Women, Power, and Political Change

Book excerpt: Contemporary women face barriers as they try to balance family and careers, choose the most promising education and employment options, and run for elected office. Women, Power, and Political Change analyzes the lives of sixteen American women who facilitated social and political changes in the seventeenth, eighteenth, nineteenth, and twentieth centuries. These women were entrepreneurs--a small group advocating policies that imposed costs on some Americans but generated benefits for women. Using qualitative and quantitative data, Bonnie G. Mani describes the social and political context of the times when each of the women lived and worked. What she uncovers regarding the similarities and differences between these women demonstrates how women can influence public policy without holding elected office and without personal wealth. This is a must-read book for anyone interested in the evolution of women's political roles in American history.