Carole Kennedy

Carole Kennedy is an Assistant Professor of Political Science in the Political Science Department of SDSU. She joined the department in 1998, the same year she received a Ph.D. in Political Science from the University of California, Riverside. Prior to joining the faculty at SDSU, she had a tenure-track appointment at the University of Wyoming. Dr. Kennedy received her A.B. in political science from the University of Michigan in 1981.

Dr. Kennedy's teaching interests are broad. She teaches the introductory level course in American politics (POL S 102), several upper division political science courses (The American Presidency, Political Communication, Women and Electoral Politics) and the Graduate Seminar in Scope and Methods of Political Science (POL S 601).

Dr. Kennedy's research agenda focuses mainly upon the intersection of gender and American politics. Her dissertation, supported by a Woodrow Wilson Dissertation Fellowship and the Carrie Chapman Catt Prize for Research on Women and Politics, explored the impact of candidate gender upon the conduct of U.S. Senate campaigns and the subsequent effect these campaigns had on voters. She found that the presence of woman candidates in races for the United States Senate had a significant impact on the kinds of issues discussed (more "women's issues" like education, healthcare and Social Security) and the prevalence of negative advertising (less). Perhaps, most importantly, she documented the persistence of gender stereotyping by voters that led them to perceive women candidates as more liberal than they actually were.


Recent publications by Dr. Kennedy include:
2004. "Gender Differences in Committee Decision-Making Process and Outputs in an Experimental Setting" in Women & Politics, 25 (3), forthcoming.

2002. "Public Opinion and Madam President" in Watson, Robert P. and Ann Gordon, eds. Anticipating Madam President: The First Female Presidency. Boulder: Lynne Reiner Publishers.

2001. "Is America Ready for a Woman President: Is the Pope Protestant? Does a Bear Live in the City?" in White House Studies, 1(3).

2001. Book review of Social Cleavages and Political Change: Voter Alignments and U.S. Party Coalitions, by Jeff Manza and Clem Brooks, in the American Political Science Review, 478, Vol. 95 (2), June.

1999. Book review of Women and Elective Office: Past, Present and Future, eds. Sue Thomas and Clyde Wilcox, in the American Political Science Review, 215, Vol. 93, March.

1999. Invited contributor to Schultz, Jeffrey and Laura van Assendelft, eds. Encyclopedia of Women in American Politics. Series Title: American Political Landscape. Phoenix, AZ: Oryx Press.

1999. Bystrom, Dianne, Lori Melton McKinnon and Carole Chaney.

First Ladies and the Fourth Estate: Media Coverage of Hillary Clinton and Elizabeth Dole in the 1996 Presidential Campaign." In Bystrom, Dianne and Lynda Lee Kaid, eds. The Electronic Election: Perspectives on the 1996 Campaign Communication. Lawrence Erlbaum Associates, Inc.