Gender & U.S. Politics

Why are women still underrepresented in US political office, and what evidence do we have that increasing women's political representation is important? This course discusses the following main topics: What is the status quo of female candidacy in the US? What are the demographics of the current female political candidates, what offices do they run for and why? What evidence do we have that descriptive representation is important for policy and other political and social outcomes? What evidence do we have on what keeps women from running for office? Do campaign finance and support networks play a role? Can gender quota help to increase women's political representation? The course discusses state-of-the art literature from political science, economics and sociology using empirical evidence on the lack of women in US politics, how female representation affects policy, what may change the status quo and what we can expect for the future.