From the margins to the center

by Patricia Ann Sullivan

From the Margins to the Center fills an important gap in the political communications literature, examining the patterns of women as political communicators in the United States to determine if they have learned the "political game" as defined by men - or if they have carved out the "different kind of politics" envisioned by Congresswoman Patricia Schroeder when she considered seeking the 1988 Democratic presidential nomination. Examining the cases of Lani Guinier, Hillary Rodham Clinton, and Janet Reno, the authors explore the rhetorical choices contemporary women are making in political discourse. They frame this exploration theoretically by describing three moral boundaries that discourage women from entering political life: the boundary between morality and politics, the moral point of view boundary, and the boundary between public and private life. Guinier, Clinton, and Reno have each adopted different strategies in confronting these boundaries and in challenging gender stereotype