The Politics Women Make

Anne C. Pluta is associate professor of political science at Rowan University. She is the author of Persuading the Public: The Evolution of the Enduring Relationship between the President and the American People, also published by University Press of Kansas.

"Every four years, political junkies, journalists and voters speculate about when or how a woman will ever be elected president. This intriguing, insightful book provides some answers. It's not just about women but about masculinity and how we have defined the presidency as male for almost 250 years. Anne Pluta's engaging and sophisticated analysis of the influence women have had as voters, issue advocates, and candidates, concludes that women face unique challenges in our culture, which are even greater for women of color. There are lessons here for the first woman president and her supporters."-Elisabeth Grifith, PhD, author of Formidable: American Woman and the Fight for Equality: 1920-2020 "In this innovative and compelling study, Anne C. Pluta demonstrates that women were central actors in the development of presidential politics long before the Nineteenth Amendment. Bridging presidential studies, political development, and gender history, The Politics Women Make makes a significant contribution to our understanding of how women helped shape political institutions, governing coalitions, and the evolution of American democracy."-Lori Cox Han, Professor of Political Science and Doy B. Henley Chair of American Presidential Studies, Chapman University "The Politics Women Make is a summary of 250 years of the ways in which gender, gender norms, centuries-old legal traditions, and hard-core politics affected women's political participation and laws that impacted them in the US since independence was declared. Using presidential history as an organizing system, Professor Pluta explores the complexity and nuance of gendered politics demonstrating that both feminine and masculine norms were at play in defining presidential power and influencing policy as it related to women and their roles. Acknowledging that presidential partners have had influence since the Washingtons, the role of first ladies in helping or hindering women's causes is part of the analysis. The fact that women were never in total agreement on the issues and that 'gender is only one aspect of identity,' serves as an important element in explaining why the ERA failed and why it took so long to get the vote, bank accounts and credit, and the first female vice president while still waiting for a woman president."-Diana B. Carlin, co-author of Gender and the American Presidency: Nine Presidential Women and the Barriers They Faced and author of Remember the First Ladies: The Legacies of America's History-Making Women