This book offers a comprehensive and in-depth overview of how public policy is shaping gender equality in Europe.

"[A] well-integrated volume by...one of the best known political scientists working on women and politics.... [It] includes contributions by leading scholars in the field, and provides a well-written and accessible overview of the impact of women in office at every level..." -- Pippa Norris, John F. Kennedy School of Government, Harvard University "This [book] will be the standard-bearer not simply because it contains most of the early research in the field but more importantly, because of the wide-ranging scope and diversity of the research and the subsequently nuanced and contextualized arguments presented."-Beth Reingold, Emory University In recent years the numbers of women serving in public offices at various levels of government have increased markedly. Is the increasing presence of women in public office making a difference? Are women public officials having a distinctive impact on public policy and the political process? These questions are central to the studies in The Impact of Women in Public Office. These studies examine the impact of women public officials serving in various offices and locales at local, state, and national levels. They are the product of a large, coordinated research project sponsored by the Center for American Women and Politics (CAWP) at Rutgers University and funded by the Charles H. Revson Foundation. The subjects of these studies range from a single, very prominent U.S. Senator, who served in Congress from the early 1940s to the early 1970s, to local council members in a New Jersey county in the 1980s. They include state legislators from across the country. The research presented in this volume offers compelling evidence that women public officials do have a gender-related impact on public policy and the political process. Nevertheless, context matters; these studies demonstrate that the impact of women public officials varies considerably across political environments. Finally, the research in this volume suggests that identification with feminism and/or of particular racial or ethnic group also influence how and to what extent women public officials are making a difference. Contributors include Edith J. Barrett, Susan Abrams Beck, Janet K. Boles, Susan J. Carroll, Debra L. Dodson, Lyn Kathlene, Elaine Martin, Nancy E. McGlen, Meredith Reid Sarkees, Janann Sherman, Sue Thomas, Sue Tolleson-Rinehart, and Susan Welch.

The contributors examine the ways in which cultural change in the United States has created a need for public policy, and conversely, how public policy has led to cultural change. Issues include education, health care, equal economic opportunity, child care, and the justice system.

Violence against women is one of the most insidious social ills facing the world today. Yet governmental response is inconsistent, ranging from dismissal to aggressive implementation of policies and programs to combat the problem. In her comparative study of thirty-six democratic governments, Laurel Weldon examines the root causes and consequences of the differences in public policy from Northern Europe to Latin America. She reveals that factors that often influence the development of social policies do not determine policies on violence against women. Neither economic level, religion, region, nor the number of women in government determine governmental responsiveness to this problem. Weldon demonstrates, for example, that Nordic governments take no more action to combat violence against women than Latin American governments, even though the Swedish welfare state is often considered a leader in social policy, particularly with regard to women’s issues. Instead, the presence of independently organized, active women’s movements plays a greater role in placing violence against women on the public agenda. The breadth and scope of governmental response is greatly enhanced by the presence of an office dedicated to promoting women’s status. Weldon closes with practical lessons and insights to improve government action on violence against women and other important issues of social justice and democracy.

Political scientists Margaret Conway (U. of Florida), David W. Ahern (U. of Dayton) and Gertrude A. Steuernagel (Kent State U.) update their account, first published in 1995, of the impact of cultural change on women's roles in American society, and of the patterns of public policy as they affect women and their families. They write primarily for students of public policy and women's studies. Annotation : 2004 Book News, Inc., Portland, OR (booknews.com).

The unifying theme of Women and Public Policy is the impact of cultural change on women's roles in American society and patterns of public policy as they affect women and their families. Authors M. Margaret Conway, David W. Ahern, and Gertrude A. Steuernagel explore a broad range of policy areas that affect women, including typical issues such as education, employment, and health, as well as important but frequently overlooked areas such as marriage and family law, child care, and economic equity. Recent events and changes in areas such as welfare reform, adoptions by gay parents, and the Defense of Marriage Act are also discussed in this thoroughly updated second edition.

Women and Poverty analyzes the social and structural factors that contribute to, and legitimize, class inequity and women's poverty. In doing so, the book provides a unique documentation of women's experiences of poverty and classism at the individual and interpersonal levels. Provides readers with a critical analysis of the social and structural factors that contribute to women's poverty Uses a multidisciplinary approach to bring together new research and theory from social psychology, policy studies, and critical and feminist scholarship Documents women's experiences of poverty and classism at the interpersonal and institutional levels Discusses policy analysis for reducing poverty and social inequality

Kristin A. Goss examines how women’s civic place has changed over the span of more than 120 years, how public policy has driven these changes, and why these changes matter for women and American democracy. As measured by women’s groups’ appearances before the U.S. Congress, women’s collective political engagement continued to grow between 1920 and 1960—when many conventional accounts claim it declined—and declined after 1980, when it might have been expected to grow. Goss asks what women have gained, and perhaps lost, through expanded incorporation, as well as whether single-sex organizations continue to matter in 21st-century America.

Drawing on recent perspectives from social constructionism, discourse analysis, feminism and the sociology of social problems, this volume reviews a range of policy problems relating to women's inequality.

Women and Public Policies, praised by Janet Boles as "the first attempt to deal with several women's policies in a systematic manner within a common framework," analyzes how the women's movement of the 1970s influenced federal policy. The authors treat four issues- credit, education, pregnancy disability, and abortion rights- as case studies, measuring the successes and failures of the women's movement in these representative policy areas.