Showing posts with label Democratic Party Leadership for Women. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Democratic Party Leadership for Women. Show all posts
Sunday, April 22, 2012
Emerge Women Poised to Take Back the Maine House
Thrilled that 25 Emerge women are running for office in Maine and that several Emerge women are running for the State House. This article suggests that the Emerge women could be the key to flipping the Maine State House from Republicans to Democrats. We decided to start an Emerge program in Maine in 2006 because races in Maine are affordable. Looks like we're seeing the payoff already!
Friday, June 25, 2010
Hello America: It Matters Which Women We Elect to Office
Below, I've copied an article I wrote with Dorka Keehn on Alternet.
As we push to get more women elected, we need to make sure they care about the right issues.
June 24, 2010
When the results came in from the recent primary elections, the media went haywire calling it "ladies night" and a "new year of the women," primarily because several wealthy, high-profile conservative women were nominated, in some cases to run against female incumbents.
Well, in terms of proclaiming a new "year of the woman," we say, wait just one moment.
Yes, we need more women in office -- females make up 51 percent of the population and Congress only has 17 percent women -- so there is plenty of room for improvement, at the state and local level as well. And yes, as founders of Emerge America, an organization that trains Democratic women to run for office, we are thrilled that there are a significant number of female candidates running for office this year. However, we aren't prepared to call it the "year of the woman," unless those women who are elected care about the issues that will actually move a progressive agenda on issues like the environment, health care and the economy.
There is a long history of women taking advantage of the rights won by women who came before them, but who are hostile to progressive goals. Women actually fought against women's right to vote, women's sexual freedom, equal educational opportunity, and of course, the Equal Rights Amendment.
If we want to make our world a better place, we want candidates who care about our air and water, have empathy for our immigrant sisters from other countries, believe in equal pay for equal work and want to make government more transparent and responsive.
We must increase the number of women Democrats in elected office. When Democratic women are elected, they play a significant role in shaping progressive policies that will benefit women across the board, including poor women. These women candidates are more likely than men and their conservative counterparts to bring citizens into the political process, to opt for open government, and to be responsive to groups previously denied access to the benefits of society.
Women introduce more legislation and co-sponsor more bills than male members, but what kind of bills is also important. We want female leaders who will lead the charge on "women friendly" issues like child-care, and be at the forefront of policies on the economy, health care, the environment and human rights.
With President Obama's landmark health care reform, all Democratic female senators and members of the House except for one congresswoman ensured its victory. And the historic American Clean Energy and Security Act passed with a tight vote supported by 66 Democratic congresswomen's votes, while 40 Democratic congressmen opposed it.
We are not making the case that women are somehow inherently better than men. Research has steadily showed that diverse groups of people make better decisions than like-minded groups due to different perspectives and thought processes. To make the best policy decisions, we need women at every table and we need them in big numbers.
We also aren’t making the case that women are somehow more moral than men in preferring progressive policies. Research at Stanford show that men prefer “hierarchy enhancing” policies and women are more supportive than men of “hierarchy attenuating policies," such as government-sponsored health care, guaranteed jobs for all or greater aid to poor children. They are more likely to agree with statements such as "if people were treated more equally, we would have fewer problems in this country." Women’s preferences are aligned with a progressive agenda and relate to why Republican women sometimes cross party lines to support Democratic legislation.
While the United States holds itself out as a model democracy, it ranks 82nd in the world for women in elected office behind Mexico, China and Pakistan. We push other countries such as Iraq to insert a 25 percent quota for female representation into its constitution, but the United States opposes such requirements for its own government.
What's missing? Women who care need to be recruited and elected to public office. Emerge America is the only organization that gives Democratic women the tools to win: an in-depth training program and a powerful political network. Unlike Republican recruitment, we actively reach out to diverse female leaders and 40 percent of our graduates are women of color. Founded in 2002, Emerge is currently in nine states with plans to expand its program across the country. In such a short time close to 50 percent of our alumnae have already run for office and 60 percent of them have won.
Recently Arianna Huffington celebrated with hundreds of Emerge graduates and their supporters in San Francisco. Her essential message was that it is up to us to seize the moment: "We must all look for the leadership within ourselves and not wait for the knight on a white charger to come and save us."
That is what we are doing at Emerge: Providing the environment and the tools so that committed women with strong human values will look inside themselves and say, Yes, I want to make change. Getting trained and elected to office is one very important way to make that happen.
Marya Stark is the board chair and a founder of Emerge America. She is a principal at Allegory, Inc., a leadership and communications training company. Dorka Keehn is the board co-Chair and a founder of Emerge America. She is currently writing a book, 'Eco-Amazons,' on American women environmental leaders to be published in spring 2011.
As we push to get more women elected, we need to make sure they care about the right issues.
June 24, 2010
When the results came in from the recent primary elections, the media went haywire calling it "ladies night" and a "new year of the women," primarily because several wealthy, high-profile conservative women were nominated, in some cases to run against female incumbents.
Well, in terms of proclaiming a new "year of the woman," we say, wait just one moment.
Yes, we need more women in office -- females make up 51 percent of the population and Congress only has 17 percent women -- so there is plenty of room for improvement, at the state and local level as well. And yes, as founders of Emerge America, an organization that trains Democratic women to run for office, we are thrilled that there are a significant number of female candidates running for office this year. However, we aren't prepared to call it the "year of the woman," unless those women who are elected care about the issues that will actually move a progressive agenda on issues like the environment, health care and the economy.
There is a long history of women taking advantage of the rights won by women who came before them, but who are hostile to progressive goals. Women actually fought against women's right to vote, women's sexual freedom, equal educational opportunity, and of course, the Equal Rights Amendment.
If we want to make our world a better place, we want candidates who care about our air and water, have empathy for our immigrant sisters from other countries, believe in equal pay for equal work and want to make government more transparent and responsive.
We must increase the number of women Democrats in elected office. When Democratic women are elected, they play a significant role in shaping progressive policies that will benefit women across the board, including poor women. These women candidates are more likely than men and their conservative counterparts to bring citizens into the political process, to opt for open government, and to be responsive to groups previously denied access to the benefits of society.
Women introduce more legislation and co-sponsor more bills than male members, but what kind of bills is also important. We want female leaders who will lead the charge on "women friendly" issues like child-care, and be at the forefront of policies on the economy, health care, the environment and human rights.
With President Obama's landmark health care reform, all Democratic female senators and members of the House except for one congresswoman ensured its victory. And the historic American Clean Energy and Security Act passed with a tight vote supported by 66 Democratic congresswomen's votes, while 40 Democratic congressmen opposed it.
We are not making the case that women are somehow inherently better than men. Research has steadily showed that diverse groups of people make better decisions than like-minded groups due to different perspectives and thought processes. To make the best policy decisions, we need women at every table and we need them in big numbers.
We also aren’t making the case that women are somehow more moral than men in preferring progressive policies. Research at Stanford show that men prefer “hierarchy enhancing” policies and women are more supportive than men of “hierarchy attenuating policies," such as government-sponsored health care, guaranteed jobs for all or greater aid to poor children. They are more likely to agree with statements such as "if people were treated more equally, we would have fewer problems in this country." Women’s preferences are aligned with a progressive agenda and relate to why Republican women sometimes cross party lines to support Democratic legislation.
While the United States holds itself out as a model democracy, it ranks 82nd in the world for women in elected office behind Mexico, China and Pakistan. We push other countries such as Iraq to insert a 25 percent quota for female representation into its constitution, but the United States opposes such requirements for its own government.
What's missing? Women who care need to be recruited and elected to public office. Emerge America is the only organization that gives Democratic women the tools to win: an in-depth training program and a powerful political network. Unlike Republican recruitment, we actively reach out to diverse female leaders and 40 percent of our graduates are women of color. Founded in 2002, Emerge is currently in nine states with plans to expand its program across the country. In such a short time close to 50 percent of our alumnae have already run for office and 60 percent of them have won.
Recently Arianna Huffington celebrated with hundreds of Emerge graduates and their supporters in San Francisco. Her essential message was that it is up to us to seize the moment: "We must all look for the leadership within ourselves and not wait for the knight on a white charger to come and save us."
That is what we are doing at Emerge: Providing the environment and the tools so that committed women with strong human values will look inside themselves and say, Yes, I want to make change. Getting trained and elected to office is one very important way to make that happen.
Marya Stark is the board chair and a founder of Emerge America. She is a principal at Allegory, Inc., a leadership and communications training company. Dorka Keehn is the board co-Chair and a founder of Emerge America. She is currently writing a book, 'Eco-Amazons,' on American women environmental leaders to be published in spring 2011.
Wednesday, September 10, 2008
Women's Leadership; It's the Pipeline, Stupid
While McCain nominated a woman to the second highest job, it's the Democrats who are succeding in filling the pipeline with women elected officials. In an earlier post below, I note data from Rutger's University that shows more than twice as many Democratic women elected as Republican women and that this trend is likely to worsen due to "gendermandering".
The Obama campaign needs to highlight the greater progress that Democrats deliver and pledge to work even harder to push diversity of repersentation at all levels of government, through elected and appointed positions.
From a September 9th, NYT editorial, “Women and minorities are not the novelty they once were in Congress, statehouses and legislatures, or even, starting with this election, on the presidential campaign trail. But elective office is still overwhelmingly a white male occupation. A new study suggests that may have less to do with the glass ceiling than with the pipeline: too few women and minorities are being appointed to top state jobs where they can get the experience and the public attention to establish a political career.
The report, from the Center for Women in Government and Civil Society at the State University of New York at Albany, tallied how many women and minorities were appointed by governors in the 50 states to leadership jobs between 1997 and 2007. The answer is: not enough. Of 1,834 top state jobs — including advisers to governors, department and commission heads — 643 were held by female appointees, or about 35 percent of the total. Minorities held less than 16 percent… For leaders to rise from the mix that is America, governors need to cast a wider net for appointees today.”
The Obama campaign needs to highlight the greater progress that Democrats deliver and pledge to work even harder to push diversity of repersentation at all levels of government, through elected and appointed positions.
From a September 9th, NYT editorial, “Women and minorities are not the novelty they once were in Congress, statehouses and legislatures, or even, starting with this election, on the presidential campaign trail. But elective office is still overwhelmingly a white male occupation. A new study suggests that may have less to do with the glass ceiling than with the pipeline: too few women and minorities are being appointed to top state jobs where they can get the experience and the public attention to establish a political career.
The report, from the Center for Women in Government and Civil Society at the State University of New York at Albany, tallied how many women and minorities were appointed by governors in the 50 states to leadership jobs between 1997 and 2007. The answer is: not enough. Of 1,834 top state jobs — including advisers to governors, department and commission heads — 643 were held by female appointees, or about 35 percent of the total. Minorities held less than 16 percent… For leaders to rise from the mix that is America, governors need to cast a wider net for appointees today.”
Monday, September 1, 2008
Time for Obama to Increase the Visibility of Democratic Women's Leadership
With Hillary holdouts and the Palin announcement, Barack must make clear that the promise of women's leadership is delivered by the Democratic party.
The numbers speak for themselves:
In the US Senate, women hold 11 Democratic Senate seats and 5 Republican Senate seats. Advantage Democrats 2.2 to 1. Likewise, in the US House, there are 51D and 20R plus 3D Delegates. Advantage Democrat 2.7:1. In State government, women Democrats hold 1.7 times the number of Republican seats. (Source: Center for American Women in Politics at Rutgers University. )
This trend will only worsen with continued gerrymandering or what I call "gendermandering".
Women are viewed by voters as more liberal than their male counterparts. Therefore, as districts become safer for their respective parties, more Democratic women and fewer Republican women will get elected and Republicans will have to work doubly hard to get their women candidates into office. I don't see that happening. Republican used to invest in trainig programs for Republican women, the Excellence in Public Service Series that is present in 20 states. That funding stopped during the second Bush administration, just as these programs became ever more critical.
Barack Obama and the Democratic Party need to introduce a more visible approach to Democratic women’s leadership. As the saying goes, when Democratic women vote, Democrats win. I propose that Barack Obama support the following:
1. Pledge to appoint more women to senior administration positions than any of his predecessors.
2. Increase support for leadership development of Democratic women in politics at every level. This includes DNC monies for groups like Emerge America, Loretta Durbin’s IWIL, and Emily’s List training programs.
3. Show leadership through the party apparatus and direct DNC, and state and local Democratic parties to recruit and support women candidates.
4. Support research into constraints on women’s leadership through groups like the White House Project and the Women's Campaign Forum (which are non-partisan), and academics at Rutgers' Center for American Women and Politics, and elsewhere.
5. Increase support for women’s leadership in developing countries through AID.
Women vote more heavily for Democrats because of Democratic policies. And women candidates energize women to get out and vote. To win this election, we need women to more visibly see that Democrats deliver vastly more women's leadership and the policies they want.
The numbers speak for themselves:
In the US Senate, women hold 11 Democratic Senate seats and 5 Republican Senate seats. Advantage Democrats 2.2 to 1. Likewise, in the US House, there are 51D and 20R plus 3D Delegates. Advantage Democrat 2.7:1. In State government, women Democrats hold 1.7 times the number of Republican seats. (Source: Center for American Women in Politics at Rutgers University. )
This trend will only worsen with continued gerrymandering or what I call "gendermandering".
Women are viewed by voters as more liberal than their male counterparts. Therefore, as districts become safer for their respective parties, more Democratic women and fewer Republican women will get elected and Republicans will have to work doubly hard to get their women candidates into office. I don't see that happening. Republican used to invest in trainig programs for Republican women, the Excellence in Public Service Series that is present in 20 states. That funding stopped during the second Bush administration, just as these programs became ever more critical.
Barack Obama and the Democratic Party need to introduce a more visible approach to Democratic women’s leadership. As the saying goes, when Democratic women vote, Democrats win. I propose that Barack Obama support the following:
1. Pledge to appoint more women to senior administration positions than any of his predecessors.
2. Increase support for leadership development of Democratic women in politics at every level. This includes DNC monies for groups like Emerge America, Loretta Durbin’s IWIL, and Emily’s List training programs.
3. Show leadership through the party apparatus and direct DNC, and state and local Democratic parties to recruit and support women candidates.
4. Support research into constraints on women’s leadership through groups like the White House Project and the Women's Campaign Forum (which are non-partisan), and academics at Rutgers' Center for American Women and Politics, and elsewhere.
5. Increase support for women’s leadership in developing countries through AID.
Women vote more heavily for Democrats because of Democratic policies. And women candidates energize women to get out and vote. To win this election, we need women to more visibly see that Democrats deliver vastly more women's leadership and the policies they want.
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