The Upswing by Robert D. Putnam

Author:Robert D. Putnam
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Simon & Schuster
Published: 2020-10-13T00:00:00+00:00

WOMEN IN THE PUBLIC SQUARE

Though nineteenth-century women had played an active role in public campaigns advocating for causes such as the abolition of slavery, temperance, consumer protection, and improved conditions for the poor and working classes, they were nonetheless adamantly denied the vote and the chance to hold public office.

Not surprisingly, therefore, in their first electoral outing after the adoption of female suffrage in 1920, women’s turnout was 32 percentage points lower than men’s turnout, but in years that followed women quickly began to close that gap, as indicated in Figure 7.9. Thus, women had begun cultivating their political voice as voters long before the women’s movement of the 1960s. This narrowing of the gender gap in voting continued throughout the century, though at a slightly slower pace after 1965, which is somewhat unexpected, given that this was a critical date in extending the franchise to women of color, who had effectively been denied it under Jim Crow. Overall, however, the gender gap in voting has narrowed more or less steadily since the ratification of the Nineteenth Amendment, and has resulted in a distinct female advantage in today’s electorate. Women now play a critical role in the outcome of elections, voting at a rate roughly 4 percent higher than men.57

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