Women gain in Election 2012, but glass ceiling remains
The 2012 election appointed more women to Congressional office than ever before, bringing female representation up by 1.1 percent to a total of 17.9 percent. While these gains should not be discounted, Margaret Williams, co-author of an upcoming book on women’s representation in democracies across the world, tells us that at this rate, it’ll take 32 more elections (in other words, 64 more years) for Congress to reach parity. Woah.
The acceleration of news cycles is, by no means, a phenomenon unique to 2012—sound bites that lasted, on average, an upwards of 50 seconds in the late 1960s had already shriveled to a mere ten by 1992. Yet in this campaign season, Twitter assumed a key role by further increasing velocity and abridging exposition.
Before tomorrow’s results roll in, Michael Serazio, author of the forthcoming Your Ad Here (cover above!), looks at how social media shaped the marketing strategies behind the 2012 election.
