Chloe Walker
Pronouns: she/her/hers
Research Mentor(s): Michael Heaney, Research Fellow
Research Mentor School/College/Department: University of Glasgow,
Presentation Date: Thursday, April 22, 2021
Session: Session 5 (3pm-3:50pm)
Breakout Room: Room 4
Presenter: 2
Abstract
American political icons such as “ËœThe Squad’ have gained prominence and established themselves as important female figures in modern government. The significance in their emergence reflects a larger movement in gender equality, diversity, and representation. In the past three congressional elections, more women, LGBTQ individuals, and people of color have taken office than ever before in US history. As more social justice movements take place, it is important to determine the contribution of these entities to Congressional success. This study sought to confirm or negate the hypothesis that the 2017 Women’s March increased political activism in American women leading to a rise in the number of women running and eventually winning seats in office. In examining the roles of activism and protest participation this project focused on the 2014, 2016, and 2018 elections. A large portion of this study was conducted by utilizing campaign websites and non-partisan political information sources to create profiles of every candidate who ran. These profiles particularly focused on previous political experience, LGBTQ identity, and activist involvement and were all reported in a database on Google Sheets. Additional details such as the district a candidate was running for, political party, year of birth, campaign funds raised, and voting results were also recorded. Furthermore, this data was utilized to conduct a statistical analysis on Stata to observe the correlation between Women’s March involvement and campaign success. Conclusions and database construction are ongoing. This data is planned to be used in future articles and, eventually, a book. This research will prove to be valuable in understanding the intersection of many groups, including politicians, nonpartisan groups, and activist organizations. It may encourage or discourage more activist participation by current and potential congressional candidates, specifically those who identify as women.
Authors: Chloe Walker, Jenna Kochenderfer
Research Method: Qualitative Study
