It Still Takes A Candidate serves as the only systematic, nationwide empirical account of the manner in which gender affects political ambition. Based on data from the Citizen Political Ambition Panel Study, a national survey conducted of almost 3,800 potential candidates in 2001 and a second survey of more than 2,000 of these same individuals in 2008, Jennifer L. Lawless and Richard L. Fox find that women, even in the highest tiers of professional accomplishment, are substantially less likely than men to demonstrate ambition to seek elective office. Women are less likely than men to be recruited to run for office. They are less likely than men to think they are qualified to run for office. And they are less likely than men to express a willingness to run for office in the future. This gender gap in political ambition persists across generations and over time. Despite cultural evolution and society s changing attitudes toward women in politics, running for public office remains a much less attractive and feasible endeavor for women than men.

Renowned researchers and writers Jen Lawless and Richard Fox bring groundbreaking research on gender and politics into the undergraduate classroom. In this brief, accessibly written text, the authors focus on the big empirical questions that animate the study of gender and politics and ask students to think critically and analytically about these often surprising findings.

What happens in an electoral environment involving female candidates? Do women face different challenges during the electoral process? How do gender dynamics alter the conventional norms of electoral politics? Do women campaign differently from men? Do male candidates pay more attention to women's issues, or make other strategic and behavioral changes when opposed by a female candidate? Author Richard Logan Fox answers these questions and many others with compelling evidence that suggests that women candidates are having a profound impact on the electoral process. In Gender Dynamics in Congressional Elections, Fox studies the congressional races of 1992 and 1994 in California in which a record 19 women were candidates for House seats. He contrasts the experiences of both the male and female candidates and sheds new light on the different challenges women face during political campaigns. Providing a groundbreaking examination of an understudied topic, Gender Dynamics in Congressional Elections will be essential for students and professionals in political science.

The fifth edition of Gender and Elections offers a lively, multi-faceted account of the role of gender in the electoral process through the 2020 elections. This timely yet enduring volume strikes a balance between highlighting the most important developments for women as voters and candidates in the 2020 elections and providing an in-depth analysis of the ways that gender has helped shape the contours and outcomes of electoral politics in the United States. Individual chapters demonstrate the importance of gender in understanding presidential, congressional, and state elections; voter participation, turnout, and choices; participation of African American women and Latinas; support of political parties and women's organizations; and candidate communication. New chapters explore the role of social movements in elections and introduce concepts of gendered and raced institutions, intersectionality, and identity politics applied to presidential elections from past to present. The resulting volume is the most comprehensive and reliable resource on the role of gender in electoral politics.

The fifth edition of Gender and Elections offers a lively, multi-faceted account of the role of gender in the electoral process through the 2020 elections. This timely yet enduring volume strikes a balance between highlighting the most important developments for women as voters and candidates in the 2020 elections and providing an in-depth analysis of the ways that gender has helped shape the contours and outcomes of electoral politics in the United States. Individual chapters demonstrate the importance of gender in understanding presidential, congressional, and state elections; voter participation, turnout, and choices; participation of African American women and Latinas; support of political parties and women's organizations; and candidate communication. New chapters explore the role of social movements in elections and introduce concepts of gendered and raced institutions, intersectionality, and identity politics applied to presidential elections from past to present. The resulting volume is the most comprehensive and reliable resource on the role of gender in electoral politics.

iPolitics provides a current analysis of new media's effect on politics. Politicians rely on Twitter, Facebook, and YouTube to exercise political power. Citizens around the world also use these tools to vent political frustrations, join political groups, and organize revolutions. Political activists blog to promote candidates, solicit and coordinate financial contributions, and provide opportunities for volunteers. iPolitics describes the ways in which new media innovations change how politicians and citizens engage the political arena. Most importantly, the volume emphasizes the implications of these changes for the promotion of democratic ideals. Among other things, contributors to this volume analyze whether the public's political knowledge has increased or decreased in the new media era, the role television still plays in the information universe, the effect bloggers have had on the debate and outcome of healthcare reform, and the manner in which political leaders should navigate the new media environment. While the majority of contributors examine new media and politics in the United States, the volume also provides a unique comparative perspective on this relationship using cases from abroad.

It Still Takes A Candidate serves as the only systematic, nationwide empirical account of the manner in which gender affects political ambition. Based on data from the Citizen Political Ambition Panel Study, a national survey conducted of almost 3,800 potential candidates in 2001 and a second survey of more than 2,000 of these same individuals in 2008, Jennifer L. Lawless and Richard L. Fox find that women, even in the highest tiers of professional accomplishment, are substantially less likely than men to demonstrate ambition to seek elective office. Women are less likely than men to be recruited to run for office. They are less likely than men to think they are qualified to run for office. And they are less likely than men to express a willingness to run for office in the future. This gender gap in political ambition persists across generations and over time. Despite cultural evolution and society s changing attitudes toward women in politics, running for public office remains a much less attractive and feasible endeavor for women than men."

A high quality, well-functioning democracy demands that the next generation hears - and then heeds - a call to public service. With more than 500,000 elected positions in the United States, the political system can sustain itself and succeed only if a large number of citizens eventually put themselves forward as candidates. But Washington's dreadful performance over the past two decades has taken a toll on the young Americans who have come to know politics through this spectacle. The mean-spirited, dysfunctional political system that has come to characterize American politics turns young people off to the idea of running for office. It discourages them from aspiring, one day, to be elected leaders. It alienates them from even thinking about a career in politics. Running from Office is the first analysis of young people's political ambition, based on a national poll of over 4,000 high school and college students. In it, Jennifer L. Lawless and Richard L. Fox delve into how young people view political figures, what traits they see as necessary for political success, and how they view their own suitability to run for office. The overwhelming majority of young people have no interest whatsoever in running for office in the future. Actually, they would rather do almost anything else. And who can blame them? Most young people are not particularly tuned into politics. But when they are exposed - at home, at school, with friends, or through the media - they see derisive accounts of government inefficiency, ineffectiveness, and immorality. Lawless and Fox paint a political profile of the next generation that should sound alarm bells about the long-term, deeply embedded damage contemporary politics has wrought on U.S. democracy and its youngest citizens. But the message of Running from Office is not one of all gloom and doom. The young women and men Lawless and Fox surveyed and interviewed want to effect change, and they have clear ideas for how the American political system can steer a new course. Running from Office provides suggestions for ways to generate heightened levels of political ambition among today's young people, including better governance, civic education, voluntary community and national service programs, and political and media campaigns geared to mobilize young people.

iPolitics provides a current analysis of new media's effect on politics. Politicians rely on Twitter, Facebook, and YouTube to exercise political power. Citizens around the world also use these tools to vent political frustrations, join political groups, and organize revolutions. Political activists blog to promote candidates, solicit and coordinate financial contributions, and provide opportunities for volunteers. iPolitics describes the ways in which new media innovations change how politicians and citizens engage the political arena. Most importantly, the volume emphasizes the implications of these changes for the promotion of democratic ideals. Among other things, contributors to this volume analyze whether the public's political knowledge has increased or decreased in the new media era, the role television still plays in the information universe, the effect bloggers have had on the debate and outcome of healthcare reform, and the manner in which political leaders should navigate the new media environment. While the majority of contributors examine new media and politics in the United States, the volume also provides a unique comparative perspective on this relationship using cases from abroad.

This important work constitutes a systematic, nationwide empirical account of the effects of gender on political ambition. Based on data from the Citizen Political Ambition Study, a national survey of 3,800 "potential candidates" conducted by the authors, it relates these findings: --Women, even at the highest levels of professional accomplishment, are significantly less likely than men to demonstrate ambition to run for elective office. --Women are less likely than men to be recruited to run for office. --Women are less likely than men to consider themselves "qualified" to run for office. --Women are less likely than men to express a willingness to run for a future office. According to the authors, this gender gap in political ambition persists across generations, despite contemporary society's changing attitudes towards female candidates. While other treatments of gender in the electoral process focus on candidates and office holders, It Takes a Candidate makes a unique contribution to political studies by focusing on the earlier stages of the candidate emergence process and on how gender affects the decision to seek elective office.

The past two decades of politics in Washington have seen increased partisanship, prolonged stalemates, and numerous scandals. For today's teenagers and young adults, years of ineffective and inefficient political leadership have completely eroded any sense that politicians or government have the ability to do good or effect positive change. Worse, the mean-spirited, dysfunctional political system that has come to characterize American politics has turned young people off to the idea of running for office. With more than 500,000 elected positions in the United States, what will happen when this generation is expected to take the reins of political power? Through an original, national survey of more than 4,000 high school and college students, as well as more than 100 in-depth interviews, Jennifer L. Lawless and Richard L. Fox find that young Americans feel completely alienated from contemporary politics and express little ambition or aspiration to run for office in the future. The overwhelming majority see nothing particularly noble about those currently in office, viewing most as dishonest, self-interested, and disinterested in helping their constituents. These young people want to improve their communities and enact change in the world; but they don't think politics is the way to achieve these goals. In fact, they look disdainfully upon the prospects of growing up to be a mayor, governor, senator, or even president of the United States. Running from Office explores young people's opinions about contemporary politics and their political ambition (or lack of it). The book paints a political profile of the next generation that should sound alarm bells about the long-term, deeply embedded damage contemporary politics has wrought on U.S. democracy and its youngest citizens. As disheartening as their conclusions sound, Lawless and Fox end with practical suggestions for how new technologies, national service programs, and well-strategized public service campaigns could generate political ambition in young people. Today's high school and college students care deeply about improving the future, and it's not too late to ensure that they view running for office as an effective way to do so.

What happens in an electoral environment involving female candidates? Do women face different challenges during the electoral process? How do gender dynamics alter the conventional norms of electoral politics? Do women campaign differently from men? Do male candidates pay more attention to women's issues, or make other strategic and behavioral changes when opposed by a female candidate? Author Richard Logan Fox answers these questions and many others with compelling evidence that suggests that women candidates are having a profound impact on the electoral process. In Gender Dynamics in Congressional Elections, Fox studies the congressional races of 1992 and 1994 in California in which a record 19 women were candidates for House seats. He contrasts the experiences of both the male and female candidates and sheds new light on the different challenges women face during political campaigns. Providing a groundbreaking examination of an understudied topic, Gender Dynamics in Congressional Elections will be essential for students and professionals in political science.