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Turning Rights into Ballots: The Uneven Integration of Women into Electoral Politics after Suffrage

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  10 July 2020

Christina Wolbrecht Open the ORCID record for Christina Wolbrecht [Opens in a new window]  and
J. Kevin Corder Open the ORCID record for J. Kevin Corder [Opens in a new window]
Christina Wolbrecht
Affiliation:
University of Notre Dame
J. Kevin Corder
Affiliation:
Western Michigan University, Kalamazoo
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Extract

After a more than seven-decade battle, American women secured the right to vote in August 1920. The struggle for women to have a voice in elections was not over, however. The Nineteenth Amendment states that “The right of citizens of the United States to vote shall not be denied or abridged by the United States or by any State on account of sex.” The amendment gives Congress the power to enforce the law by appropriate legislation. It does not, however, empower or charge any government office or actor with ensuring that women can and do cast ballots. This article argues that this reality, often taken for granted, has serious implications for both the incorporation of women into the electorate and the representation of their political interests.

Type
Symposium: Women's Political Involvement in the 100 Years since the Nineteenth Amendment
Information
PS: Political Science & Politics , Volume 53 , Issue 3 , July 2020 , pp. 479 - 483
Copyright
© American Political Science Association, 2020

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References

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