Women candidates and elected officials are often asked about their family lives: “Are you married? Who’s taking care of your kids? As a single parent how would you manage your job as an elected official and your role as a parent? How can you relate to families if you don’t have kids?”

Despite growing bodies of research about party polarization, women’s leadership, and legislative effectiveness, largely open questions still remained. Until now.

likeability is a non-negotiable quality voters seek in women officeholders and candidates. At the same time, it’s an intangible quality. Voters have difficulty clearly defining what it means to come across as likeable.

The 2014 election saw some incredible firsts for women; but when historians look back on the 2014 election, it will not be dubbed the “Year of the Woman.”

To celebrate pride month, we’re highlighting some of the amazing people who paved the way for LGBTQIA+ representation in American politics: Kathy Kozachenko First openly gay candidate to run successfully for political office in the United States, 1974 Elaine Noble First openly gay candidate elected to a state legislature, 1974 Harvey Milk One of the …

  Resources from Gender on the Ballot, the Barbara Lee Family Foundation, and the Women & Politics Institute at American University include must-know research on women running for office, as well as original polling.

  There have been more than 170 Democratic and Republican presidential primary debates broadcast since the first radio debate in 1948; in that time, only five women have ever participated. On Wednesday and Thursday, in the first Democratic debate of the 2020 primary season, six women — Sens. Elizabeth Warren of Massachusetts; Amy Klobuchar of Minnesota; Kamala Harris …

  Recent research of the business sector indicates that when it comes to hiring for managerial positions, men are judged on their leadership potential while perspective female hires are evaluated far more on their actual job-related experience.  This, not surprisingly, has led some to ask whether we see the same thing happening as voters assess …

  WANT TO FOLLOW WOMEN ON THE BALLOT? — The Women & Politics Institute at American University School of Public Affairs and the Barbara Lee Family Foundation announced this week they are launching Gender on the Ballot, a new non-partisan project diving into the gender dynamics in the 2020 race. The project will analyze the role …