Book contents
- Frontmatter
- Contents
- List of Tables
- List of Figures
- Acknowledgments
- 1 Electoral Politics: Still a Man's World?
- 2 Explaining Women's Emergence in the Political Arena
- 3 The Gender Gap in Political Ambition
- 4 Barefoot, Pregnant, and Holding a Law Degree: Family Dynamics and Running for Office
- 5 Gender, Party, and Political Recruitment
- 6 “I'm Just Not Qualified”: Gendered Self-Perceptions of Candidate Viability
- 7 Taking the Plunge: Deciding to Run for Office
- 8 Gender and the Future of Electoral Politics
- Appendix A The Citizen Political Ambition Study Sample Design and Data Collection
- Appendix B The Survey
- Appendix C The Interview Questionnaire
- Appendix D Variable Coding
- Works Cited
- Index
6 - “I'm Just Not Qualified”: Gendered Self-Perceptions of Candidate Viability
Published online by Cambridge University Press: 05 September 2012
- Frontmatter
- Contents
- List of Tables
- List of Figures
- Acknowledgments
- 1 Electoral Politics: Still a Man's World?
- 2 Explaining Women's Emergence in the Political Arena
- 3 The Gender Gap in Political Ambition
- 4 Barefoot, Pregnant, and Holding a Law Degree: Family Dynamics and Running for Office
- 5 Gender, Party, and Political Recruitment
- 6 “I'm Just Not Qualified”: Gendered Self-Perceptions of Candidate Viability
- 7 Taking the Plunge: Deciding to Run for Office
- 8 Gender and the Future of Electoral Politics
- Appendix A The Citizen Political Ambition Study Sample Design and Data Collection
- Appendix B The Survey
- Appendix C The Interview Questionnaire
- Appendix D Variable Coding
- Works Cited
- Index
Summary
In 2002, Time magazine named Minneapolis FBI agent Coleen Rowley one of its “Persons of the Year.” Ms. Rowley gained notoriety when she called attention to the FBI's refusal to seek a national security warrant to search suspected terrorist Zacarias Moussaoui's possessions before the September 11, 2001, attacks. Because of Ms. Rowley's national security expertise, Democratic party officials and members of Minnesota's congressional delegation encouraged her to challenge Congressman John Kline (R-MN) in 2004. But even with widespread support for her candidacy, Ms. Rowley chose not to run, concluding that she did not possess all of the qualities necessary to enter the political arena. She explained that she lacked the characteristics necessary to be a retail politician: “As a child, I only sold sixteen boxes of Girl Scout cookies. I was the lowest in the whole troop.”
Eileen Long, who serves as an advisor to New York Governor George Pataki and is the daughter of Conservative party Chairman Mike Long, also recently decided not to run for office. Local Republicans were convinced that Ms. Long's name recognition and political connections would allow them to hold onto a vacated city council seat in the Bay Ridge area of Brooklyn, New York. Ms. Long drew a different conclusion. She did not think she was ready to serve as an elected official: “I'm young and still learning. There will be other opportunities.
- Type
- Chapter
- Information
- It Takes a CandidateWhy Women Don't Run for Office, pp. 95 - 117Publisher: Cambridge University PressPrint publication year: 2005