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Abstract
New England boasts many accomplishments for women in government, including the first-ever, all female Congressional delegation in New Hampshire. Yet, the representation of women in New England state legislatures varies dramatically by party. Over the past three decades, Democratic women made impressive gains, while Republican women withered. Not only has the number of Republican women in New England legislatures declined, but even more tellingly, women have decreased as a percent of Republican legislators. This is all the more surprising given it has occurred while women have been making great strides in terms of educational and professional attainment. This research suggests that the Republican party's shift rightward has made the party a less welcoming place for women candidates and office holders, especially for the traditionally moderate Republican women of New England. In contrast, the representation of Democratic women appears to be bolstered by the region's high female workforce participation, the political opportunities offered by citizen legislatures, and the moralistic or civic-oriented political cultures found in several New England states.
Whither Republican Women in New England?
Women remain significantly under-represented at all levels of elective office in the United States. As of summer 2014, women compose less than 20 percent of Congress, 24 percent of state legislators, and only 10 percent of governors (CAWP 2014). Some scholars assumed that women's political representation would climb steadily as women entered the workforce and became better represented in the candidate eligibility pool (Darcy, Welch, and Clark 1994). Yet, this has not happened. Since the 1992 "year of the woman," women's representation has increased slowly. In fact, the 2010 elections saw a decrease in the number of women serving in state legislatures, as well as the first decrease in the number of women in Congress in thirty years (CAWP 2014).
Scholars have investigated a variety of reasons for women's stalled progress including potential recruitment bias by party elites (Niven 1998; Sanbonmatsu 2006) and the gender ambition gap (Elder 2004; Lawless and Fox 2005). A significant and largely overlooked reason for women's continued under-representation is the "withering" of Republican women. In the 1980s, women in elected office were about equally likely to be Republicans or Democrats. Since the early 1990s, however, Democratic women have made steady gains, while the progress...