WOMEN-AND-POLITICS - AN ASSESSMENT OF ITS ROLE WITHIN THE DISCIPLINE OF POLITICAL-SCIENCE

This article examines the unique role of Women & Politics within the d iscipline of political science. A comparison of all of the articles ap pearing in the ''top 15'' political science journals with those publis hed in Women & Politics during the first 12 years of its publication m ade the magnitude of the difference in focus clear. Nearly one-half of all the female-focused articles published between 1980 and 1991 were published in Women & Politics. The discipline of political science has , for the most part, ignored the contributions of feminist epistemolog y and theory. As a relative newcomer, Women & Politics is making a sig nificant contribution by addressing the role of women in the political system.