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Annotated Bibliography

Should women be more engaged in politics? What effect is there on the country's

legislation and success as a whole, as more women take on political roles?

Jennifer Delgado

Professor Malcolm Campbell

UWRT 1104

October 12, 2017

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Annotated Bibliography

Burden, Barry, et al. "Reassessing Public Support for a Female President." Journal of Politics,

vol. 79, no. 3, 2017, pp. 1073-78.

http://www.journals.uchicago.edu/doi/full/10.1086/691799 Accessed 08 Oct 2017.

This academic article, compares the authors' study to an earlier project in 2008 regarding

public opinion on women taking leadership positions in the government. The authors

discuss the different factors this new study takes into consideration, that the original

failed to include, such as: race, economic standing, and political party identification. The

authors acknowledged that their sampling may not accurately represent the whole

American population, because it was presented online, unlike the 2008 study that was

done through random sampling of phone numbers. However, this 2016 report had more

respondents. The authors reflect upon the results of the previous study and compare them

with theirs. This article contains no bias from the writers, only facts they gathered. A few

reasons as to why results have changed between an eight-year period are detailed in the

text as well; one of them being the occurrence of rising female leaders around the world.

Other sources are also cited within this journal, giving it higher credibility. The process

of the study is quickly summarized, but the readers are given a source at the end to

review the whole process. This research is probably intended to attract the attention of

people interested in knowing who is really for and against women in leadership roles.

This scholarly journal presents many useful statistics from 2016 that will definitely be a

part of my Inquiry Question Project. Since the study presents who opposes women rising
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in power, I have a better understanding of who to target when searching for people

against my topic.

Chemaly, Soraya. Women in Politics: Why We Need More Women in Office. The Huffington

Post, TheHuffingtonPost.com, 1 Mar 2012. www.huffingtonpost.com/soraya-

chemaly/women-in-politics_b_1307586.html. Accessed 08 Oct 2017.

This developed article from Huffington Post argues women should participate more in

politics. The author lists several reasons as to why she believes so and expands on them

all. There is an emphasis for women to run for political offices and vote, while also

asking women to pay more attention to politics due to the "pragmatic effects of a male-

dominated" political body. Chemaly acknowledges why women are not making campaign

efforts using Political Scientist Jennifer Lawless' research, whom has written several

books, such as Women on the Run and Running from Office. The author also calls out the

bias for men in politics over women and pushes the reader to feel her fight against

systematic sexism. In the article, several resources are given throughout to motivate her

audience, women, to participate in their government and take the initiative to become

leaders. Giving real examples of how women are at a disadvantage unites her to her

audience. Chemaly uses several links and studies to back up her gathered information,

making her a reliable source with a bias towards having women in power. The writer also

suggests the use of electoral quotas and gives examples of how they have benefited other

countries that have used them, proving the author has expanded her research beyond the

American perspective. Some of her arguments are too biased and need more exploring;

however, Chemaly has many great resources I will be taking advantage of to research

more on my topic.
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Democracy without Women Is Impossible. National Democratic Institute, National

Democratic Institute, 21 Apr. 2014, www.ndi.org/democracy-without-women-is-

impossible. Accessed 08 Oct 2017.

This reliable website based on a national organization demands people understand the

importance of women taking on roles as elected officials. They state that one of the

National Democratic Institute's goal has always been to empower women in politics.

They use statistics that are a full display of the unequal representation of women in

governments across the globe. The NDI then goes on to using examples of how having

more women in political positions improves and benefits the country as a whole. The

NDI establishes its credibility through examples of how they have supported the

development of women in the United States and across the globe. Founded since 1983,

the NDI has strengthened the participation of all people in growing democracies.

Although this institute is famous for its advocacy of democracy, the NDI asks for a

reform to alter political parties in a manner that won't hold women back from holding

higher positions. This reliable website gives links for the reader to search deeper into the

projects the NDI has been a part of and their approach to raise women participation. This

is a biased source that fights for women empowerment. Perhaps looking into their

projects, I could find more information as to how the women they have helped have

impacted their communities. What I have taken from this source is the correlation

between having more women being elected and the progress of the country.
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Hawkesworth, Mary, et al. "Legislating for Women and by Women: A Comparison of the 103 rd

and 104th Congresses." Center for American Women and Politics/ Eagleton Institute of

Politics/ Rutgers/ The State University of New Jersey, 2001, pp. 18-49. Accessed 08 Oct

2017.

This collaborative research paper confirms that having women in legislative positions

makes a difference in outcomes of policies, defining the political agenda, and the framing

of new issues. First, there is an explanation from the authors about why there was a boom

in the number of women that ran for political offices in the 1990's, exploring women's

motivation to participate in the political field. The authors list the bills and legislation that

were fought for by women in congress, such as: The Violence Against Women Act,

Assault Weapons Ban, anti-stalking laws, and welfare reforms. Throughout the text, the

authors acknowledge the different ideologies of women depending on their political

party, yet, as the women were interviewed, many agreed that they all shared a common

ground for several subjects. Interviewing the women who are in congress gave the

research a taste of first-hand experience, making it reliable. These congress-women

explain how they are treated in office being a woman and how they set their priorities.

Several of them also mention how their intersectionality (usually considering race and

gender) affects how others perceive them and what decisions they are in favor of. The

examples of legislation named in the text that were pushed on to the political agenda by

women is amongst one of the things I will include in my project. The other being the

experience of these women, especially since the authors honored the reader with first

hand interviews!