Women and Politics

Catalog description

This course will compare and contrast the role of women in politics in the US, Western Europe and a selection of countries from the less-developed world. The suffrage movement and ERA movements will be examined for their successes and failures and compared to similar political movements in the west. Women as political actors will be studied: as voters; as party members; as interest group members; as legislators; and as executives in the U.S., Europe and the developing world. The effect that women in office have on policy-making will be evaluated in different regions. A brief survey of how certain public policies affect women will be covered, as will U.N. efforts in the area of international women's rights.