Gender and Politics

Catalog description

This course focuses on the psychology of gender and its impact on women and their roles as political actors in the United States. We consider: the social construction of gender and power in American society; how women act politically outside the electoral arena; the gender gaps in attitudes and mass participation in mainstream electoral politics and their implications for representative institutions; why more women aren’t elected to office, and how men and women are treated differently as political candidates; how women act as office-holders; and finally the implications of women as citizens and political elites for public policy. Throughout the course, the major goals are (1) to describe how gender constrains political actors, and to understand the reasons for similarities and differences between women and men in politics, and (2) to focus attention on how women differ among themselves (e.g. in terms of race, class, party) and how those differences affect their capacity for unified collective action. No prerequisites. (Offered every even fall term) Credit: