Diversifying Gender Implication in the American Political Process

KITAGAWA OTSURU Chieko

doi:10.7218/nenpouseijigaku.61.2_11

Since the elections of the “Year of Women” in 1992, American political process has observed a numerical increase of female congressional members. Such numerical increase was accompanied by their rising seniority, which in turn led some of them to take leadership positions. The birth of the first female House Speaker was a symbolic development, which took place within the existing political structure. <br> The role of female congressional members in the political process may invite disagreements. If we believe in the substantive representation in the Congress, gender of the members does not in itself decide whose interests are represented. However, due to the lack of committed agents, women's issues had remained underrepresented in the agenda-setting process until an increasing number of female, and mostly liberal Democratic congressional members, helped push the bills through the political process. <br> As women gained certain voices in the political process, the myth of monolithic womanhood also came to be questioned. Women's political movement, previously dominated by liberal voices, is diversifying to include cultural/religious conservatives as well as secular conservatives. We can expect that such diversifying gender implication advances the study of American political process to a new stage.

Diversifying Gender Implication in the American Political Process

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