The Editor’s Note provides an introduction to the topic of women and Pennsylvania politics. It also provides an overview of the articles in issue 21:1.
编者按提供了妇女和宾夕法尼亚州政治主题的介绍。它还提供了第21期第1篇文章的概述。
{"title":"Introduction to the Special Issue on Women in Pennsylvania Politics","authors":"Jennie Sweet-Cushman","doi":"10.15367/com.v21i1.285","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.15367/com.v21i1.285","url":null,"abstract":"The Editor’s Note provides an introduction to the topic of women and Pennsylvania politics. It also provides an overview of the articles in issue 21:1.","PeriodicalId":80972,"journal":{"name":"Commonweal (New York, N.Y.)","volume":" ","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2020-10-18","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"46228577","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pennsylvania has a long history of failing to pass its budget by the start of the next fiscal year, often plunging the state in prolonged periods of budget impasse, and subjecting the state to a myriad of social, economic, and political consequences. This article explores the history of budget impasses in the Commonwealth, including their causes and consequences, and advances a growing trend in American politics as a potential solution to this problem—the election of more women to the General Assembly. I suggest that the addition of more female lawmakers will make the budgetary process more collegial as these political actors are prone to reach across the aisle and compromise due to patterns of socially reinforced behavioral expectations, thus bringing budgetary stalemates to a quicker resolution. The consequences of prolonged impasses on the target populations of importance to female lawmakers are explored as an impetus for engaging in this behavior.
{"title":"Solving Pennsylvania’s Budget Woes","authors":"Benjamin Melusky","doi":"10.15367/com.v21i1.289","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.15367/com.v21i1.289","url":null,"abstract":"Pennsylvania has a long history of failing to pass its budget by the start of the next fiscal year, often plunging the state in prolonged periods of budget impasse, and subjecting the state to a myriad of social, economic, and political consequences. This article explores the history of budget impasses in the Commonwealth, including their causes and consequences, and advances a growing trend in American politics as a potential solution to this problem—the election of more women to the General Assembly. I suggest that the addition of more female lawmakers will make the budgetary process more collegial as these political actors are prone to reach across the aisle and compromise due to patterns of socially reinforced behavioral expectations, thus bringing budgetary stalemates to a quicker resolution. The consequences of prolonged impasses on the target populations of importance to female lawmakers are explored as an impetus for engaging in this behavior.","PeriodicalId":80972,"journal":{"name":"Commonweal (New York, N.Y.)","volume":"21 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2020-10-18","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"46205667","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
The Commonwealth of Pennsylvania has historically fared poorly in terms of the proportion of women serving in its governing bodies. After a historic year of women in politics in 2018, Pennsylvania increased its proportion of women serving in the state legislature from 19% to 26%, which is still far from parity. Why are women so underrepresented? Political scientists have tested various variables: women’s lack of political ambition, negative gatekeeping by political parties, and gender stereotypes negatively impacting female candidates, just to name a few. This paper focuses on the role that county party chairs and vice-chairs play in recruiting female candidates to run for political office in Pennsylvania. In this article I ask: what do the recruitment efforts look like on the ground and how are the recruitment efforts gendered? In terms of recruitment efforts, I expect the stronger county party to have its leaders pull from informal networks that are extensions of the party leaders themselves. On the other hand, I expect weak county parties to cast a wide net for candidate recruitment and allow candidates to self-identify, which I call the “volunteer” model. I use interview data of county party chairs in order to understand the structure of candidate recruitment in Pennsylvania and the impact it may have on candidate selection.
{"title":"Gendered Pathways to Power","authors":"D. Brown","doi":"10.15367/com.v21i1.287","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.15367/com.v21i1.287","url":null,"abstract":"The Commonwealth of Pennsylvania has historically fared poorly in terms of the proportion of women serving in its governing bodies. After a historic year of women in politics in 2018, Pennsylvania increased its proportion of women serving in the state legislature from 19% to 26%, which is still far from parity. Why are women so underrepresented? Political scientists have tested various variables: women’s lack of political ambition, negative gatekeeping by political parties, and gender stereotypes negatively impacting female candidates, just to name a few. This paper focuses on the role that county party chairs and vice-chairs play in recruiting female candidates to run for political office in Pennsylvania. In this article I ask: what do the recruitment efforts look like on the ground and how are the recruitment efforts gendered? In terms of recruitment efforts, I expect the stronger county party to have its leaders pull from informal networks that are extensions of the party leaders themselves. On the other hand, I expect weak county parties to cast a wide net for candidate recruitment and allow candidates to self-identify, which I call the “volunteer” model. I use interview data of county party chairs in order to understand the structure of candidate recruitment in Pennsylvania and the impact it may have on candidate selection.","PeriodicalId":80972,"journal":{"name":"Commonweal (New York, N.Y.)","volume":" ","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2020-10-18","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"49513776","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Despite ongoing interest in the role of gender in American elections, highlighted most recently by Hillary Clinton’s historic bid for the presidency in 2016 and the 2018 “Year of the Woman” elections, recent studies have shown that gender alone is not enough to explain voter behavior. This is especially true in an increasingly ideologically polarized landscape in which party and ideology retain significant explanatory power regarding electoral outcomes. The saliency of gender identity and gender issues may also vary across time and context. Moreover, voters may not have full information about the underrepresentation of women or of the consequences of gender imbalances in elective institutions, raising uncertainty about whether women’s representation in politics matters to voters. In this article, using data from a unique exit poll, we examine the extent to which knowledge about women’s representation and perceptions about gender and women’s issues mattered to Pennsylvanians’ vote choice in the 2016 and 2018 elections. We find that neither gender nor party alone can explain men’s and women’s political behavior, but rather that gender and party interact in complex ways. Although party continues to be the best predictor of vote choice, gender matters to how voters understand and explain women’s underrepresentation in politics—a finding that has important implications for furthering gender equality in politics in the future.
{"title":"What Do Pennsylvania Voters Think about Gender and Women’s Representation?","authors":"Sarah E. Niebler, A. L. Mathews-Schultz","doi":"10.15367/com.v21i1.286","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.15367/com.v21i1.286","url":null,"abstract":"Despite ongoing interest in the role of gender in American elections, highlighted most recently by Hillary Clinton’s historic bid for the presidency in 2016 and the 2018 “Year of the Woman” elections, recent studies have shown that gender alone is not enough to explain voter behavior. This is especially true in an increasingly ideologically polarized landscape in which party and ideology retain significant explanatory power regarding electoral outcomes. The saliency of gender identity and gender issues may also vary across time and context. Moreover, voters may not have full information about the underrepresentation of women or of the consequences of gender imbalances in elective institutions, raising uncertainty about whether women’s representation in politics matters to voters. In this article, using data from a unique exit poll, we examine the extent to which knowledge about women’s representation and perceptions about gender and women’s issues mattered to Pennsylvanians’ vote choice in the 2016 and 2018 elections. We find that neither gender nor party alone can explain men’s and women’s political behavior, but rather that gender and party interact in complex ways. Although party continues to be the best predictor of vote choice, gender matters to how voters understand and explain women’s underrepresentation in politics—a finding that has important implications for furthering gender equality in politics in the future.","PeriodicalId":80972,"journal":{"name":"Commonweal (New York, N.Y.)","volume":" ","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2020-10-18","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"46624194","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
The 2018 elections saw a record number of women running for elected office in the United States and in Pennsylvania, but whether this represents a temporary wave or a lasting trend is not clear. Using a combination of survey data; interviews of new candidates, elected officeholders, and party officials; and election data, this study examines the gender equality gains of 2018 in Pennsylvania’s legislature in historical and political context. The data provide evidence that formal recruitment of female candidates was common (but not universal), that the number of women running for and winning office increased by historic (and not just significant) levels, and that a persistent and consistent motivation was discernible in large portions of the candidate body. Survey measures of female candidate persistence—whether they plan to run again or recruit new candidates—also indicate that women intend to remain similarly active after the 2018 election cycle has come and gone.
{"title":"Wave or Trend","authors":"Joshua J. Weikert","doi":"10.15367/com.v21i1.288","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.15367/com.v21i1.288","url":null,"abstract":"The 2018 elections saw a record number of women running for elected office in the United States and in Pennsylvania, but whether this represents a temporary wave or a lasting trend is not clear. Using a combination of survey data; interviews of new candidates, elected officeholders, and party officials; and election data, this study examines the gender equality gains of 2018 in Pennsylvania’s legislature in historical and political context. The data provide evidence that formal recruitment of female candidates was common (but not universal), that the number of women running for and winning office increased by historic (and not just significant) levels, and that a persistent and consistent motivation was discernible in large portions of the candidate body. Survey measures of female candidate persistence—whether they plan to run again or recruit new candidates—also indicate that women intend to remain similarly active after the 2018 election cycle has come and gone.","PeriodicalId":80972,"journal":{"name":"Commonweal (New York, N.Y.)","volume":" ","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2020-10-18","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"47161398","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Commonwealth Forum: Should Pennsylvania Abolish the Property Tax? Part II","authors":"David G. Argall, J. Hopcraft, W. Fischel","doi":"10.15367/com.v0i0.272","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.15367/com.v0i0.272","url":null,"abstract":"","PeriodicalId":80972,"journal":{"name":"Commonweal (New York, N.Y.)","volume":"1 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2020-04-07","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"42632138","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Conservation officer safety has become a growing concern across the United States. This is particularly true since the scope of conservation law enforcement has expanded to include duties often relegated to more traditional law enforcement agencies such as state and local police. As a result, several states have changed the titles of their conservation officers to reflect a more police-oriented stature (e.g., Conservation Police Officer). This study analyzes how a change in organizational identity, through a title change, impacts conservation officers, the general public, traditional law enforcement agencies, and governmental entities. The major findings suggest that those states that have changed the titles of their officers have experienced enhanced organizational legitimacy with natural resource users, other law enforcement agencies, and state legislatures. Given these findings, this article argues that it would be advantageous for Pennsylvania to at least consider making a title change for their conservation officers.
{"title":"Organizational Identity Change in Conservation Law Enforcement: Lessons for Pennsylvania","authors":"Michael J. McSkimming, R. Dunbar, Ahmet Guler","doi":"10.15367/com.v20i1.178","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.15367/com.v20i1.178","url":null,"abstract":"Conservation officer safety has become a growing concern across the United States. This is particularly true since the scope of conservation law enforcement has expanded to include duties often relegated to more traditional law enforcement agencies such as state and local police. As a result, several states have changed the titles of their conservation officers to reflect a more police-oriented stature (e.g., Conservation Police Officer). This study analyzes how a change in organizational identity, through a title change, impacts conservation officers, the general public, traditional law enforcement agencies, and governmental entities. The major findings suggest that those states that have changed the titles of their officers have experienced enhanced organizational legitimacy with natural resource users, other law enforcement agencies, and state legislatures. Given these findings, this article argues that it would be advantageous for Pennsylvania to at least consider making a title change for their conservation officers.","PeriodicalId":80972,"journal":{"name":"Commonweal (New York, N.Y.)","volume":"20 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2018-03-19","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"41584880","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
This article reviews issues related to proposed changes to the Philadelphia taxation system. There are two proposed plans. The City plan proposes modest cuts to the wage tax and to the net income portion of the business income and receipts tax (BIRT). The plan proposed by the Philadelphia Growth Coalition includes larger cuts in these taxes combined with an increase in the property tax on commercial real estate. The increase in the property tax on commercial real estate is intended to make up for losses of revenue from the tax cuts and is proposed to create a property tax classification system in which different classes of property are taxed at different rates. These proposals have been studied by Econsult Solutions (2015), and their findings are scrutinized in this article. Also, this article includes information on the main example of a property tax classification system in Cook County, Illinois, as a cautionary tale.
{"title":"Should the Philadelphia Property Tax Classification System Be Modified","authors":"J. Carroll, J. Mcdonald","doi":"10.15367/COM.V20I1.179","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.15367/COM.V20I1.179","url":null,"abstract":"This article reviews issues related to proposed changes to the Philadelphia taxation system. There are two proposed plans. The City plan proposes modest cuts to the wage tax and to the net income portion of the business income and receipts tax (BIRT). The plan proposed by the Philadelphia Growth Coalition includes larger cuts in these taxes combined with an increase in the property tax on commercial real estate. The increase in the property tax on commercial real estate is intended to make up for losses of revenue from the tax cuts and is proposed to create a property tax classification system in which different classes of property are taxed at different rates. These proposals have been studied by Econsult Solutions (2015), and their findings are scrutinized in this article. Also, this article includes information on the main example of a property tax classification system in Cook County, Illinois, as a cautionary tale.","PeriodicalId":80972,"journal":{"name":"Commonweal (New York, N.Y.)","volume":" ","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2018-03-19","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"44782365","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
This study examines the extent to which pronounced differences in voter registration statistics between Pennsylvania and New Jersey are truly indicative of significant differences in political attitudes and voter behavior across citizens of these neighboring states. The analysis is based upon an examination of cumulative 1980–2012 American National Election Study (ANES) survey data. Although there is evidence that minor differences in partisan attachments exist, there is no evidence that these differences are manifest in diminished interest, efficacy, polarization levels, participation rates, or straight-ticket voting behavior. The central conclusion of this study is that the elevated tendency of New Jersey voters to register as unaffiliated is less of a marker of greater independent orientations and more of an election law mirage that furthers a myth of mounting citizen independence from partisan affiliations. Furthermore, these findings support the conclusion that a follow-up methodology for determining true partisan attachments among ANES respondents is a more accurate predictor of partisan attitudes and behavior than methods relying upon an initial probe of self-identified partisanship or statewide voter registration statistics.
{"title":"Party Identification, Voter Attitudes, and Voter Behavior in New Jersey and Pennsylvania, 1980–2012: Real Difference or Election Law Mirage?","authors":"J. Vike","doi":"10.15367/com.v20i1.180","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.15367/com.v20i1.180","url":null,"abstract":"This study examines the extent to which pronounced differences in voter registration statistics between Pennsylvania and New Jersey are truly indicative of significant differences in political attitudes and voter behavior across citizens of these neighboring states. The analysis is based upon an examination of cumulative 1980–2012 American National Election Study (ANES) survey data. Although there is evidence that minor differences in partisan attachments exist, there is no evidence that these differences are manifest in diminished interest, efficacy, polarization levels, participation rates, or straight-ticket voting behavior. The central conclusion of this study is that the elevated tendency of New Jersey voters to register as unaffiliated is less of a marker of greater independent orientations and more of an election law mirage that furthers a myth of mounting citizen independence from partisan affiliations. Furthermore, these findings support the conclusion that a follow-up methodology for determining true partisan attachments among ANES respondents is a more accurate predictor of partisan attitudes and behavior than methods relying upon an initial probe of self-identified partisanship or statewide voter registration statistics.","PeriodicalId":80972,"journal":{"name":"Commonweal (New York, N.Y.)","volume":" ","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2018-03-19","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"42977777","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
For many families across Pennsylvania, child care is an ever-present concern. Since the 1970s, when Richard Nixon vetoed a national childcare program, child care has received little time in the policy spotlight. Instead, funding for child care in the United States now comes from a mixture of federal, state, and local programs that do not help all families. This article explores childcare options available to families in the state of Pennsylvania and highlights gaps in the current system. Specifically, we examine the state of child care available to families in the Commonwealth in terms of quality, accessibility, flexibility, and affordability. We also incorporate survey data from a nonrepresentative sample of registered Pennsylvania voters conducted by the Pennsylvania Center for Women and Politics. As these results support the need for improvements in the current childcare system, we discuss recommendations for the future.
{"title":"Is This the Care We Need?: An Examination of Childcare Policy in Pennsylvania","authors":"Jennie Sweet-Cushman, A. Harden","doi":"10.15367/com.v19i2.153","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.15367/com.v19i2.153","url":null,"abstract":"For many families across Pennsylvania, child care is an ever-present concern. Since the 1970s, when Richard Nixon vetoed a national childcare program, child care has received little time in the policy spotlight. Instead, funding for child care in the United States now comes from a mixture of federal, state, and local programs that do not help all families. This article explores childcare options available to families in the state of Pennsylvania and highlights gaps in the current system. Specifically, we examine the state of child care available to families in the Commonwealth in terms of quality, accessibility, flexibility, and affordability. We also incorporate survey data from a nonrepresentative sample of registered Pennsylvania voters conducted by the Pennsylvania Center for Women and Politics. As these results support the need for improvements in the current childcare system, we discuss recommendations for the future.","PeriodicalId":80972,"journal":{"name":"Commonweal (New York, N.Y.)","volume":" ","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2017-10-05","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"49431951","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
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