Date of Award
5-12-2023
Document Type
Thesis
Department
Political Science
First Reader
Dr. Doug Reed
Second Reader
Dr. Hal Bass
Third Reader
Dr. Lee McGlone
Abstract
Since the beginning of recorded history, female representation in elective office has been drastically lower than that of the U.S. population. Over the years, there have been many records set for women in office, including the 28% of the 118th Congress represented by women. Considering both chambers of Congress, the House and the Senate, women account for 153 of the 540 seats of the body. This number marks a record high, demonstrating commitment and strength in numbers by women in politics. While 28% female is still a small number in comparison to the amount of women accounted for in the United States population, this jump in percentage reflects a 59% increase in the number of women in office from the I 12th Congress one decade ago (Leppert and Desilver, 2023). It is no secret that the female population is more heavily represented in state legislatures; however, they only occupy 30.5% of state legislative seats in the United States (CA WP, 2022). This is not just a nationwide phenomenon, as women across the globe have worked hard to break glass ceilings and claim their seat at the table in the political arena. One may ask themselves what the world would look like if we had elected more women since the beginning of our nation's founding. This thought challenges us to consider what our laws, policies, and governmental structure may have become if we had more equal representation. Although we do not have all of these answers, there is work to be done to better understand how our nation can achieve a more representative democracy.
To fully understand the development of a woman's role in politics, it is often best to understand where it all began. For years, Elizabeth Cady Stanton, a women's rights leader, was tired of watching women be denied a seat at the table. In 1866, Stanton stood firm alongside her mission and is recognized as the first woman to run for the United State House of Representatives, despite her grueling loss for the New York seat. Her courage started a movement, and six years later Victoria Woodhull ran for President of the United States. As you can infer, Woodhull was unsuccessful in her attempt, but her courage once again spoke volumes for the female community. In 1884. Belva Lockwood was the first woman admitted to the practice of law. Because of the dedication and bravery of these women and many others, women like me are able to research and write about their stories. While all of these stories are incredibly important, pioneering the way for women today, we still have a good bit of work to do. This past March, I met with State Senator Karen Lewi's Young. She told me that she was the first woman elected to represent her region of Maryland, and she was incredibly proud of this feat. In the middle of our conversation, she looked at me and said, "Young lady, it's about time that women reach equal representation, and I am proud to be a part of it.'' I was immediately inspired and reminded of the brevity of this topic.
As mentioned before, there are historically more women serving in state level legislatures than other levels of public service. I have always believed that change often starts small, in this case locally, and causes a ripple effect. Due to this fact, my study focuses on women making a bid for state-level office, and seeks to understand the factors that help them win their seat. When speaking in terms of an election, there are several factors that play a part. We can analyze these factors to create a more holistic look at female electoral success, and achieve our goal of becoming closer to pinpointing the most influential factor in getting women elected. After a job with a local mayor in Northeast Arkansas, I knew then that I wanted to dedicate a piece of my career to public service. Throughout my study, I intend to focus on female electoral success with emphasis on the incumbency advantage, fundraising efforts, recruitment methods, partisan effect, and policy influence.
Creative Commons License
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-No Derivative Works 4.0 International License.
Recommended Citation
Baughn, Izzy, "Female Electoral Success in State Legislative Races: A Case Study Review of Gender Influence on Incumbency, Fundraising, Recruitment, and Policy" (2023). Honors Theses. 902.
https://scholarlycommons.obu.edu/honors_theses/902
Included in
American Politics Commons, Gender and Sexuality Commons, Inequality and Stratification Commons, Politics and Social Change Commons