United States of America

Her: A simple pronoun and basic linguistic tool in the everyday English vernacular.

But, in the context of women in politics, “her” is more than a grammatical component. It is a symbol of slowly rising equality in representation — too slowly, in both the national and student government political arenas.

We invite you to read the full article published October 17, 2013

The four female incumbents in the field of about 30 governors seeking reelection in November 2014 are doing something considered incumbent upon any female executive who wants her job back: playing up their accomplishments. The quartet includes three Republicans: New Mexico's Susana Martinez, Oklahoma's Mary Fallin and South Carolina's Nikki Haley. The lone Democrat is New Hampshire's Maggie Hassan. All are emphasizing their ability to get things done as evidence of why they deserve to be reelected to second terms next year.

I have a story in this week’s magazine about the 20 Senate women and their growing—and positive—influence on the Upper Chamber. You can credit the tight, bipartisan bonds that these women have formed for not only seeding the compromise that reopened the government, but the vast majority of the legislation passed this session.

With the federal government at shutdown's door, the 20 female Senate members are setting new standards for civility and bipartisanship. Look out, old boys' club.

Senators John McCain (R-Ariz.) and Mark Pryor (D-Ark.) said on Wednesday afternoon that their female colleagues can take most of the credit for driving the compromise that is expected to temporarily reopen the U.S. government and raise the debt ceiling before Thursday's deadline.

"Leadership, I must fully admit, was provided primarily from women in the Senate," McCain said after the bipartisan deal was announced.

Beating breast cancer as a mom of young children made Florida Congresswoman Debbie Wasserman Schultz reshape her priorities as a politician and leader of the Democratic Party, she told NBC’s Andrea Mitchell, also a breast cancer survivor, on Tuesday.

When it comes to helping women build careers in politics, some states do better than others. For more than two decades, women in Indiana have been getting their first taste of public service through the Lugar Series. What we have learned here in Indiana is that we can do so much to expand the ranks of women leaders in politics, especially on the Republican side of the aisle, through a combination of outreach and engagement.

Why some say the GOP can't compete until it adds more female consultants to its ranks “If you look at the numbers, women are the majority of the population; we’re the majority of voters,” Thompson says. “We have a higher turnout ratio, and we’re the majority of consumers, the majority of television watchers. If you want to talk to the majority of voters, you have to craft a campaign that talks to women.”