Six research projects received funding through the 2016 Carrie Chapman Catt Prize for Research on Women and Politics.
“We received a record 80 proposals from researchers in a variety of academic disciplines, which made the task of the selection committee difficult,” said Dianne Bystrom, director of Iowa State University’s Carrie Chapman Catt Center for Women and Politics, which sponsors the annual awards. The selection committee, composed of 12 faculty members, blind-reviewed the proposals and chose two projects as winners of the Catt Prize and four projects for honorable mention awards. Each of the winning prize proposals will receive $2,000. Projects selected for honorable mention awards will receive $1,000 each.
Prize winners for 2016 are:
Xinhui Jiang Xinhui Jiang, Ph.D. candidate in political science and international relations at the University of Delaware in Newark, for “Where is the Half Sky? Women’s representation in county people’s congresses in China.” The study examines the formal and informal institutions that shape women’s access into local congresses in China. The award will be used to hire a Chinese undergraduate research assistant to help create a dataset of the gender composition in 2,860 county people’s congresses.
Catherine WineingerCatherine Wineinger, Ph.D. candidate in political science at Rutgers University, New Brunswick, New Jersey, for “Gendering the GOP: Republican women and the evolution of women’s representation in Congress.” The study examines how Republican congresswomen navigate the institutional norms of Congress and the Republican Party to become leaders within their party and in Congress. The award will be used to hire research assistants to code interview transcripts and floor speeches.
Recipients of honorable mention awards are:
Elizabeth D. KatzElizabeth D. Katz, Ph.D. candidate in history at Harvard University, Cambridge, Massachusetts, for “Courting American families: The creation and evolution of courts of domestic relations.” The study examines domestic relations courts (family courts) from their inception in the early 20th century to more recent times and how they contributed to a fundamental shift in the relationship between the household and the state. The award will be used for travel expenses to visit the National Archives in College Park, Maryland, and the Western Reserve Historical Society in Cleveland, Ohio.
Jeong Hyun KimJeong Hyun Kim, Ph.D. candidate in political science at Washington University in St. Louis, St. Louis, Missouri, for “Direct democracy and women’s political participation: Evidence from Sweden.” The study examines the impact of direct democracy on women’s political participation and under what conditions women are likely to participate in political activities at rates comparable to men. The award will be used for travel costs and to hire research assistants to validate the English translation of Swedish documents.
From left: Tim LaPira, Kathleen Marchetti and Herschel F. ThomasTim LaPira, associate professor of political science at James Madison University, Harrisonburg, Virginia; Kathleen Marchetti, assistant professor of political science at Dickinson College, Carlisle, Pennsylvania; and Herschel F. Thomas, assistant professor of political science at the University of Texas at Arlington, for “Gender and lobbying.” The study examines whether women lobbyists are similar to women legislators in their ability to provide substantive representation on women’s issues. The award will be used for travel expenses to visit Washington, DC, to complete interviews with women lobbyists.
Kimberly Saks McManawayKimberly Saks McManaway, Ph.D. candidate in political science at Wayne State University, Detroit, Michigan, for “Framing gender, family and economics in the paid family leave debate.” The study examines whether paid family leave policy preference in the United States can be attributed to the effects of the “family benefits” and “economic benefits” frames. The award will be used to fund the acquisition of study participants through Amazon Mechanical Turk.
The annual research prize has been funded since 1994 by the Carrie Chapman Catt Center for Women and Politics. Members of the 2016 Catt Prize Selection Committee are Iowa State faculty members David Andersen, Tessa Ditonto, Jonathan Hassid, Mark Nieman, Kelly Shaw, Mack Shelley, Alex Tuckness and Robert Urbatsch, all with the department of political science; Amy Bix, department of history; Kelly Winfrey, Greenlee School of Journalism and Communication; Bystrom; and Andrew Green, professor of political science at Central College in Pella, Iowa. The committee was assisted by Sue Cloud, communications specialist at the Catt Center.
