The Private Roots of Public Action : Gender, Equality, and Political Participation

why, After Several Generations Of Suffrage And A Revival Of The Women's Movement In The Late 1960s, Do Women Continue To Be Less Politically Active Than Men? Why Are They Less Likely To Seek Public Office Or Join Political Organizations? the Private Roots Of Public Action Is The Most Comprehensive Study Of This Puzzle Of Unequal Participation. The Authors Develop New Methods To Trace Gender Differences In Political Activity To The Nonpolitical Institutions Of Everyday Life--the Family, School, Workplace, Nonpolitical Voluntary Association, And Church. Different Experiences With These Institutions Produce Differences In The Resources, Skills, And Political Orientations That Facilitate Participation--with A Cumulative Advantage For Men. In Addition, Part Of The Solution To The Puzzle Of Unequal Participation Lies In Politics Itself: Where Women Hold Visible Public Office, Women Citizens Are More Politically Interested And Active. The Model That Explains Gender Differences In Participation Is Sufficiently General To Apply To Participatory Disparities Among Other Groups--among The Young, The Middle-aged, And The Elderly Or Among Latinos, African-americans And Anglo-whites. b. E. Marston - Choice the Private Roots Of Public Action Begins With Common Explanations For The Gender Difference In Participation, From Domestic Demands On Women's Time And Psychic Space Through The Effects Of The Patriarchal Family, Socioeconomic Hierarchies, And Political Socialization...the Results Of [this] Novel Analysis Are Complex And Interesting...the Authors Extend Their Model To Examine The Relationship Between Class, Race Or Ethnicity, And Political Participation. This Unique And Accessible Volume Will Be Influential In The Fields Of Political Socialization And Gender And Politics. Strongly Recommended. Why, after several generations of suffrage and a revival of the women's movement in the late 1960s, do women continue to be less politically active than men? Why are they less likely to seek public office or join political organizations? The Private Roots of Public Action is the most comprehensive study of this puzzle of unequal participation. The authors develop new methods to trace gender differences in political activity to the nonpolitical institutions of everyday life - the family, school, workplace, nonpolitical voluntary association, and church. Different experiences with these institutions produce differences in the resources, skills, and political orientations that facilitate participation - with a cumulative advantage for men. In addition, part of the solution to the puzzle of unequal participation lies in politics itself: where women hold visible public office, women citizens are more politically interested and active. The model that explains gender differences in participation is sufficiently general to apply to participatory disparities among other groups - among the young, the middle-aged, and the elderly or among Latinos, African-Americans and Anglo-Whites. -- Provided by publisher Contents......Page 8 Acknowledgments......Page 14 1. Introduction: Citizenship and Unequal Participation......Page 18 2. Studying Gender and Participation......Page 56 3. Civic Activity......Page 78 4. The Political Worlds of Men and Women......Page 116 5. The Legacy of Home and School......Page 154 6. Domestic Tranquility......Page 169 7. Domestic Hierarchy......Page 191 8. The Workplace Roots of Political Activity......Page 215 9. The Realm of Voluntarism......Page 236 10. Gender, Institutions, and Political Participation......Page 263 11. Gender, Race or Ethnicity, and Participation......Page 291 12. Family Life and Political Life......Page 324 13. What If Politics Weren’t a Man’s Game?......Page 351 14. Conclusion: The Private Roots of Public Action......Page 374 Appendixes......Page 404 A. Numbers of Cases......Page 406 B. Ranges of Variables......Page 409 C. Supplementary Tables......Page 416 D. Explanation of Outcomes Analysis......Page 452 Index......Page 456