The Paradox of Gender Equality

Kristin A. Goss examines how womens civic place has changed over the span of more than 120 years, how public policy has driven these changes, and why these changes matter for women and American democracy. As measured by womens groups appearances before the U.S. Congress, womens collective political engagement continued to grow between 1920 and 1960when many conventional accounts claim it declinedand declined after 1980, when it might have been expected to grow. Goss asks what women have gained, and perhaps lost, through expanded incorporation, as well as whether single-sex organizations continue to matter in 21st-century America.