Congress

Current and historical fact sheets, graphics, research reports, and other information about women running for and serving in Congress.

  • Gender and Elections: Shaping the Future of American Politics, 2nd Edition

    Eds. Susan J. Carroll, CAWP, Rutgers University and Richard L. Fox, Union College, New York
    Cambridge University Press, 2009 Second Edition, 314 pages 

    The 2nd edition of this textbook describes the role of gender in the American electoral process through the 2008 elections. Tailored for courses on women and politics, elections, and gender politics, it strikes a balance between highlighting the most important developments for women as voters and candidates in the 2008 elections and providing a deeper analysis of the ways that gender has helped shape electoral politics in the United States.  Individual chapters demonstrate the importance of gender in understanding presidential elections, voter participation and turnout, voting choices, the participation of African American women

    Book
    Research
    CAWP Scholar
    Political Parties
    Candidates and Campaigns
    Gender and Race/Ethnicity
    Women Voters and the Gender Gap
    State Legislature
    Statewide Executive
    Congress
    Federal Executive
  • ​Gender Stereotypes and Attitudes Toward Gender Balance in Government

    by Kathleen Dolan and Kira Sanbonmatsu
    American Politics Research, August 2008

    The desire to elect more women to public office is likely to affect a range of political behaviors and may explain the relatively low levels of women's descriptive representation overall. Yet, little is known about the public's view of the ideal gender composition of government. The authors find that the public expresses a preference for higher levels of women's representation than the country has experienced. Women are more likely than men to express a view, though men and women do not differ in their preferences on the ideal percentage of male officeholders. The article examines the role of gender stereotypes and the experience of being

    Article
    Research
    CAWP Scholar
    Candidates and Campaigns
    Women Voters and the Gender Gap
    Congress
  • “Committee Assignments: Discrimination or Choice?”

    by Susan J. Carroll
    Book chapter in Legislative Women: Getting Elected, Getting Ahead, edited by Beth Reingold, 2008

    Book Chapter
    Research
    CAWP Scholar
    State Legislature
    Congress
  • Gender and Elections: Shaping the Future of American Politics, 1st Edition

    Eds. Susan J. Carroll, CAWP, Rutgers University and Richard L. Fox, Union College, New York
    Cambridge University Press, 2005 First Edition, 240 pages 

    Gender and Elections offers a systematic, lively, multi-faceted account of the role of gender in the electoral process through the 2004 elections. This volume strikes a balance between highlighting the most important developments for women as voters and candidates in the 2004 elections and providing a more long-term, in-depth analysis of the ways that gender has helped shape the contours and outcomes of electoral politics in the United States. Individual chapters demonstrate the importance of gender in understanding and interpreting presidential elections, voter participation and turnout, voting choices, congressional elections, the

    Book
    Research
    CAWP Scholar
    Political Parties
    Candidates and Campaigns
    Gender and Race/Ethnicity
    Women Voters and the Gender Gap
    State Legislature
    Statewide Executive
    Congress
    Federal Executive
  • 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
  • The Impact of Women in Public Office

    Edited by Susan J. Carroll 
    Indiana University Press, 2001, 256 pages

    The studies in this book examine the impact of women public officials serving in various offices and locales at local, state, and national levels.  Order from Amazon and a percentage of the sale goes to CAWP.

    Book
    Research
    CAWP Scholar
    Impact of Women Public Officials
    State Legislature
    Local
    Statewide Executive
    Congress
  • Legislating by and for Women: A Comparison of the 103rd and 104th Congresses

    by Mary Hawkesworth, Debra Dodson, Katherine E. Kleeman, Kathleen J. Casey, and Krista Jenkins
    Center for American Women and Politics, Eagleton Institute of Politics, Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey, 2000, 51 pages

    This report examines the political work of women legislators in the 103rd and 104th congresses as they attempted to transform their commitment to represent women into law. 

    Report
    Research
    CAWP Scholar
    Impact of Women Public Officials
    Congress
  • Welfare Reform in the 104th Congress: Institutional Position and the Role of Women

    by Susan J. Carroll (with Kathleen J. Casey)
    Book chapter in Women and Welfare: Theory and Practice in the United States and Europe, edited by Nancy J. Hirschmann and Ulrike Liebert (Rutgers University Press, 2001)

    Book Chapter
    Research
    CAWP Scholar
    Impact of Women Public Officials
    Congress
  • Representing Women: Congresswomen's Perceptions of Their Representational Roles

    by Susan J. Carroll, 2000, 12 pages

    This report assesses the extent to which women members of Congress see themselves and act as surrogate representatives for women who may live beyond the borders of their districts. (Data based on larger CAWP report on women members of the 103rd and 104th Congresses.)

    Report
    Research
    CAWP Scholar
    Impact of Women Public Officials
    Congress
  • Voices, Views, Votes: Women in the 103rd Congress

    by Debra L. Dodson, Susan J. Carroll, Ruth B. Mandel, Katherine E. Kleeman, Ronnee Schreiber, and Debra Liebowitz
    Center for American Women and Politics, Eagleton Institute of Politics, Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey, 1995, 32 pages

    This report examines how the women in the 103rd Congress acted to shape the content of legislation, to build support for bills, and to create a political environment in which they could effect change. 

    Report
    Research
    CAWP Scholar
    Impact of Women Public Officials
    Congress