Claremont Colleges Scholarship @ Claremont CMC Senior Theses CMC Student Scholarship 2016 Voting, Politics, and Gender: Has America Paved the Way for a Female President? Hannah Bower Claremont McKenna College Recommended Citation Bower, Hannah, "Voting, Politics, and Gender: Has America Paved the Way for a Female President?" (2016). CMC Senior Theses. Paper 1332. http://scholarship.claremont.edu/cmc_theses/1332 This Open Access Senior Thesis is brought to you by Scholarship@Claremont. It has been accepted for inclusion in this collection by an authorized administrator. For more information, please contact
[email protected]. Claremont McKenna College Voting, Politics, and Gender: Has America Paved the Way for a Female President? Submitted to Professor Andrew Busch By Hannah Maureen Bower For Senior Thesis Spring 2016 April 25, 2016 Abstract. The purpose of this study is to understand the impact of candidate gender on voting behavior in presidential elections in the United States. By delving into the vice presidential nominations of Geraldine Ferraro in 1984, and Sarah Palin in 2008, I provided the baseline for the experiences of Carly Fiorina and Hillary Clinton’s presidential campaigns in 2016. Ultimately, I present the argument that the United States is ready for a female president, either this year or in the near future. 1 Acknowledgments. Because it is currently 4:29 AM, I would like to first off, apologize for forgetting to include any vital people or things in these acknowledgements. I have learned that my brain only semi-functions after midnight. To my reader, Professor Busch – thank you for standing by me in this process – you’ve made me a stronger writer, critical thinker, and inspired me to look at politics in a different lens.