Party Elites and Women Candidates

ABSTRACT

Using a four state survey of party county chairs and locally elected women, this study finds support for the notion that potential women candidates are subject to bias in recruitment that hinders the cause of electing more women to state legislatures and Congress. It is hypothesized that bias is most likely due to one of two processes: one, the outgroup effect where negative evaluations of women as candidates are predicated on their lack of surface similarity to the predominantly male party elite, or two, the distribution effect where negative evaluations of women as candidates are predicated on the relative paucity of women in high status positions generally and politics specifically. Strong support was found for the outgroup effect, as party chairs consistently preferred candidates more like themselves. Given the ubiquity of men in the party elite, such outgroup biased attitudes represent a significant hurdle for prospective women candidates.     

Financing the Campaigns of Women Candidates and Their Opponents

Abstract

Contrary to research from the 1970s, evidence since the 1980s suggests that women candidates compete evenly for campaign funds with male candidates. The existing evidence is less complete at the state legislative level than it is in congressional elections. The data presented here draw upon the campaign finance reports of state legislative candidates from three states from 1982 to 1990. The results suggest that women candidates usually raise more than similarly situated male candidates, but this does not result in an actual advantage because their male opponents also raise more than other male candidates. The patterns over time do not indicate that women candidates gained parity with male candidates during the 1980s but rather began that decade equal to men in campaign finance.     

From the Trenches: Attacking First-Time Women Candidates for Congress

SUMMARY

Women candidates in the United States no longer enjoy a “compassion advantage” when running against male candidates. First-time women congressional candidates in open seats are especially vulnerable to excessively aggressive negative attacks from their male opponents because (1) high-tech message delivery systems make attack campaigning easy; (2) attack messages attract more attention than positive messages and get the voters to pay attention; (3) large sums of money can be raised for these attacks from national interest groups by emphasizing the national importance of Congressional races; (4) first-time women candidates who are not elected officials do not have the public record and visibility that could insulate them from the abusive distortions of their views and even of their physical appearance; (5) the press does a poor job of covering suburban-rural races and independent fact checking is virtually nonexistent; and (6) since 9/11, terrorism has become a major issue and women are apt to be portrayed as too inexperienced to be trusted with protecting the national defense.     

Emotional Labour and Skill: A Reappraisal

The article seeks to open up a critical discussion around the idea of emotional labour as skilled work. It has been suggested by some commentators that many front‐line service jobs, traditionally thought of as low skilled in terms of their technical aspects, may actually constitute a form of skilled work, since they require their holders to perform skilled emotional labour in their dealings with customers. Such discourses hold out the possibility of progress not only in intellectual terms but also with regard to improving the status and pay of many low‐waged service workers. The article subjects these claims to critical scrutiny and argues that applying the label ‘skill’ to all forms of emotion work is extremely problematic.     

Entering the Political Elite in Canada: The Case of Minority Women as Parliamentary Candidates and MPs*

Cette recherche analyse les femmes des minorités ethniques comme nouveau groupe social visant à accéder à l'élite politique. Elle est axée sur les conséquences liées à leur appartenance à une «double minorité». L'analyse examine deux modèles de cheminement de carrière qui offrent des caractérisations alternatives quant aux obstacles de recrutement auxquels se heurtent les nouveaux groupes sociaux et qui créent des attentes différentes quant aux ressources détenues par les femmes des minorités, comparativement à celles des groupes plus établis. Les résultats principaux, fondés sur un sondage canadien de 1993 sur les candidats parlementaires et completés par de l'information sur les députés, appuient davantage le modèle de «compensation» et, en général, semblent indiquer que l'inégalité continue de caractériser le processus d'accès à l'élite politique. This study examines minority women as a new social group seeking access to the political elite, emphasizing the consequences of their “double minority” status. The analysis considers two career path models that make alternative characterizations about the recruitment barriers faced by new social groups and that yield different expectations about the resources held by minority women compared with more established groups. The main results, based on a 1993 Canadian survey of parliamentary candidates, supplemented by information on MPs, indicate more support for the “compensation” model and, generally, suggest that inequity continues to characterize the process of political elite access.     

Student Ratings and Teacher Effectiveness: A Reappraisal

A new conceptualization of the student rating method, incorporating the degree of discrepancy between the students' ratings of the characteristics of their ideal (desired) as well as of their real (actual) course instructor, was developed for the purpose of exploring the validity of using student ratings in assessing teacher effectiveness. Movement scores derived from a pre and post testing of course-related content were used to operationalize teaching effectiveness. The study found that the ideal or desired teacher characteristics reflected in the students' ratings were largely consistent with previous research findings. No significant correlations, however, were found between discrepancy scores and movement scores. Additionally, all correlations were positive. Both findings suggest caution in how student ratings are used.     

Police Attendance at Child Protection Conferences: A Reappraisal

SUMMARY. We now have over 16 years experience of child protection arrangements that include the attendance of police officers at child protection conferences. This article attempts to review that experience and critically assess the police role at conferences in the light of the Department of Health's Working Together, Particular attention is paid to the nature of information made available by the police to child protection conferences.     

Measuring the Effect of System Size on the Administrative Occupations of Macro Systems: A Reappraisal

Abstract

Organizational theory and empirical research suggests that the size of a system is an important determinant of its administrative sector. In this perspective, the key occupations that provide coordination and integration are as follows: (a) managers and administrators since they provide decision-making, (2) professional and technical experts because they evaluate information flows critical for decision-making, and (3) clerical workers since they contribute written messages resulting in communication. Recent research demonstrates that this approach may be successfully extended to more macro systems such as counties, cities, states and nations. In applying this theory, we argue that the size/administrative occupation relationships can be more completely understood than in previous studies by focusing on the detailed suboccupations found in each of the three broad occupation categories. Data from the fifty American states in 1970 indicate that the relationship between size and suboccupations may be positive, negative, or statistically non-significant depending on which suboccupation is examined. The paper concludes that administrative occupations are affected by size in a much more complex way than previously reported.     

Rockefeller Philanthropy and the Institute of Pacific Relations: A Reappraisal of Long-Term Mutual Dependency

Archival evidence is used to explore the development of funding for the Institute of Pacific Relations (IPR) and the Canadian Institute of International Affairs (the secretariat for the Canadian national council of the IPR) provided by the Rockefeller Foundation (RF). It suggests that the withdrawal of funding should be interpreted in a long-term perspective as a joint responsibility of mutually dependent recipients and funders, rather than simply as the fault of RF decision makers responding reactively to the prevailing climate of McCarthyism. Moreover, it is argued that the conventional wisdom as to the balance of influence within the RF between key staff and trustees is in need of revision. Conceptual implications of these examples of recipient dependence are explored, including the reasons for and dangers of such mutual dependence, the meaning of donor responsibility, and the mediating role of foundation officers.     

Patriarchal Women: A Case Study of Newly Orthodox Jewish Women

Although it seems obvious why men might turn to a community steeped in patriarchal tradition, it is much more difficult to explain women's attraction. To explain their attraction the author conducted in-depth interviews with 75 newly orthodox Jewish women. Although many of these women began their journeys toward Jewish Orthodoxy partly as a backlash against feminism or any liberation movement they perceived as placing individual freedom above social responsibility, the data also suggest that almost all of them selectively incorporate and adapt some protofeminist values about the family and about men. This article explores the ways in which these women seem to make “feminist” sense out of patriarchal religion and social strucuture.     

From Parties to Candidates: Examining the Role of the Media

This article examines the relationship between campaign mediaexpenditures and the saliency of attitudes about parties andcandidates in the electorate using data from the 1978 NationalElection Study and the Traugott/Goldenberg study of campaignmanagers. A negative relationship is found between media spendingand party saliency. In contrast, a strong positive correlationis shown to exist between media expenditures and candidate saliency.These relationships are found to be accentuated when the partyorganizations in the congressional district are weak and wherepolitical action committees contribute a large proportion ofthe total campaign expenses.     

A Follow-up Study of Homeless Women

This article presents an in-depth analysis of the changes observed in 25 homeless women with drug and alcohol abuse problems participating in a case management program. Participation in the program ranged from 6 to 44 months. Thirty-two percent of all participants’ situations were considered to have improved, while 20% remained stable. Less improvement was noted in the situations of women followed for 3 years or more (14.3% improved, 28.6% stable). Domains showing the most improvement were housing, financial situation, and substance abuse. Deterioration was primarily attributable to physical and mental health problems. These findings could indicate that although a case management program can initially contribute to improving the living conditions of its clients, acquisitions are difficult to maintain over an extended period. Health and substance abuse play a crucial role in the deterioration process.     

Learning About the Candidates: The 1976 Presidential Debates

In this study of the 1976 televised Carter-Ford debates, theauthors find that the debates produced a heightened politicalawareness in viewers in the critical days just prior to theelection. The information obtained from the debates focusedlargely on candidate competence, performance and personalityattributes rather than on issues, but some increase in informationon issues and policies can be linked to the debates. The majorimpact of the debates may have been to reinforce partisan predispositions.Arthur H. Miller is a Senior Study Director at the Center forPolitical Studies, Institute for Social Research, and AssociateProfessor of Political Science, University of Michigan. MichaelMacKuen is an Assistant Professor of Political Science, WashingtonUniversity in St. Louis, Missouri.