Mirya R. Holman

Sex, Stereotypes, and Security: A Study of the Effects of Terrorist Threat on Assessments of Female Leadership

This project examines the extent to which terrorist threat shapes affect assessments of female political leadership and whether these assessments are affected by the characteristics of the evaluated leader. Using experimental and survey data, we find that conditions of terrorist threat increase the expression of certain gender-trait stereotypes and negatively affect evaluations of female Democratic leaders. Our analysis further suggests that Republican women and/or those with strong national security experience may be able to overcome the otherwise negative implications of security threats and gender-trait stereotypes.

SEX AND THE CITY: FEMALE LEADERS AND SPENDING ON SOCIAL WELFARE PROGRAMS IN U.S. MUNICIPALITIES

ABSTRACT: Scholars of urban politics often argue that cities will shy away from extensive funding of social welfare programs, as fiscal realities make developmental policies far more attractive. Despite these arguments, cities continue to fund social welfare programs. One possible explanation is that some local officials prefer funding welfare programs. This research demonstrates that the presence of a female mayor has a large, positive influence on the likelihood a city participates in funding social welfare programs and the amount of monetary resources a city dedicates to these programs. High levels of female representation on city councils and a mayor-council form of government both interact with the presence of a female mayor to increase the provision and size of social welfare programs in cities.

The Paradox of Protestantism and Women in Elected Office in the United States

ABSTRACT In cross-national studies, scholars have found that wealthy countries and those with a Protestant tradition are more likely to have higher levels of women in elected office. Even though the United States should then be high in this domain, it lags behind many similarly situated countries. We posit that one reason for this paradox is that Protestantism in the United States is far more socially conservative than is typical in other Protestant countries. To test our argument, we use state-level data on the proportion of women in elected office from 2002 to 2004 and survey data on church membership. We find a negative relationship between the percentage of Protestants belonging to churches associated with the National Association of Evangelicals, a lobbying group representing socially conservative Protestant denominations, and the proportion of women in elected office.

Social capital and solving the puzzle of Black women's political participation

In the USA, Black women participate in politics at much higher rates than expected, especially given that the group ranks low on many of the traditional correlates of political participation, such as income and education. Using data from the 2000 Social Capital Benchmark Study and the 2011 American National Elections Study, we present an intersectional model of Black womens political participation. Our results demonstrate that many of the traditional factors associated with high levels of political participation matter less for Black women as a group and that social capital plays a key role in promoting their political participation. The high level of social capital in the group, combined with a strong substantive effect of social capital, illustrates the potential of social capital to help explain the puzzle of Black womens political participation. We provide evidence that social capital plays a particularly important role for Black womens political participation when compared to other groups. Our results demonstrate the importance of an intersectional approach to understanding democratic participation, particularly for marginalized groups.

Making it Personal: Assessing the Impact of In-Class Exercises on Closing the Gender Gap in Political Ambition

There is evidence that some obstacles to women running for political office emerge early in the political development of women and girls. Lawless and Fox (2005) identify several reasons for lower political ambition among women relative to men. Among their explanations are that girls are less likely to be engaged in political conversations in their childhood homes than are boys, and women receive less encouragement to run for office by family members and friends. While it is unclear what interventions may help close the ambition gap, research suggests some avenues for change. We consider how to use the classroom as a place to encourage female college students to reflect on their own potential as candidates. We detail and test two ways in which instructors can offer students opportunities to learn about the ambition gap and to consider their own possible political future. On balance, our findings demonstrate that classroom exercises that expose students to women in political office, coupled with literature and discussion that contextualizes those individuals’ experiences, encourage greater self-reported political ambition, particularly among female students. Moreover, we find this positive outcome in both small seminars and large lecture courses.

Can experience overcome stereotypes in times of terror threat

Research on evaluations of leaders has frequently found that female leaders receive lower ratings in times of national security crisis. However, less is known about countervailing factors. We contend that partisanship and leadership experience in relevant domains are two factors that can counteract the negative effects of terrorist threat on evaluations of female political leaders. To test this expectation, we implemented a national study in 2012 containing terrorist threat and non-threat conditions, and then asked participants to evaluate political leaders. The results show that Republican leaders, including women, are unaffected by terrorist threat; in contrast, Democratic leaders are punished during times of terrorist threat, but this negative effect is smaller for then-Secretary of State Hillary Clinton compared to Nancy Pelosi, who lacks similar experience. In short, Republican partisanship is a strong countervailing factor, while leadership experience in national security more modestly countervails.