Votes without leverage

"Votes without Leverage reexamines a long-standing puzzle in women's electoral politics, namely why the increasing importance of women's votes throughout the 1920s did not result in increasing success for the lobbying efforts of women's organizations during the same period. Applying recent theoretical developments in the political economy of institutions and electoral behavior, Professor Harvey argues that female disenfranchisement prior to 1920 created incentives for leaders of women's organizations to invest in the pursuit of suffrage as a first step to achieving other policy benefits for women."--Jacket.