Women in Politics in the American City

Bibliographic Data

ID10366296
AuthorsJocelyn Elise Crowley (0000-0001-9468-4412, Rutgers, the State University of New Jersey, corresponding author)
Year2016
Volume131
Issue1
Pages206-208
Publication date2016-01-01
Peer ReviewedYes
Open AccessYes
TypeARTICLE
VenuePolitical Science Quarterly (JOURNAL)
Journal identifiersISSN: 0032-3195 • E-ISSN: 1538-165X
PublisherOxford University Press (OUP) (PUBLISHER)
DOI10.1002/polq.12456
OpenAlexW2329054572
LanguageEN
Citations received34

The underrepresentation of women in American politics at both the state and national levels has been addressed by many scholars. Through this research, we know that women govern differently and tend to have different policy priorities than their male counterparts. In this extraordinarily researched work, Women in Politics in the American City, Mirya R. Holman extends this line of inquiry to American city politics. Holman employs rich survey, interview, and textual data to help us understand the ways in which female leaders at the local level make a difference in urban politics. She sets the stage for her analysis by describing the claims that are commonly made related to the limits of mayoral power. For example, local leaders must always keep in mind that citizens have the power to exit, taking their tax dollars with them. In addition, because urban governments lack money, they must often partner with the private sector to advance common goals. These partnerships, however, restrict the ability of local officials to pursue many other priorities of interest. Indeed, if an elected official tries to pursue policies that do not have broad and deep levels of support, he or she will likely fail, which will inhibit the mayor’s capacity to obtain other agenda items needed by the city. Finally, Holman notes that women, because they are residentially dispersed without monolithic interests, are difficult to represent as a unified group. Overall, then, all of these factors work against elected officials’ ability to pursue issues that are critical to women’s well-being at the city level

Political economy · Political science · Politics · Sociology · Gender Politics and Representation · Law · Political and Economic history of UK and US · Public Administration

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