Doctoral Thesis 2018 Gender and Women's Issues
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DOCTORAL THESI S 2018 GENDER AND WOMEN’S ISSUES UNDER THE AMERICAN ADMINISTRATIONS OVER THE PERIOD 1970 - 2015 KAMAL AHMAD HASAN ALZGHOUL 1 TESI DOCTORAL 2018 Doctoral Program of Doctoral D egree in H istory, Art H istory and G eography GENDER AND WOM EN’S ISSUES UNDER THE AMERICAN ADMINISTRATION S OVER THE PERIOD 1970 - 2015. Kamal Ahmad Hasan Alzghoul Director: Sebasti à Serra Busquets Doctor by the Universita t de les Illes Balears Co - director: Esperança Bosch Fiol Doctor by the Universita t de les Illes B alears 2 Acknowledgement Studying doctorate for three years at the Department of Arts and Humanities in the University of the Balearic Islands gave me a very good experience in patience specifically how to behave in the hardworking situations, and as the t ime passed, I did receive many encouragements from the people who were around me and I am feeling comfortable to acknowledge them for their contribution and encouragement during my study. First, my thesis is dedicated to my family especially my parents who supported me to seek high education as well as my wife who stood step by step beside me, challenged the conditions and sacrificed to let me reach at this enthusiastic moment. I could not describe how my family gave me the support and urged me to be a good participant in progre s sing of the historical and social science in the whole world, so I grew to challenge conditions to win, using my all rules of logic and argument. Second , I acknowledge the role of my thesis director S ebastiá Serra Busquets and co - dir ector Esperança Bosch Fiol who w ere the wise friend s and guided me to complete my thesis. Definitely, I would like to thank all the personnel of the Department of the Contemporary History who were very cooperative and they facilitated my stay inside the De partment especially, Elisabeth Ripoll Gil, Tomeu Canyelles , and Gabriel Mayol as well as Xavier Jimez . In addition, I am thankful to all personnel and staffs in the Doctorate School who were a very good guidance in doing doctoral procedures. Also , I would like to thank all people whose names are not mentioned and contributed significantly directly and indirectly to get my thesis completed. 3 GENDER AND WOMEN’S ISSUES UNDER THE AMERICAN ADMINISTRATIONS OVER THE PERIOD 1970 - 2015 Abstract Studying gender and women’s issues under the American Administrations over the period 1970 - 2015 is very important, so this thesis examines the impact of changing ruling Party on women's issues specifically gender and women’ s representation inside politics , women’s attainm ent in education, women inside workforce , and violence against women . There are many interpretations and reports on gender cases in the U.S, and these reports participated in presenting women’ s issues in the political arena. T his thesis will shape a collec tive perspective behind retreating women’ s rights and it will go in details about women’s issues to shed a light over the roots of women’s problem in the contemporary history of the United States of America . During the last four decades, surveys about wome n , and studies have been studying different issues about women , but researchers still search explanation about the reason s behind gender and women’s representation in politics . This thesis will study the performances o f every American Administration to exp lain how and why women’ s issues fragmented in every term of presidency , and why the legislative process was fragmenting the cases of women over a long period of time without a comprehensive understanding of women’s rights and women’s representation in poli tics . This thesis fin d out that women are underrepresented due to the change in political parties’ agendas that happened over the period (1970 - 2015). Resumen Estudiar el género y las cuestiones de las mujeres bajo las Administraciones estadounidenses du rante el período 1970 - 2015 es muy importante, por lo que esta tesis examina el impacto que supone el cambio del partido gobernante en los asuntos de las mujeres específicamente el género y la representación de las mujeres dentro de la política, el logro de las mujeres en la educación, las mujeres dentro de la fuerza de trabajo y la violencia contra las mujeres. Hay muchas interpretaciones e informes sobre casos de género en los EE. UU, y estos informes contribuyeron en la presentación de los problemas de la s mujeres en la arena política. Esta tesis muestra una perspectiva colectiva detrás de la retirada de los derechos de las mujeres y ofrece detalles sobre los temas de las mujeres para arrojar luz sobre las raíces del problema de las mujeres en la historia contemporánea de los Estados Unidos de América. Durante las últimas cuatro décadas, estudios y encuestas sobre mujeres han estado trabajado diferentes temas sobre las mujeres, pero los investigadores aún buscan explicaciones sobre las razones que hay detr ás del género y la representación de las mujeres en la política. Esta tesis estudiará los desempeños de cada administración estadounidense para explicar cómo y por qué las cuestiones de las mujeres se fragmentaron en cada período presidencial, y por qué el proceso legislativo estaba fragmentando los casos de mujeres durante un largo período de tiempo, sin una comprensión integral de los derechos de las mujeres y la representación de las mujeres en la política. Esta tesis demuestra que las mujeres están infr a representadas debido al cambio en las agendas de los partidos gobernantes durante el período 1970 - 2015. Resum Estudiar el gènere i les qüestions de les dones sota les Administracions nord - americanes durant el període 1970 - 2015 és molt important, de ma nera que aquesta tesi examina l'impacte que suposa el canvi del partit governant en els assumptes de les dones específicament el gènere i la representació de les dones dins de la política, l'assoliment de les dones en l'educació, les dones dins de la força de treball i la violència contra les dones. Hi ha moltes interpretacions i informes sobre casos de gènere en els EUA, i aquests informes van contribuir a la presentació dels problemes de les dones en l'arena política. Aquesta tesi mostra una perspectiva c ol·lectiva darrere de la retirada dels drets de les dones i ofereix detalls sobre els temes de les dones per donar llum sobre les arrels del problema de les dones en la història contemporània dels Estats Units d'Amèrica. Durant les últimes quatre dècades, estudis i enquestes sobre dones han treballat diferents temes sobre les dones, però els investigadors encara busquen explicacions sobre les raons que hi ha darrere del gènere i la representació de les dones en la política. Aquesta tesi estudiarà els acompl iments de cada administració nord - americana per explicar com i per què les qüestions de les dones es van fragmentar en cada període presidencial, i per què el procés legislatiu estava fragmentant els casos de dones durant un llarg període de temps, sense u na comprensió integral dels drets de les dones i la representació de les dones en la política. Aquesta tesi demostra que les dones estan infrarepresentades a causa del canvi en les agendes dels partits governants durant el període 1970 - 2015. 4 GENDER AND WOM EN’S ISSUES UNDER THE AMERICAN ADMINISTRATIONS OVER THE PERIOD 1970 - 2015 TABLE OF CONTENTS Subject Page LIST OF TABLES ………………………… …………………… …….. ………… …8 LIST OF DIAGRAMS …………………………………………………… ……. .. 10 LIST OF FIGURES ………………………………………………………… …….. 11 LIST OF MAPS …………………………………………………………… ……... 12 LIST OF ACRONYMS …………………………………………………….. .......... 13 1 . INTRODUCTION ………………………………………………………… …….. 15 2 . S IGNIF ICANCE OF THE RESEARCH ……………………………… ............. .. 18 3 . LITERATURE REVIEW ………………………………………………… …….. 19 3 . 1 . Historical Background …………………………………………………… ……. 26 3 . 2 . Empirical D ata …………………………………………………………… ……. 31 3 . 3 . Limitations of the Literature R eview …………………………………… ……. 36 4 . OBJECTIVE ……………………………………………………………… …….. 3 7 5 . METHODOLOGY ………………………………………………………… ……. 38 5 . 1 . Required Elements ……………………………………………………… ……. 38 5 . 2 . Researcher Impartiality ………………………………………………… ……. .. 38 5 . 3 . Methods ………………………………………………………………… …….. 38 5 . 3 . 1 . Qualitative Data ……………………………………… ……. ......... ................... 38 5 . 3 . 2 . Interview ……………………………………………………………… ……. ... 39 5 . 3 . 3 . Questionnaire ………………………………………………………… ……. ….39 5 . 3 . 4 . Data Analysis of the Interviews and Q uestionnaire …………………… …… … 39 5 . 3 . 5 . Ethical Considerations …………………………………………………... ........ .. 40 5 6 . HYPOTHESIS OF THE RESEARC H …………………………………… ……. 41 7 . CHAPTER 1 : C HANGING AMERICAN ADMINISTRATIONS AND ITS EFFECTS ON WOMEN’S ISSUES (1970 - 2015) ………………………………. 42 7 . 1 . American Administrations and Democratic Party Policies towards Women’s Issues ……………………………………………………………………… ……….. 44 7 . 2 . Republi can Party Policies towards Women’s Issues …………………… ……... 49 7 . 3 . Factors behind Retreating Women in Getting Representations in High Positions over the period (1970 - 2015) ………………………………………………... ........... 59 7 . 3 . 1 . Election Campaign Factor ……………………………………………… ……... 59 7 . 3 . 2 . The I mpa ct of American Cultural Identity ……………………………. ........... .. 6 2 7 . 3 . 3 . The Impact of Gender Demographical F actor ………………………… ……… . 6 6 7 . 3 . 4 . Single Women and Lack of I ndependence!............................................ ........... 68 7 . 4 . American A dministrations H andling Women’ s issues (1970 - 2015) … …… … . 7 1 8 . CHAPTER 2 : WOMEN’S ATTAINMENT IN EDUCATION ( 1970 - 2015)….. 77 8 . 1 . Women’s Educational History …………………………………………..