Date of Graduation
2004
Document Type
Dissertation/Thesis
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