Women and Politics is a comprehensive text examining women’s use of politics in pursuit of gender equality. The book is organized around the paradox of gender equality: the need to reconcile demands for equality with biological differences between women and men. Resolving this paradox has proceeded along two paths: the legal equality approach relies on the law to make women and men “the same,” while the fairness approach recognizes differences and works to ensure women are not disadvantaged relative to men. The text's in-depth analysis and clear presentation of theory and history lead students to think critically about the challenges faced by women today and in the past. Extensive coverage of diversity among women and consistent attention to the intersections of race, class, gender, and gender identity is found throughout the text.

The fully revised fifth edition includes significant updates to the scholarship, figures and tables, feature boxes, and current challenges to gender equality. The text explores new critical perspectives and recent political events including the 2024 presidential election and Kamala Harris’s candidacy, the Dobbs Supreme Court decision overturning 50 years of precedent on abortion rights, the ascendancy of conservative women, Executive Orders defining gender and eliminating DEI initiatives, the wage gap, the fight for paid leave, and women’s gains in political representation, employment, education, and the military.

Students are invited to engage with the text through critical thinking and analysis questions related to gender politics and policy in the U.S. and abroad.