Julie Dolan

Credit Claiming from the U.S. House Gendered Communication Styles

Drawing from David Mayhew’s concept of legislative credit claiming, the authors examine the ways in which male and female members of Congress engage in creditclaiming activities. Through content analysis of 116 newsletters sent out by male and female members of the 107th Congress, the authors focus on the frequency of credit claiming, the types of policy issues for which men and women most commonly take credit, and whether members of Congress share credit with other individuals or take sole credit for their accomplishments. They find that women take credit more often than do men but are more balanced in the types of issues they emphasize in their newsletters. In addition, women are less likely than men to share credit with others. These findings suggest that women are cognizant of voter stereotypes and behave in ways that counter any negative implications.

Political Appointees in the United States: Does Gender Make a Difference?

Information about women who hold appointive office is a neglected area. –Eileen Shanahan, former Assistant Secretary, HEW Eileen Shanahan, former Assistant Secretary for Public Affairs at HEW, quoted in Carroll and Geiger-Parker, 1983. With every new presidential administration in the United States, the incoming president is in charge of appointing thousands of individuals to work throughout the executive branch of government and assist him in fulfilling his constitutional responsibility to “faithfully execute the laws of the Nation” (Pfiffner 1996). When the Center of American Women and Politics (CAWP) first began studying female political appointees in the early 1980s, very few women had ever served in Cabinet positions or other high-ranking executive positions within the federal government. In fact, in 1977, almost two hundred years after the founding of the United States, President Carter appointed only the fourth and fifth women ever to serve as Cabinet Secretaries (CAWP 1998). As Carroll and Geiger-Parker note in the introduction to the very first study of female political appointees, “for the first time in history, women had been appointed in large enough numbers to survey and to compare with other appointees” (1983a, ix).

Influencing Policy at the Top of the Federal Bureaucracy: A Comparison of Career and Political Senior Executives

Although we commonly assume that bureaucrats influence the policies which govern public behavior, we know very little about the individuals who occupy executive positions in the federal bureaucracy. Following the creation of the Senior Executive Service (SES) in 1978, the Office of Personnel Management (OPM) published guidelines detailing the skills and responsibilities required among both career and noncareer members of the SES. Although scholars have focused much attention on relations between these two groups within the federal bureaucracy, their day-to-day responsibilities remain understudied. This study reports results of a survey that was administered to 1,000 members of the Senior Executive Service to determine whether career and noncareer members of the SES have significantly different job responsibilities. Although both groups perform a variety of activities which provide them with numerous avenues to affect government policy, the research findings indicate that noncareer executives are more engaged in carrying out political liaison tasks and that career executives have slightly greater personnel responsibilities.

Political Science in a Different Voice: Women Faculty Perspectives on the Status of Women in Political Science Departments in the South

As we approach the American Political Science Association’s Centennial Celebration and reflect upon the history of the discipline, perhaps nothing has changed the face of political science more than the growing numbers of women in the profession. The entry of women into the field of political science, however, was not always welcomed. Gender discrimination posed barriers to women’s academic career advancement. Even into the late 1980s, subtle discrimination perpetuated what researchers described as a “chilly climate” for women faculty. Through a commitment to gender equity by the APSA, the Women’s Caucus, regional associations, and political science departments, significant progress has been made in the last decade. This progress, however, has been measured only from the perspective of department chairs through surveys regarding issues of recruitment and retention of women. The limited information that department chairs have been able and/or willing to provide has frustrated our attempts to clearly measure the status of women in the profession. This study, made possible by a Centennial Research Grant from the American Political Science Association and a supplemental grant from the Southern Political Science Association, adds the direct perspective of women faculty in order to understand fully the scope of the barriers that remain.

A Guide to Publishing Your First Book: The Ins and Outs of Obtaining a Book Contract

As part of its mission to address issues of recruitment, retention, and integration of women and people of color in the profession, the APSA Task Force on Mentoring periodically publishes articles on some aspect of mentoring that will help political scientists move successfully through the profession. This brief symposium on “Publishing Your First Book” is just one such example of this initiative. For more information about the Task Force and its ongoing projects, contact Linda Lopez, APSA Director of Education and Professional Development Programs, at llopez@apsanet.org. The right contract can make or break tenure and promotion. The following article presents pearls of wisdom from David Meyer, Clyde Wilcox, Susan Clarke, Terri Givens, Carol Swain, Robert Spitzer, and Peter Labella. We divide these suggestions into two parts—those on obtaining and those on negotiating a contract.

Political Women@@@Women and Government: New Ways to Political Power

Introduction Overview: From Ancient to Present Times Close-Up: Norway Close-Up: Sweden Close-Up: Finland Close-Up: Denmark Close-Up: Iceland Close-Up: Germany What American Women Can Do to Win Political Equality Bibliography Subject Index