An Open Boundaries Workshop: Women and Politics in Comparative Perspective—Introduction

The papers presented here, a result of the extremely successful Japanese America Women's Symposium, focus a fascinating lens on the study of women & politics in the US & in Japan. More so, the lens casts the light of comparison on the very different, & very similar, issues affecting women in politics in both countries. The following abstracted articles can be accessed whole at the APSA web site, www.apsanet.org/Jan04/: Chieko Kitagawa Otsuru, "Incorporating Gender Equality at Local Politics: A Case of Toyonaka"; Tokuko Ogai, "Advance of Japanese Women in Politics: The General Local Election of 2003"; Julie Dolan, "Women Running for Congress: An Overview of the 2002 Elections"; M. Margaret Conway, "Women's Political Participation at the State and Local Level in the United States"; Michele Swers, "Whatever Happened to the Year of the Woman: Lessons from the 1992 and 2002 Elections"; Melissa Deckham, "Women Running Locally: How Gender Affects School Board Elections"; Masako Aiuchi, "The Governor's Race in Hokkaido: The Election of a Female Governor and Its Impact"; Yoshie Kobayashi, "Has the Closed Door Opened for Women? The Appointment of Women Ministers in Japan"; Barbara Palmer & Dennis Simon, "Gender, Party and Political Change: The Evolution of a Democratic Advantage"; Misako Iwamoto, "The Mother's Body Protection Act and the Contraceptive Pill: Reproductive Rights and Policy Making in Japan"; Hiromi Tanaka, "Equal Employment in Contemporary Japan: A Structural Approach"; Chiharu Takenaka, "Engendered Violence: India in Comparative Perspective"; Joyce Gelb, "Equal Employment Policy in the United States"; & Marian Lief Palley, "Medicalization versus Demedicalization of Women's Health Care.". J. W. Parker