Women Officeholders and the Role Models Who Pioneered the Way

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Recent electoral seasons in American politics demonstrate women's keen interest, involvement, and influence as candidates and officeholders. Women possess political ambition, albeit in varying degrees, and as such, women seek opportunities to be politically engaged and affect America's representative institutions. This book analyzes why American women run for political office, and explores how political role models, identified as publicly elected officials and/or those who have served in the political arena, have greatly motivated women to run for higher political office, including seats in the U.S. Congress and state governorships.

Evidence from personal interviews with ten congresswomen and fifty-five female state legislators reveals the ambitious nature of female politicians, the encouragement of political factors in their decisions to advance in politics, and their perceived responsibility to be role models to other women. Moreover, in studying thirty-five years of elections data, I find substantial support for how female political role models influence female state legislators' candidacies and electoral outcomes to higher office. This work highlights the importance of women as symbolic representatives; female politicians are instrumental in emboldening a new generation of women to engage in politics. Role models in politics indeed have a purpose and an influential nature.

Reviews

Combining three decades of electoral data with in-depth interviews with 65 female office-holders from the halls of Congress to state legislature across the country, Karen Owen provides us with unique insight into how political role models motivate women to run for office. Bringing together research on strategic decision-making, political opportunity structures, historical accounts and psychology, she provides compelling evidence that symbolic representation--having female role models--matters a great deal. Women serving in high-level public office not only deliberately work to elect more women, but through their visibility as examples of success, also have a powerful effect on social attitudes towards women and inspire other women to run. If you have ever wondered if it makes a difference to have a woman in high-level political office, this book will give you the answer. A detailed and illuminating account of the importance and variety of female political role models.--Barbara Palmer, Baldwin Wallace University
Owen explores a critical but ignored aspect of efforts to increase the ranks of women officeholders. Using interviews and statistical models Owen details the role of mentorship in helping women successfully run for Congress and governorships.--Charles S. Bullock III, University of Georgia

Author Bio

Karen L. Owen is assistant professor of political science and the director of the Master of Public Administration program at Reinhardt University.