Women in political parties: Seen but not heard

Jana Morgan and Magda Hinojosa examine women’s representation within parties as leaders, candidates, and officeholders and find that these positions are increasingly accessible to women. They argue that candidate selection procedures are important for women’s presence within parties, while gender quotas and ideology matter less than we might expect. They also evaluate whether parties advocate for women’s issues or employ strategies to articulate women’s concerns. They find that even as descriptive representation has advanced, parties rarely offer substantive linkages for women. As a result, women are less likely to identify with parties than men. To improve women’s descriptive representation in parties, they argue for better candidate selection processes, candidate training programs, and increased state funding for female candidates. To advance substantive representation, they advocate for parties to craft policy and organizational ties with women and to align gender issues with existing partisan divides, thereby integrating rather than isolating gender issues.