City University of New York (CUNY) CUNY Academic Works All Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects 9-2017 Underrepresentation of Women in Politics: Focus on New York City Yuliya Szczepanski The Graduate Center, City University of New York How does access to this work benefit ou?y Let us know! More information about this work at: https://academicworks.cuny.edu/gc_etds/2382 Discover additional works at: https://academicworks.cuny.edu This work is made publicly available by the City University of New York (CUNY). Contact:
[email protected] UNDERREPRESENTATION OF WOMEN IN POLITICS: FOCUS ON NEW YORK CITY by YULIYA SZCZEPANSKI A master’s thesis submitted to the Graduate Faculty in Political Science in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Arts, the City University of New York 2017 © 2017 YULIYA SZCZEPANSKI All Rights Reserved ii Underrepresentation of Women in Politics: Focus on New York City by Yuliya Szczepanski This manuscript has been read and accepted for the Graduate Faculty in Political Science in satisfaction of the thesis requirement for the degree of Master of Arts. Date__________________ John Mollenkopf Thesis Advisor Date__________________ Alyson Cole Executive Officer THE CITY UNIVERSITY OF NEW YORK iii Abstract Underrepresentation of Women in Politics: Focus on New York City by Yuliya Szczepanski Advisor: Professor John Mollenkopf This thesis examines how the factors that account for underrepresentation of women in American politics play out in New York City. Although women comprise more than a half of the country’s population, and more women than men are registered and turn out to vote, the United States is below average in terms of percentage of women politicians as compared to other countries, and keeps dropping in those ratings.