recasting the Study of Gender and Elections......Page 171
Appendix A: The Citizen Political Ambition Study Sample Design and Data Collection......Page 175
INSTRUCTIONS......Page 178
Part I – Running for Public Office......Page 189
Part III – Professional and Life Goals......Page 192
Part IV – Perceptions of a Gendered Environment......Page 193
Appendix D: Variable Coding......Page 194
Works Cited......Page 199
Index......Page 213