women & politics SECOND HALF

what is gendered vulnerability?

• women tend to have harder races & more qualified opponents than male counterparts

  • Makes it more difficult to win their races

• Women candidates also believe they’re more electorally vulnerable & perform differently to get re-elected

what is the double bind?

women of color need to overcome sexist & racist notions of who can lead

what are challenges that women of color face in campaigning?

• facing the myth of the strong black woman

• stereotypes in door-knocking

• Fundraising; lack connections to donors

• recruitment/support/training

• Greater critique on appearance/language and looking the part

how might male & female candidates differ in campaign fundraising?

• Women traditionally have a harder time raising money than their male counterparts

  • Often due to incumbency factor & network of donors

• When all things are equal, men & women raise money at equal rates

• Women spend more time raising funds than men

  • More hesitant to straight up ask for money the first attempt

• Average of $500k gap in fundraising between male & female Democratic candidates

• Republican women often struggle the most to raise money

why are women more likely to serve at the local level rather than at the state/national level?

• Mothers don’t have to uproot their family to participate in local office

• Confidence gap influences women to feel less confident in running for national office

• Local offices = lower time commitment, lower pay, part time, less effort/cost to campaign, non-partisan, less high profile, less media scrutiny

why do school boards have the closest gender parity of all elected positions?

• Tends to be more acceptable for women & fits more with domestic sphere

• Non-partisan position

what are the trends of women mayors?

• tend to be white or non-Hispanic

• Less likely than male mayors to be married & have young children

• Most come to office through local women’s organizations

• Most held prior politically appointed positions; more politically experienced than men

• Tend to run for policy purposes rather than political ambition

• Tend to be more Democrats (41%) than Republicans (29%) or independents

• Tend to be more liberal

why do women make up only 13% of city manager positions in the US (an appointed position)?

• reluctant to apply due to confidence gap & family/work balance

• Supervisors making decisions may have misconceptions

women nationally make up _____% of city councils

27%

women in local legislatures tend to be more _______ (liberal/conservative) than their male counterparts

liberal

______ (larger/smaller) boards are more likely to have women

larger

what type of electoral districts do women of color do better in?

single-member districts

councils with what type of electoral districts have higher percentages of women?

combination of at-large & single-member districts

what types of voter districts benefit white women?

at-large voter districts; have a lower threshold & vote for multiple people

what are gender cleavages?

men focus on economic growth at local level & women tend to work on neighborhood preservation/social services

how do women city managers differ from male city managers?

• more likely than male counterparts to incorporate citizen input, facilitate communication, encourage citizen involvement in decision making

• Management style embraces citizen input

• Women focus on community/context & men focus more on individual accomplishments

why do 80% of women serving at the local level report having no ambition to run for higher office?

• confidence gap

• challenges of work/life balance

• assertiveness dilemma of being perceived as a bitch

• misconceptions/attitudes of those that are hiring

how many chief administrative officer positions are women?

13%

as of 2025, women hold a record high of ___% of seats in state legislatures nationally

33%

when were the greatest gains of women in state legislatures?

after the 19th Amendment

why don’t we see more women in state legislatures?

• Legislative structures → incumbency advantage, single member districts, term limits

• Levels of professionalization → higher professionalization levels = less women

  • Ex: part time positions vs full time positions

• Political culture → more traditional/conservative values = lower numbers of women

  • Long tradition of strong political parties = typically more male dominated

• Changing partisan dynamics → Democratic party = more progressive & supportive of women’s rights

in 2025, ___% of women in state legislatures were Democrats and ___% of women were Republicans

64%= Democrats 35% = Republicans

what is the first majority female state house in the US?

Nevada

• Legislation = productive; over 90% is bipartisan, variety of women’s issues

• More Democratic women than Republican women

• Gender pay equity bill initially vetoed by male governor but passed & signed into law in 2019

when might women feel more comfortable & successful in pursuing gender-based policy preferences?

• once achieving critical mass (~20-30%)

• when critical actors empower women to be in positions of power

what country has the highest percentage of women in the national legislature?

Rwanda (63.8%)

how does the US rank nationally in terms of its percentage of women in the national legislature?

78th (28.2% are women; 26 in Senate & 125 in House, 4 delegates)

how were many women put in Congress in the 1940s?

widow replacements (their husbands died in office & they filled their seat)

how was women in Congress’ occupation/experience in the 1970’s different from men?

• Most women gained experience from grassroots activism

• Women were generally older than men & waited until their children were grown

• Mostly white women were elected to Congress

what are the trends of women who enter Congress today?

• women enter Congress through more traditional pathways compared to men

• Women have experience in law, business, or prior political office

• Women are traditionally older than men; more women with young kids than ever

  • Lots of younger women elected in 2018

• Women in Congress = more ethnically/racially diverse

  • Minority women hold more seats in proportion to # of minority men in Congress