Since Jeanette Rankin (R-MO) was first elected to the United States Congress in 1916, political scientists have been carefully documenting the various ways women have entered into the U.S. Congress (Chamberlin 5).  Since women remain disproportionately represented in legislative politics, it is of great concern to political scientists to document the entries women have entered legislative politics and the reasons why they have won legislative seats.  By analyzing the different ways women have entered the United States Congress, political scientists are hopeful that a solution to the gender gap will evidence itself in research.  In documenting the various ways women have entered the United States Congress, two main entries have been documented, which are appointment or election to office.  Appointment to office can further be divided into two subcategories-appointment to fill a legislative vacancy or widows succession, which is a term that refers to a widow appointed to her husband's elected office upon his death ("Women" 1). While political scientists are in consensus about the entries women can take to the United States Congress, researchers control for two separate variables--south and non-south--when analyzing the representation of women in the U.S. Congress.  By controlling for these two variables, researchers believe they will better be able to analyze the effects certain characteristics each region have on the representation of women in legislative politics.  These different entries to the United States Congress include both positive and negative aspects to the representation of women in legislative politics  (Nuwer 449).

    While political scientists painstakingly research the women who have served in the U.S. Congress, the first documented entry to the United States Congress is election to office.  Even though women are now increasingly elected to office, Representative Jeannette Rankin (R-MO) was the first woman elected to congressional office.  Elected in 1916, Representative Rankin served two non-consecutive terms, from 1917-1919 and again from 1927-1929.  According to the Congressional Quarterly's Congress A-Z, since Representative Rankin's tenure in the United States House of Representatives, one hundred and ninty-seven women had served in the United States Congress as of 1999. Of those one hundred and ninty-seven women who have served in the U.S. Congress, 160 women have served in the House only while sixty women have served in the Senate only.  Another six women, who have served in the United States Congress, have served in both the House of Representatives and Senate.  However, after Representative Rankin took office in 1917, there was a sharp decline in the number of women elected to office until 1927, which saw nine women elected to the United States House of Representatives.  Thereafter, a sharp decline in the number of women elected to office was incured until the mid-1970s.

    Although election to office was the first documented form of entry for a woman in the United States Congress, appointment to legislative office has been an important factor in female representation in Congress.   Appointment to office can be divided into two categories--appointment to legislative office and widows succession.  Appointment by a governor or other high elected official is the most frequent appointment to legislative office, but has not received as much attention by researchers as "widows succession."  Nine  female U.S. Senators have initially come to the U.S. Senate through an appointment to a vacant seat ("Senate" 1).  What sets these women apart from other women who enter legislative politics is the seat of which each woman was appointed to.  These 9 female U.S. Senators were appointed to seats, which were not held by their husbands.  Unlike widows, these Senators did not enter politics through "widows succession."  Of the current thirteen female senators in the United States Senate, one senator has come to the Senate through an appointment by a governor.  Appointed in 1993, Senator Kay Bailey Hutchinson (R-TX) was appointed by Governor Ann Richardson (D-TX) to fill a vacancy in the state's national delegation (2).

    Another subdivision of appointment to office is matrimonial connections, especially "widows succession."  This particular entry, unlike any other, has received the most attention by political scientists, especially by female researchers.  Since the first documented case of widows succession in 1923, most women who entered Congress during the 1920s and 1930s came in through "widows succession" (Nuwer, 458; Gertzog, 831).  One of the most famous widows appointed to her husband's elected legislative seat upon his death is Senator Hattie Caraway.  Appointed in 1932, Carway was chosen to fill the vacancy after her husband passed away.  However, many researchers believe she was never intended to be a permanent replacement to the U.S. Senate seat.  Although she may have been intended to be a temporary replacement until a "special election" could be called, Senator Hattie Caraway won election on her own in 1934.  Senator Caraway served in the United States Senate until her death in 1945.

    As has been noted by many political scientists in the field, a substantial "gender gap" remains in legislative politics.  In researching this area of political science, there are two primary entries for women to the U.S. Congress, appointment and election to office.  Appointment to office can be subdivided into appointment by a governor or other political figure to fill a vacant legislative seat, or widows succession, which refers to a widow who is appointed to her husband's elected position upon his death (Nuwer 449).  Of the three most important entries on current legislative politics, election is the most frequently used in the twentieth and twenty-first century politics.  However, on increasing the representation of southern women in legislative politics.  As more women are elected on their own merit, it is assumed that southern women will be able to increase their representation in Congress. However, the entry that receives the most attention is "widows succession" and the various influences this entry has on the representation of southern women in legislative politics.  Due to the conservative nature of the southern region of the country, researchers assume the participation of southern women in legislative politics has been influenced by matrimonial connections in an area dominated by patriarchy (450).  Whatever entry to legislative politics  is researched, obvious implications will occur, some less severe than others.  However, there are disputes among political scientists as to which entry has done the most to increase the number of southern women in legislative politics.

Chamberlin, H.  (1973)  A Minority of Members: Women In The U.S. Congress.  New York:  Praeger Publishers.

Cooperman, R. and B. Oppenheimer.  (2001)  The Gender Gap in the House of Representatives.  In L. Dodd and B.
    Oppenheimer (Eds).  Congress Reconsidered.  (pp.125-140).  Washington, D.C.: Congressional Quarterly Inc.

Gertzog, I.  (1980)  The Matrimonial Connection:  the Nomination of Congressmen's Widows for the House of
    Representatives.  Journal of Politics, 42 (3) 820-833.

Nuwer, D.  (2000)  Southern Women Legislators and Patriarchy In The South.  Southeastern Political Review, 28 (3)
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"Senate Statistics"  27/9/01.  <http://www.senate.gov/learning/stat_14.html>.

"Women in Elected Office"  24/9/01.  <http://www.rci.rutgers.edu/~cawp/facts/publ.htm>.