The Entrance of Women to the U.S. Congress: The Widow Effect

Solowiej, Lisa A.; Brunell, Thomas L.

doi:10.2307/3219789

Cited by 6 publications

(12 citation statements)

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“…According to Gertzog (2002), there are three distinct ‘pathways’ that women have pursued to enter the US Congress and, more in general, develop political careers. In earlier years, the majority of women elected to Congress were either widows of deceased MCs or women who came from families of great wealth or with well-known regional or national political connections (Foerstel and Foerstel 1996; Kincaid 1978; Solowiej and Brunell 2003). Between 1966 and 1982 this picture began to change, and 58 per cent of all women elected to the US House of Representatives could be defined as ‘strategic politicians’ (Gertzog 2002).…”

Section: Understanding Female Representation In the Us Congressmentioning

confidence: 99%

The Career Length and Service of Female Policymakers in the US House of Representatives

Praino¹,

Stockemer

2016

Gov. & oppos.

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Various studies have outlined the institutional (e.g. the existence of quota laws and the electoral system type of a country) and non-institutional factors (e.g. the political culture of a country) that account for variation in women’s representation, in general, and, in more detail, the low representation of women in the US Congress. However, no study has, so far, compared the Congressional career paths of men and women in order to understand whether this gender gap in representation stems from a difference in terms of the duration and importance of the careers of male and female policymakers. Using data on all US House elections between 1972 and 2012, we provide such an analysis, evaluating whether or not the political careers of women in the US House of Representatives are different from the political careers of their male counterparts. Our findings indicate that the congressional careers of men and women are alike and, if anything, women may even have a small edge over their male colleagues.

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Section: Understanding Female Representation In the Us Congressmentioning

confidence: 99%

The Career Length and Service of Female Policymakers in the US House of Representatives

Praino¹,

Stockemer

2016

Gov. & oppos.

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“…Second, because female leadership is a rare event, we account for possible bias in the estimates due to this scarcity, using techniques that are not common in the literature on women in executive posts. Third, we build upon, and extend, the "widow's effect" argument (e.g., Folke, Rickne, and Smith 2017;Jalalzai 2013;Opfell 1993;Solowiej and Brunell 2003) by emphasizing the interactive aspect of the political climate and family connections, specifically, the ways in which the effect of dynasties changes once countries have established a tradition of women in politics.…”

mentioning

confidence: 97%

When Do Family Ties Matter? The Duration of Female Suffrage and Women’s Path to High Political Office

Baturo

Gray

2018

Political Research Quarterly

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While the percentage of female heads of state in the world has increased to around 10 percent in the 2010s, a female president or prime minister still remains an exception. Recent scholarship has proposed a number of explanations behind this phenomenon, but there exist important gaps. The contribution of this paper is threefold. First, we use new and comprehensive data to undertake a systematic examination of the differences in the personal, education, and career backgrounds between female and male effective political leaders from 1960 to 2010. We find that female leaders are as qualified as men. Second, because the phenomenon of female leadership is still a rare occurrence, we argue that this fact must be accounted for in empirical modeling. Third, we show that many female leaders tend to acquire the necessary resources, support, and name recognition through political dynasties. To that end, women leaders need to rely on family ties more than men do. However, the importance of such connections attenuates when female suffrage has been in place for longer, and citizens are more open to women in politics.

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“…Academic considerations of public widows are relatively few. Solowiej and Brunell (2003) explored cases of women who stepped in to succeed their late spouses in the U.S. Congress. Pinsdorf (2002) studied widows such as Yoko Ono in their role as “image makers” for their late husbands, arguing that Ono’s particular task was to salvage her own image as well as advance Lennon’s.…”

Section: Widowhood Figure Skating and Gendered Meaningmentioning

confidence: 99%

Frozen in Time: Gender, Fan Culture, and a Young Widow’s Icy Terrain

Scodari

2008

Communication, Culture &Amp; Critique

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The Entrance of Women to the U.S. Congress: The Widow Effect

Cited by 6 publications

References 0 publications

The Career Length and Service of Female Policymakers in the US House of Representatives

The Career Length and Service of Female Policymakers in the US House of Representatives

When Do Family Ties Matter? The Duration of Female Suffrage and Women’s Path to High Political Office

Frozen in Time: Gender, Fan Culture, and a Young Widow’s Icy Terrain

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