2010-2011 Academic Catalog

Apr 28, 2024

2010-2011 Academic Catalog [ARCHIVED CATALOG]

WS 091 - The Gender Gap and American Politics

Type of Course: First-Year Seminar

This first-year seminar explores how since the early 1980s, the “Gender Gap” has received substantial attention from the media, politicians and scholars. Differences between women and men in the general public have been found in voter turn-out, candidate and party preferences, as well as in attitudes on important domestic and foreign policy issues. On the other hand, women and men, overall, hold remarkably similar opinions on some political issues. A major focus of our course is on comparing the political attitudes and behavior of women and men and understanding the factors that result in gender differences and similarities in politics, for example, differences in political and gender role socialization, education, employment, etc. We also consider how different subgroups of men and women compare to each other and to political patterns for their genders. The biggest gender gap in American politics continues to be at the elite level, where men still greatly outnumber women in running for and securing elective political offices. Another major focus is on explaining the reasons for this difference. We consider the characteristics, backgrounds and motivations of people - men and women - who run for local, state and national elective offices, and the factors that affect their electoral success or failure, including party support, campaign funding and media coverage. Finally, we examine whether there are any important differences in the policy preferences, issue priorities, representational styles and impact of female and male elected officials.

Cross Listed: PSCI 091

Instructor: Ms. Krefetz

When Offered: First-Year Seminar

Faculty: Sharon Krefetz, Ph.D. Associate Professor and Acting Chair, Department of Government