Date of Graduation
2004
Document Type
Dissertation
Degree Type
PhD
College
Eberly College of Arts and Sciences
Department
Political Science
Committee Chair
Neil Berch
Committee Co-Chair
Jamie Jacobs
Committee Member
Lawrence Grossback
Committee Member
Barbara Howe
Committee Member
Donley Studlar
Abstract
The literature on political action committees focuses on the different roles and strategies of PACs depending upon their motivation. I argue that the motivations of traditional PACs are founded in an assumption of substantive representation theory. This dissertation deals with the theoretical motivations of women's PACs—that of descriptive representation. Because women's PACs have a different underlying theoretical motivation than traditional political action committees, I hypothesize that the existing PAC literature on the strategies and organizational structures of PACs is both insufficient to explain the behavior of women's PACs, as well as exclusionary. This research seeks to identify the strategies and organizational structures of women's PACs and to justify those strategies and structures using descriptive representational theory. Finally, this research will attempt to examine the impact of women's PAC support upon the electoral progress of female candidates.
Recommended Citation
Frederick, Heather, "Women's PACs: Their motivations, strategies, and impacts." (2004). Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Problem Reports. 8872.
https://researchrepository.wvu.edu/etd/8872