ditionally faced fewer cultural barriers and role conflictsö (p. 466). Although women are still under-represented even at the local level, some municipalities are run primarily or even entirely by women. Santa Barbara County, for instance, is managed by a board of five supervisors, three of whom are women, and the cityÆs mayor, Harriet Miller, is also female.
Yet, at the higher levels, women remain scarce, and activist groups such as EmilyÆs List, the National Organization for Women, and the National WomenÆs Political Caucus devote considerable resources to identifying and supporting women running for public office. Amico writes, ôAt the end of the twentieth century, womenÆs presence in national politics remains strikingly lowö (p. 467). In 1974, Janet Gray Hayes became the first woman to be elected mayor of a major U.S. city when she was voted into office by the residents of San Jose, California. Five years later, more than 92 percent of all the mayors across the country are still men.
However, some inroads have been achieved. Wilma Mankiller and her colleagues note that throughout the 1970s, the United States House of Representatives was never more than 5 percent female, but that this percentage rose to 11 percent in 1992, the so-called ôYear of the Womanö (p. 352). Between 1991 and 1197, the number of women in the U.S. Senate doubled; nine are currently in office. These include newly-elected Mary Landrieu, LouisianaÆs first female senator.
Both senators from California are women, bo
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