Jennie Sweet-CushmanPolitical Scientist · Educator

Research & scholarship

Who participates.
Who leads.
Who belongs.

My research examines how gender, political role models, and political institutions shape the possibilities people see for themselves—and the ways they engage with democracy.

Explore my research ↓

Three connected lines of inquiry

01 — 03
01 ↗

Gender, Political Ambition & Representation

I study how gender shapes political ambition, who imagines themselves as a leader, and how seeing women in political office can reshape ideas about representation.

02 ◎

Political Role Models & Political Behavior

Who inspires political participation? My work examines how role models—both personal and public—affect confidence, belonging, attitudes, and political action.

03 ≋

Gender & Legislative Politics

I investigate gendered patterns in legislative activity, including bill sponsorship, issue agendas, and the ways lawmakers navigate representative institutions.

Jennie Sweet-Cushman at a Temple University Press book event with Inspired Citizens

From research to readers

Scholarship that starts conversations.

My work connects questions about political representation and behavior to the experiences of citizens, educators, and public officials. Books, articles, and collaborative projects offer different ways to explore those questions.

At a book event featuring Inspired Citizens.

Books

Published books

Two books, two distinct contributions to understanding—and teaching—democratic participation.

Cover of Inspired Citizens, Temple University Press

Temple University Press · 2023

Inspired Citizens

How Our Political Role Models Shape American Politics

How do the people we look up to shape our political attitudes, sense of efficacy, and participation? This book examines the significance of political role models in American politics.

Cover of Teaching American Government and Politics, Edward Elgar

Edward Elgar · 2024

Teaching American Government and Politics

Centering Democratic Citizenship and Engagement in the Introductory Classroom

Coauthored with A. Lanethea Mathews-Schultz, this book makes democratic citizenship and civic engagement central to teaching introductory American politics.

Forthcoming book · Under contract

A Civic Toolkit

Informational, Deliberative, and Emotional Skills for Public and Private Life

University of Toronto Press. A practical approach to developing the skills needed to navigate information, communicate with confidence, and respond thoughtfully to political and everyday challenges.

Articles & ongoing research

Published scholarship

Peer-reviewed articles and book chapters on representation, political role models, political behavior, and gender in politics. The bibliography below is drawn from my academic CV.

Research in progress

Current collaborative projects examine gender and legislative bill sponsorship, abortion policy before and after Dobbs, and the politics of legislative credit and visibility.

Download full academic CV ↗

Academic record

Selected bibliography from my CV

Published and publicly announced forthcoming work, drawn from my CV.

Journal articles

  1. “Clarifying the Concept of Role Models in Political Science: A Research Note.” PS: Political Science & Politics. Accepted; forthcoming.
  2. “The Path to Women’s Candidate Emergence is Paved with Metaphorical Resistance: Limits of a Journey Metaphor in Provoking Identity-Based Motivation.” With Monica C. Schneider, Mark J. Landau, and Taylor A. Gordon. Metaphor and Symbol 41(1): 101–118. doi:10.1080/10926488.2025.2549274. 2026.
  3. “Engaging See Jane Run: Toward a Richer Theory of Political Role Models.” Political Science Quarterly. doi:10.1093/psquar/qqaf126. Published online December 3, 2025.
  4. “Legislating in the First Female-Majority State Legislature: Gendered Power, Leadership, and Patterns of Sponsorship and Cosponsorship” with Rebecca Gill and Christopher Zorn. Political Research Quarterly 78(3): 1045–1059. 2025.
  5. “Intersectional Motherhood and Candidate Evaluations in the United States” with Nichole Bauer. Politics & Gender. 2024.
  6. “Introduction to the Special Issue on Gender and Political Psychology.” Journal of Women, Politics & Policy 44(1). 2023.
  7. “Role Model Do No HARM: Modeling Achievable Success Inspires Social Belonging and Women’s Candidate Emergence” with Monica Schneider and Taylor Gordon. Journal of Women, Politics & Policy 44(1): 105–120. 2023.
  8. “Prone to Agreement: Does Context Matter for Men and Women in Political Discussions?” With Mary Herring, Elizabeth Prough, and Fred Vultee. Journal of Women, Politics & Policy 44(2): 206–227. 2023.
  9. “Legislative vs. Executive Political Offices: How Gender Stereotypes Can Disadvantage Women in Either Office” Political Behavior 44: 411–434. 2022.
  10. "Evaluating Student Evaluations of Teaching: a Review of Measurement and Equity Bias in SETs and Recommendations for Ethical Reform." With Rebecca Kreitzer. Journal of Academic Ethics 20: 73–84. 2022.
  11. “A Format-Flexible Pedagogy of Civil Discourse.” PS: Political Science & Politics 54(1): 180–181. 2021.
  12. “Introduction to Commonwealth Special Issue on Women’s Underrepresentation in Pennsylvania.” Commonwealth: A Journal of Pennsylvania Politics and Policy 21(2). 2020.
  13. “Who Dominates the Conversation? The Effect of Gender, Discussion Medium, and Controversy on Political Discussion” with Mary Herring, Elizabeth Prough, and Fred Vultee. Feminist Media Studies 22(3): 552–570. 2022.
  14. “Social Media Learning as a Pedagogical Tool: Twitter and Engagement in Civic Dialogue and Public Policy.” PS: Political Science & Politics 52(4): 763–770. 2019.
  15. "Where does the pipeline get leaky? The progressive ambition of school board members and personal and political network recruitment." Politics, Groups, and Identities 8(4): 762–785. 2020.
  16. "See it; be it? The use of role models in campaign trainings for women." Politics, Groups, and Identities 7(4). 2019.
  17. “Family Friendly Academic Conferences: A Missing Link to Fix the “Leaky Pipeline”?” with Angie Bos and Monica Schneider. Politics, Groups, and Identities 7(3): 748–758. 2019.
  18. “Is This the Care We Need: An Examination of Childcare Policy in Pennsylvania.” With Ashley Harden. Commonwealth 19(2). August 2017.
  19. “Gender, Risk Assessment, and Political Ambition.” Politics and the Life Sciences 35(2): 1–17. Fall 2016.
  20. “Understanding political participation in West Africa: the relationship between good governance and local citizen engagement” with Kelly Krawczyk. International Review of Administrative Sciences 83(1_suppl): 136–155. 2017.
  21. “FMLA in PA: Analysis of Family and Medical Leave Policy in The State” Commonwealth. November 2015.
  22. “The Road to Good Governance: Via the Path Less Accountable? The Effectiveness of Fiscal Accountability in Liberia.” With Kelly Krawczyk. International Journal of Public Administration. September 2013.

Book chapters and reference entries

  1. “The Use of Student Evaluations of Teaching in Higher Education and Political Science.” In Elgar Encyclopedia of Teaching and Pedagogy in Political Science, edited by Daniel J. Mallinson, Julia Marin Hellwege, and Joseph W. Roberts. Edward Elgar Publishing. Forthcoming.
  2. “Less Can be More: Encouraging Mastery of Research Design in Undergraduate Research Methods” in Pedagogy Through the Research Process. Daniel Mallinson, Julia Hellwege, and Eric Loepp, editors. London: Palgrave MacMillan. 2021.
  3. “Gendered Legislative Effectiveness in State Legislatures: The Case of Pennsylvania” in Politicking While Female: The Political Lives of Women, Nichole Bauer, ed. Louisiana State University Press. 2020.
  4. “Campaign Trainings for Women: Collecting Puzzle Pieces for a Run for Office” with Monica Schneider. Mirya R Holman, Rachel Bernhard, Shauna Shames, and Dawn Teele (eds). Good Reasons to Run: Women and Political Candidacy. Temple University Press, 2020.
  5. “Is This the Care We Need?: An Examination of Childcare Policy in Pennsylvania." With Ashley Harden. Leckrone, J. Wesley, ed. Pennsylvania Politics and Policy: A Commonwealth Reader. Temple University Press, 2019.
  6. “FMLA in Pennsylvania: Analysis of Family and Medical Leave Policy in the State.” In Pennsylvania Politics and Policy: A Commonwealth Reader, Volume 1, edited by J. Wesley Leckrone and Michelle J. Atherton. Philadelphia: Temple University Press. 2018.
  7. “Is Participation Decline Inevitable as Generations Age? Insights from African-American Elders” with Mary Herring, Lisa J. Ficker, Cathy Lysack, Marc W. Kruman, and Peter A. Lichtenberg. In Richard Marback (Ed): Generations: Rethinking Age and Citizenship. Wayne State University Press. 2015.
  8. Women's Rights in the United States: A Comprehensive Encyclopedia of Issues, Events, and People. Tiffany Wayne, Ed. ABC- CLIO: Santa Barbara, CA. Contributing Author. 2014.
  9. Women in the American Political System: An Encyclopedia of Women as Voters, Candidates, and Office Holders. Dianne Bystrom, Barbara Burrell, Eds. ABC-CLIO: Santa Barbara, CA. Contributing Author. 2018.

Research reports

  1. “Pennsylvania Sexual Violence Prevention Policies and Awareness on College Campuses: What’s Working?”. The Pennsylvania Center for Women and Politics. April 2019.
  2. “FMLA In PA: A Report on Family Medical Leave in The State”. The Pennsylvania Center for Women and Politics. September, 2014.
  3. “Is This the Care We Need: An Examination of Childcare Policy in Pennsylvania”. The Pennsylvania Center for Women and Politics. March, 2016.
  4. “Women in the Pennsylvania General Assembly: The Impact of Women Legislators”. The Pennsylvania Center for Women and Politics. May 2017.