Book Reviews : A Minority of Members: Women in the U.S. Congress. By HOPE CHAMBERLIN. (New York: Praeger Publishers, 1973. Pp. ix, 374. $10.00.)
| Author | Janet M. Clark |
| Date | 01 March 1974 |
| Published date | 01 March 1974 |
| DOI | 10.1177/106591297402700120 |
| Subject Matter | Articles |
195
Both
books
leave
no
doubt
that
the
price
will
be
high
but
give
few
suggestions
as
to
how
those
affluent
and
satisfied
within
the
system
can
be
persuaded
to
pay
it.
Weber
State
College
JEAN
BICKMORE
WHITE
A
Minority
of
Members:
Women
in
the
U.S.
Congress.
By
HOPE
CHAMBERLIN.
(New
York:
Praeger
Publishers,
1973.
Pp. ix, 374.
$10.00.)
In
the
fifty-seven
years
since
Jeannette
Rankin
was
elected
to
the
U.S.
Congress
in
1916,
only
eighty
women
have
served
in
the
highest
legislative
offices.
Although
women
are
at
least
half of
the
American
population,
they
have
never
exceeded
3.7
percent
of
any
Congress.
In
an
effort
to
discover
why
so
few
women
have
been
members
of
Congress,
Hope
Chamberlain
has
thoroughly
investigated
the
life
his-
tories
and
records
of
those
who
have
achieved
this
goal.
Starting
with
Miss
Rankin,
the
author
presents
in
chronological
order
a
brief
biography
of
each
of
the
women
of
Congress.
While
she
carefully
includes
most
of
the
major
events
of
their
lives,
her
primary
emphasis
is
upon
the
circumstances
which
brought
them
to
Congress
and
upon
their
achievements
as
legislators.
Her
tone
is
generally
complimentary
since
most
of
her
subjects
were
unusually
intelli-
gent
and
dedicated
individuals.
She
holds
great
admiration
for
those
women
who
advanced
through
the
congressional
system
earning
good
marks
from
their
con-
stituents
and
male
colleagues
for
their
hard
work
and
expertise.
On
the
other
hand,
Miss
Chamberlain
tends
to
be
a
little
impatient
with
those
who
may
have
injured
the
reputations
and
goals
of
women
through
their
own
indifference
to
their
job,
their
failure
to
keep
promises
to
constituents,
or
their
independent
flaunting
of
the
establishment.
As
a
journalist,
Miss
Chamberlin
has
a
free-flowing
style
that
makes
these
stories
very
interesting
and
easy
to
follow.
Her
book
will
undoubtedly
increase
the
level
of
awareness
among
women
and
men
of
the
important
achievements
of
women
in
Congress
and
of
the
contributions
women
can
make
to
politics.
Nevertheless
there
are
a
few
shortcomings.
Although
the
book
does
offer
some
insights
into
the
circumstances
under
which
women
become
members
of
Congress
and
into
the
character
of
those
who
succeed
in
legislative
careers,
it
does
not
offer
any
systematic
generalizations
to
explain
the
role
of
women
and
why
so
few
have
served.
For
this,
we
need
to
know
how
many
women
have
actually
wanted
a
legislative
career;
what
motivates
them
to
run;
how
the
parties
feel
toward
women
candidates,
and
how
the
voters
feel
toward
them.
A
secondary
but
related
criticism
is
that
the
chrono-
logical
order
tends
to
impede
comparative
analysis.
The
author
never
explicitly
compares
the
personalities,
backgrounds
and
work
habits
of
those
women
who
have
made
significant
contributions.
Rather,
she
describes
the
careers
of
each
woman
in
the
order
of
her
election
placing
politically
effective
women
in
the
same
chapter
with
those
who
merely
warmed
a
seat
or
who
never
even
went
to
Washington.
Fin-
ally,
although
the
author’s
accounts
of
these
women
do
provide
some
valuable
in-
sights
into
congressional
operations,
she
never
explains
the
legislative
process.
Therefore,
one
does
not
know
whether
the
experiences
of
women
legislators
were
To continue reading
Request your trial