The Politics of Women's Rights: Parties, Positions, and Change. By Christina Wolbrecht. Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press, 2000. 266p. $55.00 cloth, $17.95 paper.

Extract

When we talk about the gender gap, students in my Women and Politics course are always surprised to learn that men used to be more likely than women to support the Democratic Party and that Republicans were the original supporters of the Equal Rights Amendment (ERA). Many people forget, or are not familiar with, the significant party transformations on these issues over the last 50 years. Christina Wolbrecht's new book provides important insights into this transformation and is a valuable contribution. The study of political parties has not, to date, accounted for this phenomenon, and gender studies too often ignore the crucial role of political parties in our system.