Women and Politics

3 Credits · Level: Undergraduate

This course provides an overview of the major debates concerning women and politics. We begin by examining the historical evolution of women’s participation in American politics from the fight for suffrage through the modern feminist movement. In the next section of the class, we analyze the experience of women as voters, candidates, and officeholders. This part of the course deals with such questions as: What is the gender gap? Are voters biased against female candidates? Do female politicians have different issue priorities than male politicians? The course concludes by analyzing the impact of specific public policies on women. The policy areas we investigate include abortion, child care, education, and employment issues.