This Article Full Text (PDF) References Alert me when this article is cited Alert me if a correction is posted Citation Map Services Email this article to a friend Similar articles in this journal Alert me to new issues of the journal Add to Saved Citations Download to citation manager Request Permissions Request Reprints Add to My Marked Citations Citing Articles Citing Articles via HighWire Citing Articles via Google Scholar Citing Articles via Scopus Google Scholar Articles by La Cour Dabelko, K. Articles by Herrnson, P. S. Search for Related Content Social Bookmarking                         What's this?

Women's and Men's Campaigns for the U.S. House of Representatives

UNIVERSITY OF MARYLAND

Paul S. Herrnson

UNIVERSITY OF MARYLAND

Widely proclaimed as the "Year of the Woman," 1992 resulted in the election of more women members of Congress than any other election in U.S. history. Using campaign data collected from a survey of 1992 House candidates and campaign aides and campaign finance data, this study ap plies theories of campaign convergence and divergence to the study of women's and men's bids for public office. It demonstrates that there are more similarities than differences in the campaigns of female and male candidates. Women and men give similar reasons for running for Con gress, assemble comparable campaign resources, and employ similar strat egies and communications techniques. Men and women also give similar assessments of the strengths and weaknesses of their own and their opponent's campaigns and hold similar perceptions of how the electoral process works. Where they disagree is on substantive issues. Women are more likely than men to campaign on social issues. This study shows that both the convergence in campaign styles and the divergence in issues help to explain the success rates achieved by female candidates in recent elections.

Political Research Quarterly, Vol. 50, No. 1, 121-135 (1997)
DOI: 10.1177/106591299705000106


CiteULike    Complore    Connotea    Del.icio.us    Digg    Reddit    Technorati    Twitter    What's this?

This article has been cited by other articles:

				L. R. Atkeson and T. B. Krebs Press Coverage of Mayoral Candidates: The Role of Gender in News Reporting and Campaign Issue Speech Political Research Quarterly, June 1, 2008; 61(2): 239 - 252. [Abstract] [PDF]

				S. Jenkins A Woman's Work Is Never Done? Fund-Raising Perception and Effort among Female State Legislative Candidates Political Research Quarterly, June 1, 2007; 60(2): 230 - 239. [Abstract] [PDF]

				K. Dolan Do Women Candidates Play to Gender Stereotypes? Do Men Candidates Play to Women? Candidate Sex and Issues Priorities on Campaign Websites Political Research Quarterly, March 1, 2005; 58(1): 31 - 44. [Abstract] [PDF]