Women and Politics: Paths to Power and Political Influence

Julie Dolan is Professor of Political Science at Macalester College in St. Paul, Minnesota. She earned her PhD from American University. Her scholarly interests include American government and politics, women and politics, and bureaucratic politics. She has received a number of prestigious awards for her scholarship and publishes in a variety of journals including Women & Politics, Public Administration Review, PS: Political Science and Politics, the Journal of Public Administration Research and Theory. Her most recent research focuses on issues of political representation in the bureaucracy.

Melissa Deckman is the CEO of PRRI and a political scientist who studies the impact of gender, religion, and age on public opinion and political behavior. Deckman is the author of The Politics of Gen Z, which tells the story of Gen Z's growing political participation, and Tea Party Women (NYU Press: 2016), which examined the role of women in conservative politics. Her first book, School Board Battles: The Christian Right in Local Politics (Georgetown University Press: 2004) won the American Political Science Association's Hu Morken Award for best book on religion and politics. The author of more than two dozen scholarly peer-reviewed articles, Deckman's commentary and research about politics has appeared in The New York Times, MSNBC, The Washington Post, CNN, The Hill, Vice News, The Wall Street Journal, 538, and Politico among other outlets. Prior to joining PRRI, Deckman served as the Louis L. Goldstein Professor of Public Affairs and Chair of the Political Science Department at Washington College.

Michele L. Swers is Professor of American Government in the Department of Government at Georgetown University. She earned her PhD from Harvard University. Her research and teaching interests encompass Congress, congressional elections, and women and politics. She has written two books on women and representation in Congress: The Difference Women Make: The Policy Impact of Women in Congress and Women in the Club: Gender and Policy Making in the Senate.