The United States of America prides itself on its democratic tradition. Yet does democracy not mean that citizens from all races and classes and both sexes should be represented? Since women were granted suffrage in 1920, they have made great progress. Even so, women continue to be underrepresented in government considering their proportion of the population. There are some barriers that have traditionally stood in the way of women running for elective office, but most of them have been overcome. Much of the population still views these barriers as keeping women from obtaining elective office, and many people believe that women are discriminated against at the polls, being voted for much less than men. But this is not true. American citizens who still hold that outdated opinion need to be informed of the truth.

Statistics show that women do not actually have a harder time running for office than men. To examine this premise, let us first look at some recent gains made by women in politics and some of the traditional barriers that have been overcome. Then we will consider an important study which supports the idea that women are not discriminated against. Alto

Burrell, Barbara C. 1994. A Woman's Place is in the House: Campaigning for Congress in the

To understand why women do not have worse chances than men when running for office, it is important to understand some of the traditional barriers that have been inhibiting in the past. For example, in the past, women candidates faced discrimination by party elites. They had little motivation to recruit women to run for office, and those who did want to run were encouraged to run for unimportant positions. Their candidacies were not well supported or well funded. As a result, women had difficulty in fund-raising and in establishing credibility in the eyes of the media and the voters (Gertzog, 1995). Another barrier that used to exist was the attitude of voters toward women in general. In the past, substantial percentages of citizens felt that the women's place was in the home, not in elective positions. A third barrier that used to exist has been termed the "social eligibility pool concerns" of the citizens. Many voters have certain expectations about the backgrounds of quality candidates. This could include military service, educational accomplishments, and previous elected experiences. While men usually entered politics through legal or other professional careers, women usually entered politics through community volunteerism or women's groups (Darcy, Welch, and Clark, 1994).

Today, the three barriers mentioned above have shrunk considerably. Regarding campaign finance, women have almost achieved equality with men in the amount of money raised and spent. In 1988, for the first time ever, female nominees in the US House of Representatives races raised and spent more money on average than male nominees. The years since then have shown women still raising and spending almost or equal the amount of men (Burrell, 1994). The attitudes of the population have also changed considerably through the years. More and more women have been leaving the home to enter the work force. Whether one views this as good or bad, it cannot be denied that this trend is contributing to a more accepting view

Some common words found in the essay are:
Welch Clark, United America, Jody Newman, House Representatives, Caucus NWPC, House Senate, Retrieved September, women run, women discriminated, Congressional Women, clark 1994, women candidates, women win, Elections Representation, Janet Clark, welch clark 1994, darcy welch, welch clark, women won, women hold, run office, darcy welch clark, women run office, women discriminated polls, women's political caucus,
Approximate Word count = 1420
Approximate Pages = 6 (250 words per page double spaced)