How do newly enfranchised groups achieve representation of shared interests? I theorize that while suffrage expansion has the potential to sway electoral tides in favor of the newly enfranchised, such effects are conditional on the strength of a social movement that seeks to represent the group. A social movement defines the group's shared interests and creates a mobilized pool of voters that takes electoral action to foster common goals. In testing this argument, I use evidence from the adoption of the Nineteenth Amendment in the United States.I employ a difference-in-differences approach that exploits the heterogeneity in the proportion of women across counties to estimate preferences of women voters and show that these preferences vary with the strength of the suffrage movement. These findings highlight that de jure inclusion of a previously disenfranchised group is necessary but may not be sufficient for de facto representation of the group's shared interests.

How were the most underprivileged women mobilized after suffrage? Newly enfranchised women faced a multitude of barriers to voting, and this was especially the case for working-class women. We theorize that working-class women were more likely to acquire civic attitudes and information through ties with neighbors of the same class than working-class men or privileged classes. Working-class women’s typical employment and domestic responsibilities provided the most opportunities, motivation, and need for local networks, while limiting the opportunities to acquire political resources via outside employment or voluntary associations typically available to other social groups. Utilizing an original dataset of individual voting records in a mid-sized industrial city during interwar period in Sweden, we employ a difference-in-differences design that isolates neighbor effects from confounders at the individual level. Consistent with our argument, we find that class homogeneity of neighbors enhanced working-class women’s turnout, but not that of privileged classes and working-class men.

How do career attributes affect the survival of post-communist ministers? Building on standard models of delegation, we theorize that career attributes determine "desirability" of ministers, and therefore the length of their tenure. In addition, we theorize that political career attributes provide superior expertise and incentives and therefore protection to postcommunist ministers. This is in contrast to bureaucratic career attributes that "fall short" on both "desirability" markers. Utilizing a unique data set of individual ministers in four postcommunist countries in the first two decades after transition, we provide support for our expectations. We then demonstrate that while political and bureaucratic attributes acquired before transition remain relevant for the stability of post-communist ministers after transition, their value wanes over time as post-transition career attributes gain predominance. Our findings thus support a positive trajectory of institutional consolidation and "Westernization" during the first two decades after transition, at least as far as ministers' tenure is concerned.

Under what conditions did newly enfranchised women turn out to vote at levels approaching men? This question is important because if women’s turnout lagged behind men’s, politicians’ incentives to advocate for women’s interests could remain weak even after suffrage. I argue that women’s turnout approached parity with men’s in localities with strong incentives to vote and to mobilize among the general population. This is because women faced barriers to voting and were, therefore, more likely to vote and be mobilized under the most favorable circumstances. I then propose that electoral competition determines the strength of voting and mobilization incentives and, therefore, the gender turnout gap. Using sex-separated turnout data in Norway, I demonstrate that the gap narrows in high-turnout competitive districts in systems with single-member districts and in high-turnout within-district strongholds in proportional systems. I probe generalizability of my findings in New Zealand, Austria, and Sweden.

Despite women's right to vote now being a near-universal legal standard around the world, women are still under-represented in politics. "It remains common across countries and types of elections that women are less likely to vote, less likely to participate in other political activities and less likely to run for political office," explains Dr Mona Morgan-Collins, a political scientist at King's College London. This gender gap is largest in the top level of politics, where women continue to be less likely to be prime ministers or presidents, and less likely to rule in government offices. So, why have we still not achieved gender equality in politics?1. Read, read and read! Then discuss what you have read with others. 2.Figure out what your interests are and follow your curiosity. Opportunities will come! 3. Do not be afraid to change paths. Learning that something is not the right path for you is just as important as figuring out that something is.