Preparing Women for Public Leadership: Programs and Strategies

Female representation is impediment for Political matters and topics regarding women decided by the Federal Government. For example, in 2006, female Senators from all main parties united and supported a bill to change legislation on the abortion pill, removing the Health Minister Tony Abbott’s right to retain the veto on the introduction of the

In reality, however, women are equally and in some ways more qualified to hold leadership positions than men. Although there is no single explanation for why women are underrepresented in politics, the gender gap in the political arena stems from the lack of female participation in elections as women are often discouraged or feel threatened by society to run for political office. Young women who aspire a career in politics encounter both structural and emotional barriers, which prevent them from running for political office. Women battle issues of self-confidence, face stereotypes, and derive false perceptions of political campaigns, all of which broaden the gender gap in the political

Jeannette Rankin was an influential person even before she ran for Representative, but now that she is in a position of more power, she can surely bring about more changes than she already has. She is a committed pacifist and she knows how to get her ideas across to others. She has led the way for women into positions of federal power, and more will surely follow. Rankin will work to get nationwide women’s voting rights, and she believes in gender equality. As she has said, “Men and women are like left and right hands, it doesn’t make sense not to use them both.”

Women first gained the right to vote on August 26, 1920 with the 19th amendment was approved, giving women full voting rights. Fortified by the constitutional victory in 1920, the handful of new women in Congress embarked on what would become a century-long journey to broaden women’s role in government. In the intervening years, the drive for more women’s rights encompassed the lives of the next generations of women. Even today, women are still fighting for their rights and stand up against prejudice. On the forefront of this movement are our women congresswomen who speak on behalf of all women. When Hillary Clinton announced her presidential candidacy, controversial questions immediately surfaced about the role of gender in politics. Through Hillary Clinton’s presidential campaign in 2008 and 2016, media is the principal propagator in showing bias and sexism.

There have been many significant strides since 1970 when women occupied almost no major elective positions in U.S. political institutions. Today’s society has reflected remarkable changes in women’s equality and acceptance. In 2008, Hillary Clinton received 18 million votes when she fought for presidency of the Democratic Party . In 2011, Sarah Palin was listed at the top of her candidates for the Republican presidential nomination. However, women are consistently being underrepresented in the political world reaching beyond just the federal level. Clyde and Thomas attest the underrepresentation to two basic reasons: lack of political ambition as well as historic exclusion of women from professions that tend to lead toward the political arena . Three central barriers contribute to the difficult road ahead for the

As well, a woman’s place in the government was significantly different to a man’s. Geraldine Ferraro says, “For all that my female colleagues and I had achieved, we still had to more, work harder, and produce more to be judged the same as men” (Ferraro 57). She also says, “So much had changed…I arrived in Congress…I had joined the Congress Women's Caucus. But there were far to women in the House and Senate-only eleven Democrats and six Republicans to sway 435 votes” (Ferraro 41). Her evidence supporting the gender positions is evidenced by the ratio of men to women serving jobs in the government. She even goes on to acknowledge that if a woman works harder and is more efficient compared to the quality of a man’s work, at the end of the day

Women have come a long way ever since the 19th Amendment was passed in 1920 and thereafter with the Equal Rights Amendment Act in 1972 to the U.S Constitution. After decades of struggling and protesting, the 19th Amendment was passed and ratified to grant women the right to vote. Fifty-two years later worth of revisions and persistency, the Equal Rights Amendment was ratified in which it declared that everyone had both Human and Civil rights in the States regardless of sex. Not only did these amendments have an immense impact on the lives of women and sequentially with the rest of the citizens of this nation, but on the people of today’s century. Women have done a tremendous job in proving society wrong about the roles women are

Within the past 50 years, there has been an increasing amount of women in the government. Whether these women hold powerful positions such as Secretary of State, or hold minor positions such as PTA President, a political revolution is brewing. The United States of America is lacking substantially with regards to females in office, in fact if one were to look statistically at the amount of women in the government, the United States is failing tremendously. Although the United States likes to claim that they are the land of opportunities, it seems as if the only ones reaping those benefits are cis white males. But, there are women who choose to break the glass ceiling and attempt to explore the opportunities that are in front of them, and one

There are a few resources available for women interested in public office. The National Women’s Political Caucus of NJ (WPCNJ)

On July 1, 2013, Texas Senator Wendy Davis made a speech at Texas’s State Capitol. She had an audience of about 5,000 people, as she spoke about Women’s Rights and Texan power. In “Stand with Texas Women”, Wendy Davis argues that Texas is all about fairness, so women deserve equal opportunity. Specifically, Davis states that Texas has pushed to be fair, but politicians have been selfish in their careers. Her point is that creating equal opportunity for women will help not only Texan families, but Texas as a whole. She also points out that Texas needs politicians who want what is best for the state and the people. Overall, Davis’s main purpose is to unite Texan women in order to make equal opportunity to improve Texans’ quality of life.

Swers, M. L. (2002). The Difference Women Make: The Policy Impact of Women in Congress. Chicago: London: University of Chicago Press.

The US national government and California state governments each have their fair similarities and differences. For instance, they are very similar involving the president and governor. As the United States of America has a president, California has their own governor as well. Even though they are not entitled to the same exact responsibilities, they each have a huge importance to their people. The citizens of the United States look up to the president, as the residents of California look up to their governor. The governor is essentially seen as the “state’s symbolic leader” whereas the president is seen as the “nation’s symbolic leader” (Spitzer, 2015, p. 93). A huge advantage that California carries is that the state constitution is typically known for creating a stronger governor than in other states. In some cases, even, the governor can be just a strong as the president. As they are both important members in congress, they each have the ability of making executive and judicial branch appointments. In addition to this similarity between the national and state government, they are also alike in having to do with women’s level of involvement in the legislature. The amount of females working in the legislature is not as common than it is for males. Unfortunately, men have a huge advantage over women in this aspect of the government. On the other hand, there has actually been a significant amount growth of women working in the state legislature since 1975. Even though it has

Women are underrepresented in political offices at the national and local levels. Currently, only 17 women serve in the United States Senate out of 100 seats and only 16 percent of the United States House of Representatives are female. Why is this a problem? Legislatures, the House of

The political arena is a tough place to be part of, especially during a campaign. Your opponent and their supporters are constantly watching your every move with the hopes that you will make a mistake, or that somebody will find some detrimental dirt on you. Now imagine also being a woman, not only will you have to face the hardships that male candidates cope with but you will also have to handle the adversity based on your gender and the stereotypes that go along with being a female. Women have to be prepared to confront the fact that they may not even be wanted in that setting. For example Margaret Carlson stated,

Representative governments that are more characteristic of their population are thought to better serve their citizens. It is unreasonable to argue that a government made up of entirely white, middle-aged men would wholly understand the interests of a Native American woman in her twenties. What makes governments more reflective of their population? More specifically, what causes more women to participate in state legislatures? In this paper, I will argue that, according to the data, states with a non-moralistic political culture are more likely to have a greater number of women that participate in state legislatures. After comparing the political culture variable to other variables that I believed would also have a meaningful impact, I