Run, Women, Run! Female Candidates and Term Limits: A State-Level Analysis

• Main Author: Pettey, Samantha
• Other Authors: Branton, Regina P.
• Format: Others
• Language: English
• Published: University of North Texas 2016
• Subjects: female candidates; term limits
• Online Access: https://digital.library.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metadc862859/

This dissertation seeks to explain the puzzle in the state politics literature which expects females to benefit from the enactment of term limits, but initial research finds the number of female in office decreases after the implementation of term limits. Examining this puzzle involves three separate stand-alone chapters which explore female candidate emergence (1), success rates (2), and women-friendly state legislative districts (3). The goal of the dissertation is to reconcile the puzzle while adding insight into how female candidates behave at the state-level. Overall, I find that term limits increases female descriptive representation by increasing the likelihood a female candidate will run and win an election.