Where Women Run by Sanbonmatsu Kira;

Author:Sanbonmatsu, Kira;
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: University of Michigan Press

CHAPTER 5

Barriers, Opportunities, and

the Gendered Path to Office

Do perceptions of women’s opportunities as candidates vary across states? In this chapter, I compare the results of the interviews across the case-study states to determine if the party practices outlined in chapter 3 are related to perceptions about women’s status as state legislative candidates. How do interview subjects perceive women’s opportunities for the legislature? Do respondents believe that women are differentially likely to be recruited or nominated because of gender? Or is the recruitment and nomination process perceived to be gender neutral?

To some extent, respondents believe that women face similar barriers and opportunities across the six states. However, in important respects, perceptions of women’s status in electoral politics depend on the state. In particular, interview subjects perceive party practices as having implications for women’s representation. The interviews suggest that party efforts to restrict candidate entry in the primary or to support candidates in the primary put women at a disadvantage. Moreover, rather than viewing the recruitment process as a mechanism that can increase women’s representation—the relationship I have hypothesized—interview subjects identified the recruitment process itself as a barrier to women’s candidacies in some states.

I begin by discussing the methodology used in this chapter. I then analyze the barriers and opportunities identified by interview subjects, supplementing these interviews with the survey of Ohio candidates.

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