Civic and Political Activism

  • The Paradox of Gender Equality: How American Women's Groups Gained and Lost Their Public Voice

    (New edition, with a new preface)
    by Kristin A. Goss,  Duke University (2020)
    University of Michigan Press, 2020, 264 pages

    This book is part of the CAWP Series in Gender and American Politics published by the University of Michigan Press in association with CAWP. Kristin A. Goss examines how women’s civic place has changed over the span of more than 120 years, how public policy has driven these changes, and why these changes matter for women and American democracy. 

    Book
    Research
    CAWP Series in Gender and American Politics
    Civic and Political Activism
  • A National Call to Action: Teaching Young People About Women's Public Leadership and Promoting Public Leadership for Girls

    by Jean Sinzdak and Kathy Kleeman
    Center for American Women and Politics, Eagleton Institute of Politics, Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey 
    2015, 40 pages

    This report is an overview of the proceedings and outcomes of The White House Conference on Girls’ Leadership and Civic Education, convened by the White House, the U.S. Department of Education, and the Center for American Women and Politics. The conference explored the roots of the signifi cant gender gap in public leadership and sought concrete, immediate ways to change how we educate, entertain and engage young people in order to expand the image of who can and does lead.

    Report
    Research
    Civic and Political Activism
  • The Paradox of Gender Equality: How American Women's Groups Gained and Lost Their Public Voice

    by Kristin A. Goss, assistant professor of Public Policy and Political Science, Duke University
    University of Michigan Press, 2012, 256 pages

    This book is part of the CAWP Series in Gender and American Politics published by the University of Michigan Press in association with CAWP. Goss charts the scope and trajectory of American women's policy agendas and collective engagement in public policy-making from the 19th-century suffrage movement through the present day.
     

    Book
    Research
    CAWP Series in Gender and American Politics
    Civic and Political Activism
  • When Protest Makes Policy: How Social Movements Represent Disadvantaged Groups

    by S. Laurel Weldon, professor of Political Science, Purdue University
    University of Michigan Press, 2011, 244 pages

    This book is part of the CAWP Series in Gender and American Politics published by the University of Michigan Press in association with CAWP. Political theorist S. Laurel Weldon demonstrates that social movements provide a hitherto unrecognized form of democratic representation, and thus offer a significant potential for deepening democracy and overcoming social conflict. 

    Book
    Research
    CAWP Series in Gender and American Politics
    Civic and Political Activism
  • Gender and Civic Engagement: Secondary Analysis of Survey Data

    by Krista Jenkins 
    Center for Information & Research on Civic Learning & Engagement, 2005, 14 pages

    This CAWP-funded study explores whether gender is salient in civic engagement. For the most part, author Jenkins determines that “[y]oung women and men appear to be receiving the same cues about politics, elected officials, and the political process.” While young men and women appear to behave in a similar fashion, “young women are distinguishing themselves from young men on some key precursors to engagement, particularly attentiveness and knowledge." 

    Report
    Research
    Civic and Political Activism
  • Gender-Related Political Knowledge and the Descriptive Representation of Women

    by Kira Sanbonmatsu
    Political Behavior, 2003 (December)

    This study finds that political knowledge of one kind--knowledge about the actual level of women's representation--is related to support for having more women in office. Individuals who underestimate the percentage of women in office are more likely than individuals who know the correct percentage to support increasing women's representation. Meanwhile, individuals who overestimate the percentage of women in office are less likely to support increasing women's representation. Ironically, women are more likely than men to overestimate the presence of women in office. 

    Article
    Research
    CAWP Scholar
    Civic and Political Activism
    Candidates and Campaigns
    Congress
  • Are US Women Legislators Accountable to Women? The Complementary Roles of Feminist Identity and Women’s Organizations

    by Susan J. Carroll
    2003, 14 pages

    This report was prepared by Susan J. Carroll, senior CAWP scholar, for a conference held at St. John's College, University of Manitoba, in May, 2003. While we have considerable evidence that women legislators give greater priority to women’s issues than their male colleagues, we know less about why they do so. What is the process underlying the substantive representation of women by women legislators? Why does the representation of women by women legislators happen? This paper examines these questions with particular attention to the role of women’s organizations and networks.

    Report
    Research
    CAWP Scholar
    Civic and Political Activism
    Impact of Women Public Officials
  • Women and American Politics: New Questions, New Directions

    Edited by Susan J. Carroll 
    Oxford University Press, 2003, 262 pages

    This volume presents a research agenda, developed by leading scholars of American politics, suggesting directions that could fruitfully shape the study of women and American politics in the early twenty-first century. Contributors suggest approaches, methods, and topics for future research on political recruitment, campaign strategy, money, political leadership, parties and women's organizations, the gender gap in voting and public opinion, media, women of color, and participation outside of conventional electoral politics.

    Book
    Research
    CAWP Scholar
    Political Parties
    Civic and Political Activism
    Candidates and Campaigns
    Candidate Recruitment
    Gender and Race/Ethnicity
    Women Voters and the Gender Gap
  • Women and American Politics: A Research Agenda for the 21st Century

    Center for American Women and Politics, Eagleton Institute of Politics, Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey, 1996, 29 pages 

    In April 1994, CAWP convened a group of 79 scholars, researchers, political practitioners, and activists to help identify existing gaps in our knowledge, discuss the reasons for the gaps, and imagine the kinds of research projects needed to address unanswered questions in our understanding of women's political behavior.

    Report
    Research
    Candidate Recruitment
    Candidates and Campaigns
    Civic and Political Activism
    Women Voters and the Gender Gap
  • Women State Legislators, Women's Organizations, and the Representation of Women's Culture in the United States

    by Susan J. Carroll
    Book chapter in Women Transforming Politics: Worldwide Strategies for Empowerment, edited by Jill M. Bystydzienski (Bloomington: Indiana University Press, 1991)

    Book Chapter
    Research
    CAWP Scholar
    Civic and Political Activism
    State Legislature