Make Policy—Not Coffee

Abstract

Many college programs feature courses on women in government which rely on visiting politicians as guest lecturers on a one-shot basis. The unique feature of the Douglass program was that the two politicians-in-residence who shared teaching assignments were available to students informally at all times; they lived in a campus dormitory and took their meals at a student cafeteria. Students rarely come into contact with women in elective office because women have always been underrepresented in public life, says Ruth Mandel, director of the Center for the American Woman and Politics, which sponsored the course. Ms. Louise Conner predicts an increase in the number of women seeking political power. She feels a responsibility to teach them the political skills they will need to get away from stamp licking and envelope stuffing and into policy making. The Visiting Program in Practical Politics was aimed at raising the political consciousness of women.