Gender and politics it's a trending topic these days as Kamala Harris' surging in the polls may put her in the position to be America's first female president.
And, when media are covering the topic, it's the experts from University of Mary Washington they're contacting.
Rosalyn Cooperman is an Associate Professor of Political Science at the University of Mary Washington in Fredericksburg, VA. Cooperman’s research focuses on the relationship between political parties, PACs, and women candidates, as well as elite attitudes regarding women’s political participation. Recently she has been featured in and the Arizona Mirror, the Centre for American Women in Politics. View profile ** Recent Media Arizona Mirror “I don’t know that there’s any real fidelity to any stance on an issue unless it’s perceived to be useful — abortion being one of a very long list,” said Rosalyn Cooperman, who studies Republican candidates and political leaders at the University of Mary Washington. “If you look at what he has said over time, it is what is politically expedient.” Marketplace "They are a political action committee, but they can raise unlimited amounts of money from corporations, unions, individuals, but they can’t coordinate directly with the parties or candidates." CAWP "Progressive PACs are continuing to use abortion-related messages in fundraising appeals while conservative women’s PACs are not" Rosalyn Cooperman
Dr. Cooperman is available to speak to media – simply click on her icon to arrange an interview today.
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2 min
Political playoffs – if you are covering the run-off election in Georgia, let our experts help.
It’s a political junkie’s dream. After a drawn-out and contentious presidential election – the question over who will hold the balance of power in Washington now rests in two Georgia senate races that have each gone into overtime.
There’s a lot on the line for both parties and especially President-elect Biden, who faces high expectations from not just Americans, but from various factions across the broad spectrum of the Democratic party who feel owed for their part in narrowly defeating President Donald Trump.
In the final push before the crucial Georgia U.S. Senate run-offs on Tuesday, Republicans and Democrats share this closing message: The stakes can’t be any higher, and the fate of each party’s agenda rests on the two races. Incumbent GOP Sens. David Perdue and Kelly Loeffler face respective challenges from Democrats Jon Ossoff and Rev. Raphael Warnock. The races will decide which party controls the Senate, and thus, the extent to which Democratic President-elect Joe Biden can enact his legislative priorities. “The future of the country is on the ballot here in Georgia,” Loeffler told Fox News on Tuesday. If at least one Republican candidate wins their race, the GOP will maintain control of the upper chamber. If Ossoff and Warnock win, the Democratic caucus and GOP would each have 50 members, giving Vice President-elect Kamala Harris the tiebreaking vote. January 04 CNBC
If you’re a journalist covering Tuesday’s run-offs, then get in touch with our experts to help with your questions and stories.
Dr. Rosalyn Cooperman, professor of political science at the University of Mary Washington and member of Gender Watch 2018, is an expert on women in politics.
Dr. Cooperman is available to speak to media – simply click on her icon to arrange an interview today.
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1 min
Is a reckoning coming to Washington's once most invincible politicians?
With all eyes on next Tuesday, America could be seeing a serious change in the make-up of the Senate and House of Representatives. With a divided country and an electorate on edge and looking for change, the usual gift of incumbency and re-election is now a far from guaranteed blessing for those Washington veterans for whom re-election is usually a given.
According to NBC, there are more than a handful of high-profile and once thought to be invincible politicians on the ropes.
But can popular politicians sustain the thirst for change when voters cast their ballots? Susan Collins, John Cornyn, Lindsey Graham and even Mitch McConnell may be looking for work in 2021.
It’s a fascinating angle to what has been a truly unique time in American politics. And if you are a journalist covering the election and the balance of power in Congress, then let our experts help.
Dr. Stephen Farnsworth is a sought-after political commentator on subjects ranging from presidential politics to the local Virginia congressional races. He has been widely featured in national media, including The Washington Post, Reuters, The Chicago Tribune and MSNBC.
Dr. Rosalyn Cooperman, associate professor of political science at the University of Mary Washington and member of Gender Watch 2018, is an expert on women in politics.
Both experts are available to speak to media – simply click on either icon to arrange an interview.
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Biography
Want to ensure a victory in an upcoming political campaign? Court the women’s vote. So advises Rosalyn Cooperman, associate professor of political science at the University of Mary Washington. “Women are reliable voters,” she wrote in an op-ed for the Richmond Times-Dispatch. A larger number and higher percentage of women vote in presidential and off-year elections than men, she wrote. In fact, the last three Virginia governors were elected with a majority of support from women. An expert in American government, congressional campaigns and elections, and women in politics, Dr. Cooperman has presented her research at numerous conferences. Her work has appeared in academic journals, including the Journal of Politics, American Political Science Review, and Social Science Quarterly. Her research examines political behavior of Democratic and Republican party activists, women’s political candidacy in Congress and state legislatures, as well as their campaign finance structures. A recipient of the American Political Science Association’s Jack L. Walker Outstanding Article Award, she was honored for an article she co-wrote that examines the recent growth of party polarization in American politics. The article, “Activists and Conflict Extension in American Party Politics,” identifies party activists as a main source of polarization between the Democratic and Republican parties, as party activists with extreme views on a variety of issue dimensions encourage candidates to take non-centrist positions. Since 2004 she has served as a principal investigator for the Convention Delegate Study, a survey of party delegates, and served in 2016 and 2018 as a policy expert for Gender Watch, sponsored by the Center for American Women in Politics (CAWP) at Rutgers University and the Barbara Lee Family Foundation. Dr. Cooperman also has firsthand experience working in the political arena. Before coming to UMW, she served as a campaign manager for Hoosiers for Jill Long, as a Lyndon B. Johnson Intern in the office of Congresswoman Jill Long and as a committee aide for the Montana State Legislature.
Areas of Expertise
Women and Politics
American Politics
Congress
Education
Vanderbilt University
Ph.D.
Political Science
Media Appearances
Why Kamala Harris doesn't highlight that she could be the first woman elected president of the United States (bbc.com)
BBC online
2024-10-21
“If you look at it, Kamala Harris is highlighting (the fact that) she is a woman in her own way,” political scientist Rosalyn Cooperman, a professor at the University of Mary Washington in Virginia, tells BBC News Brasil.
Professor Rosalyn Cooperman, chair of the Department of Political Science and International Affairs at the University of Mary Washington, made a similar point. "As Cabinet positions are executive appointments that must be confirmed by the Senate, nominees will also have to be confirmable," she said.
ISSUES IN THE NEWS: The Strategic Importance of Africa - January 26, 2024
Voices of America online
2024-01-29
To discuss the results and what's next, University of Mary Washington Political Science and International Affairs chair Rosalyn Cooperman joins the program.
Rosalyn Cooperman, a political science professor and department chair at the University of Mary Washington in Fredericksburg, said Vega is "a very compelling candidate, in many regards," who has "captivated the attention of national Republicans" in part because of her background as a Latina and law-enforcement officer.
Rosalyn Cooperman, a professor of political science at the University of Mary Washington in Virginia, said women often find avenues to move up in state legislatures because they tend to stand out on the committees to which they are assigned, due to their underrepresentation. “It’s an opportunity not to just get seated on committees but to get seated on committees where they will wield influence and get power within the institution,” she said.
Professor Rosalyn Cooperman, chair of the Department of Political Science and International Affairs at the University of Mary Washington, made a similar point. "As Cabinet positions are executive appointments that must be confirmed by the Senate, nominees will also have to be confirmable," she said.
Cooperman Featured in U.S. News and World Report’s Debate Club
U.S. News and World Report
2016-02-10
Rosalyn Cooperman, associate professor of political science, wrote an analysis of the 2016 New Hampshire primary for the U.S. News and World Report’s Debate Club.
Cooperman: Women play a central role in state elections
Richmond Times-Dispatch
2013-11-02
In a governor’s race that has featured more vitriol than substance, both the McAuliffe and Cuccinelli campaigns have actively courted women. Why? Women are reliable voters. According to the nonpartisan Center for American Women in Politics at Rutgers University, for decades now a larger number and higher percentage of women vote in presidential and off-year elections than men. And Virginia’s recent electoral history makes plain the importance of winning over women. The last three Virginia governors were elected with a majority of support from women. Democrats Tim Kaine and Mark Warner, now U.S. senators, won their elections for governor with more than 60 percent of the women’s vote. Republican former Gov. Bob McDonnell won with 54 percent of the women’s vote.
The Elephant in the Room: Conservative Women’s Groups and Republican Women Candidates in U.S. Elections
European Consortium for Political Research
2013-09-04
In U.S. politics, women are significantly underrepresented as candidates to and members of Congress and are especially underrepresented as Republicans. There exists a robust literature on women’s candidate emergence (Burrell 1994; Lawless and Fox, 2005, 2010; Sanbonmatsu 2006; Lawless and Pearson 2008) and also the role of political parties and women’s groups in recruiting and supporting women candidates (Freeman 1987; Niven 1998; Burrell 2006, 2008; Sanbonmatsu 2002; Pimlott 2010). However, significantly less attention is paid to efforts by conservative women’s groups to recruit, fund and support Republican women candidates. Established in the 1990s to serve as a counterweight to EMILY’s List (a PAC with women donors who recruited and funded pro-choice Democratic women congressional candidates), groups like Susan B. Anthony List (SBA List) recruited and funded pro-life women congressional candidates, the majority of whom were Republican women. More recently, two additional PACs have emerged to recruit and fund conservative women; Maggie’s List and ShePAC. Unlike SBA List, which is organized around the issue of candidates’ opposition to abortion, Maggie’s List and ShePAC both focus on fiscal conservatism. This project considers the campaign and fundraising activity of these three conservative women’s groups, SBA List, Maggie’s List, and ShePAC, on behalf of conservative women candidates from 2008 to 2012.
The bipartisan compromise budget and debt ceiling deal is a temporary fix
London School of Economics and Political Science
2013-10-09
Dr. Cooperman wrote an invited post for the London School of Economics USA Politics & Policy blog on divisions among congressional Republicans and the government shutdown. Cooperman states that most House Republicans have no electoral incentive to compromise with congressional Democrats. Those Republicans who do represent swing districts with large populations of federal workers and retirees.
Activists and Conflict Extension in American Party Politics
American Political Science Review
2010-05-01
Party activists have played a leading role in “conflict extension”—the polarization of the parties along multiple issue dimensions—in contemporary American politics. We argue that open nomination systems and the ambitious politicians competing within those systems encourage activists with extreme views on a variety of issue dimensions to become involved in party politics, thus motivating candidates to take noncentrist positions on a range of issues. Once that happens, continuing activists with strong partisan commitments bring their views into line with the new candidate agendas, thus extending the domain of interparty conflict. Using cross-sectional and panel surveys of national convention delegates, we find clear evidence for conflict extension among party activists, evidence tentatively suggesting a leading role for activists in partisan conflict extension more generally, and strong support for our argument about change among continuing activists. Issue conversion among activists has contributed substantially to conflict extension and party commitment has played a key role in motivating that conversion.
Where Are the Women? Women as Candidates in the Republican Party of Virginia
Virginia Social Science Journal
2011-01-01
The commonwealth of Virginia infrequently produces women candidates for elective office. Since 1917, only three women have been elected (the first in 1992) to Congress, and Virginia typically falls in the bottom quintile for the number of women serving in the state legislature. This project examines the changing political climate of Virginia and why this party-competitive swing state has not produced more opportunities for women to run for public office. Specifically, we examine the Republican Party of Virginia’s candidate training program for women, the Jennifer Byler Institute, and the ways in which it serves as a pipeline for prospective Republican women candidates.
Not With Her, But Not With Him: The Women of the *New* GOP
Elle.com
2016-08-11
Women—single women, especially—tend to flock to the Democratic Party for the same reasons, says Rosalyn Cooperman, Ph.D., an associate professor of political science at the University of Mary Washington in Fredericksburg, Virginia. "A lot of women all too well understand working really hard and recognizing a male coworker is getting paid more than you, or struggling to figure out child care or caregiving for an adult parent. This notion of just doing it alone—women already do that, and it's stressful," she says.
