Accounting for Women's Political Involvement: The Perennial Problem of Recruitment

Abstract

This chapter reviews existing research about women's political recruitment focusing on women's participation in electoral politics and social movements and civic organizations. Githens proposes an agenda for future research on women's political recruitment that includes attention to the importance of identity politics, reference groups, perceptions of opportunity structures, political role styles, and role models.

Gendered Perceptions and Political Candidacies: A Central Barrier to Women's Equality in Electoral Politics

“…For the most part, though, studies of political ambition tend to overlook gendered perceptions and examine, instead, the manner in which the political opportunity structure influences the decision to run for office 2 . Consequently, Githens (2003) identifies potential candidates’ perceptions of the electoral process and their prospects for participating in it as a critical, yet unexplored question in the study of women's candidate emergence.…”

“…In short, and to borrow from Githens, we expect the “gendered nature of evaluative standards” (2003, 43) to remain problematic even for women who have already achieved high levels of success. Operationalizing these hypotheses allows for the first in‐depth assessment of the manner in which patterns of traditional gender socialization influence potential candidates’ views of their suitability to run for elective office.…”

Being There Matters—Redefining the Model Public Servant: Viola O. Baskerville in Profile

“…Baskerville’s story confirms our research, which suggests that encouragement from women peers is the single most common reason for women’s entry into politics. This finding is supported by Githens’s (2003) work on women’s “recruitment” into elective office.…”

How Italian Female Local and National Politicians Perceive and Cope with Obstacles in a Gatekeeping Political Culture

“…With respect to individual characteristics of politicians, contrasting results emerge regarding political ambition [21]. Moreover, women politicians face today a cultural double bind since typical male behaviors are considered inappropriate for a woman and typical female behaviors are inappropriate for a politician [22]. Various authors [23] argue that a "feminized" conception of politics has emerged, in which the concept of leadership is related to the ability to help groups to work together to solve problems.…”