The Growing Chasm

Abstract

Chapter 2 draws on several theoretical frameworks—including the ideological, racial, and regional realignment of the parties as well as the contrasting cultures of the parties—to explore the emergence and growth of the partisan gap among women state legislators. The chapter employs data drawn from a number of sources, most prominently the Center for American Women and Politics (CAWP) and the National Conference of State Legislatures (NCSL), to compare the current representation of Republican and Democratic women in state legislatures, broken down by state and geographic region, as well as the changing dynamics in their representation over the past several decades. Additionally, the chapter utilizes multivariate analyses to simultaneously explore the role of ideology, race, and party recruitment in explaining variations in the representation of Democratic and Republican women in state legislatures.