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The "Year of the Woman" in Context

A Test of Six Explanations

West Virginia University

The 1992 election saw a virtual doubling of the number of women in the U.S. House of Representatives. Although much of this may be attributed to record turnover rates, I focus in this article on whether previous explanations for the underrepresentation of women in the House still held in 1992. I find that although turnover is important, the increased probability that open-seat candidates (especially Democrats) are women is at least as important. The achievement of funding parity by women candidates and the fact that Democratic women are running for more winnable seats (i.e., those in more Democratic districts) also is important. However, an examination of the 1994 election shows some retrenchment in the percentage of open-seat candidates who are women. I conclude that 1992 is part trend and part anomaly.

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