The New Political History and Women's History: Comments on "The Democratic Experiment"

Abstract

THE NEW DIRECTIONS in American political history have been ably described by the editors of The Democratic Experiment.* These are now freshly out of the gate, but it is clear that they will continue to unfold in the years ahead. I read the book with distinct pleasure--so much so in fact that I wondered-more than once-whether it wasn't just a bit sinful. Why is this book so much fun, I kept wondering, when women rarely appear in its pages? Gradually I came to understand why. Its pages provide a fine context for evaluating the relationship between United States women's history and United States political history. The articles in the book brought to mind four paradigms of that relationship. I want to comment on these paradigms with the goal of understanding how scholars in the fields of women's history and political history are cooperating now and how they might cooperate even better in the future. Paradigm One includes essays that don't mention women or gender, but offer interpretations that could be the basis for new cooperation between women's history and political history. We might call this the hope for the future paradigm. The Democratic Experiment had some important essays in this category.