Congressional Women: Their Recruitment, Integration, and Behavior

by Irwin N. Gertzog

Overview

This is a revision and update of Gertzog's successful 1984 study of women in the United States Congress. Now, 10 years later, the congressional roster is far different: Women have made major in-roads in numbers and prominence in the House of Representatives. Based upon interviews with 45 members of the 103rd Congress, this study examines the rise in the number of women elected, the circumstances leading to their success, and their integration into the workings of the institution, in both legislative and political terms.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780275947408
Publisher:	Bloomsbury Academic
Publication date:	08/30/1995
Edition description:	Rev and Updated
Pages:	328
Product dimensions:	6.14(w) x 9.21(h) x 0.75(d)

About the Author

IRWIN N. GERTZOG is the Arthur Braun Professor of Political Science at Allegheny College in Pennsylvania.

Table of Contents

Preface
Introduction
Exploring a Small Universe
Recruitment
The Matrimonial Connection
Changing Patterns of Recruitment
Integration
Women in the House: Incremental Integration
Access to Informal Channels of Communication: Women and House Caucuses
Access to Leadership Positions
Behavior
Changing Legislative Opportunities
Issues Affecting Women: Changing Legislative Priorities
The Congresswomen's Caucus: Preliminaries
The Congresswomen's Caucus: Early Years
The Congressional Caucus for Women's Issues: Survival and Growth
Past, Present, and Future
Changing Gender and Legislative Roles
Appendix A: Women Elected to the House of Representatives, 1916-1993
Appendix B: Southern and Non southern Widows Receiving Major Party Nominations, 1916-1993
Appendix C: Questionnaire Administered to Twenty-four Representatives in the 95th Congress and Forty-five in the 103rd Congress
Appendix D: Congresswomen in Secondary Leadership Positions, 1947-1994
Bibliography
Index

Editorial Reviews

Updated from the 1984 Congressional Women: Their Recruitment, Treatment and Behavior to account for the extraordinary number of women elected to Congress in 1992, and the changing relations between men and women members that makes integration a more appropriate term than treatment. Draws from biographical data and legislative records from 1917 to the present, as well as from extensive interviews, to show that women are now less likely to be elected to Congress because of family connections, are more likely to have experience in law or legislature, and are more likely to develop and pursue their own agendas once in office. Annotation c. Book News, Inc., Portland, OR (booknews.com)

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