CAREERS IN GOVERNMENT Women and Politics
Where are the female leaders in politics?
„ Out of over 180 countries, only 11 have elected women heads of state. „ 16% of members of national parlia- ments worldwide are women. „ In the current Congress, only 16% of seats are held by women. The U.S. ranks #69 among countries with the highest percentage of women in government. Countries that have a higher percentage of women include countries such as Tajikistan, Pakistan, Afghanistan, and Uganda. „ Rwanda has the highest proportion of women parliamentarians in the world - 49%. „ In 1893, New Zealand became the first nation to grant women full voting rights. „ In the 21st century, Saudi Arabia is the only country in the world that does not have universal suffrage. „ The current Speaker of the House, Speaker Pelosi, is the highest ranking woman in the history of the U.S. Govern- ment. No woman has ever been as close in line to the U.S. presidency. „ Connecticut ranks 15th in the United States for percentage of women in state congress.
Sources: Center for American Women and Politics, Eagleton Institute of Politics, Rutgers University and the White House Project
Why Women Should Vote Our government is making decisions
every day that affect women’s lives. But our leaders’ priorities often don’t match women’s priorities. 1) Women face unequal pay for equal
work, earning on average only 77¢ for ev- ery dollar earned by men-and African American women and Latinas fare even worse-but bills to strengthen the laws against discrimination have gone no- where. 2) Funds have been cut for student
loans, Medicaid and child support en- forcement-and 250,000 children have lost
60 PROFESSIONAL WOMAN’S MULTICULTURAL MAGAZINE
federal child care assistance since 2000, a number that is climbing. 3) Social Security is threatened by tax
cuts and efforts to “privatize” the system. Women are especially dependent on So- cial Security’s guaranteed, lifetime bene- fits.
4) Women lack health insurance that
meets their needs. 17 million women in the U.S. have no health insurance at all, and one in every five women reports that she did not fill a prescription last year be- cause of cost. But some leaders in Wash- ington have promoted insurance plans that shift costs onto the consumer, pushed to reduce benefits, and created
a prescription drug program that makes the lowest income seniors and people with disabilities worse off than they were be- fore the law passed. 5) Women struggle to manage family
and work responsibilities. Most women with young children work outside the home, and working parents are working increasingly long hours. Paid family and medical leave and access to quality, af- fordable child care are often unavailable, but Congress has failed to expand the Family and Medical Leave Act or ade- quately fund child care. 6) Funds for student loans are getting
cut. Congress passed a law that will cut federal student loan programs by $12.7 billion over 5 years, Pell Grants are pay- ing for a smaller and smaller share of col- lege costs, and the President’s budget pro- poses additional education cuts of 29% for next year. 7) Women’s ability to control their re- productive lives and health is under at- tack. Roe v. Wade is in danger of being overturned because of new judges on the Supreme Court, confirmed by a majority in the Senate. 8) Birth control is also under attack,
with family planning programs under- funded, pharmacists refusing to fill birth control prescriptions, and the FDA delay- ing for over three years a decision to al- low the morning-after pill to be sold with- out a prescription even though its own experts found that it’s safe.
CELEBRATING 11 YEARS OF DIVERSITY Project Vote Smart, a citizen’s organi-
zation, has developed a Voter’s Self-De- fense System to provide you with the nec- essary tools to self-govern effectively: abundant, accurate, unbiased and relevant information. As a national library of fac- tual information, Project Vote Smart cov- ers your candidates and elected officials in five basic categories: biographical infor- mation, issue positions, voting records, campaign finances and interest group rat- ings.
Launched by the League of Women
Voters Education Fund (LWVEF) in Oc- tober of 2006,
VOTE411.org is a “one- stop-shop” for election related informa- tion. This website offers information regarding absentee voting, ballot mea- sures, candidate information, election dates and much more! The Center for American Women and
Politics (CAWP) is a university-based re- search, education and public service cen- ter. Its mission is to promote greater knowledge and understanding about women’s participation in politics and gov- ernment and to enhance women’s influ- ence and leadership in public life. Learn more about our program areas. The White House Project, a national, nonpartisan, not-for-profit organization (501c3), aims to advance women’s leader- ship in all communities and sectors, up to the U.S. presidency. By filling the leader- ship pipeline with a richly diverse, critical mass of women, we make American insti- tutions, businesses and government truly representative. Through multi-platform programs, The White House Project cre- ates a culture where America’s most valu- able untapped resource-women-can suc- ceed in all realms. Girls in Government is a nonpartisan,
nonprofit, education and advocacy organi- zation dedicated to encouraging girls of all ages to accept leadership roles, partici- pate in political life, and pledge their com- mitment to the advancement of justice and democracy. The website offers many re- sources for girls, including Women Who Rule, Girls Who Rule, polls, and quizzes. Source: Southern Connecticut State University
WWW.PROFESSIONALWOMANMAG.COM
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