Women’s Shakespeare Clubs: Fandom in Late Nineteenth and Early Twentieth Century America

In 1929, a member of the Hathaway Shakespeare Club of Philadelphia explained that what drew her and her fellow club members together to discuss and analyze the works of the Bard each week was “the strong bond of fellowship due to our common literary interest and singleness of purpose.” In her 2000 book, Enterprising Women: Television Fandom and the Creation of Popular Myth, Camille Bacon- Smith detailed the purpose of ‘fandom’ communities, noting “the clubs in fandom are run by the fans, for the love of the source products— the books, comics, television and movie series around which fans rally— and for the community.” These two women are connected by more than just their “common literary interest” and their “love of the source products.” The structures upon which modern fan communities stand and the products they put forth are also found in the women’s Shakespeare clubs of the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, and the comradery of spirit and foundations of female community women found in Shakespeare clubs continued into the female fan communities of television shows like The X-Files and Star Trek.  This essay examines the correlations between these two groups of women, using case studies pulled from newsletters such as the Shakespeare Association Bulletin and Shakespeariana, as well as internet fan sites and blogs. It shows how women have utilized and continue to utilize specific touchstones in popular culture as a means of forming community, especially in areas where they have been intellectually barred

Women\u27s Shakespeare Clubs: Fandom in Late Nineteenth and Early Twentieth Century America

In 1929, as recorded and distributed in the Shakespeare Association Bulletin, a member of the Hathaway Shakespeare Club of Philadelphia explained that what drew her and her fellow club members together to discuss and analyze the works of the Bard each week was "the strong bond of fellowship due to our common literary interest and singleness of purpose" (4.4:119). Meanwhile, in her 2000 book, Enterprising Women: Television Fandom and the Creation of Popular Myth, Camille Bacon-Smith detailed the purpose of \u27fandom\u27 communities, stating "the clubs in fandom are run by the fans, for the love of the source products— the books, comics, television and movie series around which fans rally— and for the community" (8). These two women are connected by more than just their "common literary interest"and their "love of the source products." The structures upon which modern fan communities stand and the products they put forth are also found in the women\u27s Shakespeare clubs of the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries and, vice versa, the comradery of spirit and foundations of female community that women found in Shakespeare clubs continued into the female fan communities of television shows like TheX-Files and Star Trek

Multiparty Politics in America (Second Edition

In the wake of Election 2000 and the Ralph Nader factor, this collection of original essays by leading political scientists examines the possibilities for and performance of minor parties in the American political system. Looking at the rise and fall of the Reform Party and the seeming upsurge in Green Party prospects, the authors present evidence and opinion about the viability of a multiparty system in the United States. New York party politics and congressional and state legislative elections add depth to our understanding of multiparty politics in action. A unique public opinion survey shows surprising variation in citizen\u27s attitudes toward minor parties and multiparty politics nationwide. Will minor parties flourish or flounder in the 2004 election season? This volume offers a variety of views that every voter should consider.https://ideaexchange.uakron.edu/multiparty_politics2/1000/thumbnail.jp

Scantegrity Responds to Rice Study on Usability of the Scantegrity II Voting System

This note is a response to, and critique of, recent work by Acemyan, Kortum, Bryne, and Wallach regarding the usability of end-to-end verifiable voting systems, and in particular, to their analysis of the usability of the Scantegrity II voting system. Their work is given in a JETS paper [Ace14] and was presented at EVT/WOTE 2014; it was also described in an associated press release [Rut14]. We find that their study lacked an appropriate control voting system with which to compare effectiveness, and thus their conclusions regarding Scantegrity II are unsupported by the evidence they present. Furthermore, their conclusions are contradicted by the successful deployment experiences of Scantegrity II at Takoma Park

Multiparty Politics in America (First Edition)

In the wake of Ross Perot, Ralph Nader, and other third party and independent candidates that ran in the 1996 election, this collection of original essays by leading political scientists and third party officials is must reading for individuals interested in American politics. Multiparty Politics in America examines the roles that third parties have played in U.S. elections past and present and their prospects for the future. It presents unique and detailed coverage of the Reform, Green, and Libertarian parties\u27 goals and campaign strategies; discusses the kinds of reforms that would help them become more viable; and advances the debate over whether the U.S. should have a two-party or multiparty system.https://ideaexchange.uakron.edu/multiparty_politics1/1000/thumbnail.jp

Is There a Gender Gap in Campaign Spending Strategies?

Women politicians have traditionally faced greater challenges when running for office than their male counterparts. These include less encouragement from political gatekeepers, fundraising obstacles, and voter skepticism about their abilities—particularly among men. Nevertheless, women have made substantial advances in the electoral arena, including increasing their numbers in Congress. Some of these gains can be attributed to changing voter attitudes, the mobilization of female campaign contributors, and recent female politicians learning from the successes of their predecessors. Studies have documented the similarities and differences in how men and women candidates for the U.S. House of Representatives raise money, staff campaign organizations, and communicate with and mobilize voters. Nevertheless, there has been little research on one of the most important decisions these candidates make: how to spend campaign funds, and whether these decisions result in women and men spending their funds differently. In our previous research, which provided a detailed examination of campaign expenditures by U.S. House candidates from 2012-2020, we found that budgeting decisions varied only slightly between men and women candidates, and did not do so in a statistically significant way. In this follow-up study, we update our dataset to include expenditures from candidates for the 2022 and 2024 House elections, as well as candidate characteristics and other contextual factors, to determine whether these budgeting decisions are consistent in elections that again resulted in large numbers of women representing districts in the U.S. House. We draw additional insights into the effects of gender, incumbency, partisanship, and district attributes from case studies of three hotly contested races featuring both men and women candidates. We find there is little evidence of a gender gap in campaign budgeting, and that most differences can be attributed to incumbency, population density, and the cost and efficiencies of local media markets

AN EVALUATION OF MARYLAND'S NEW VOTING MACHINE

Four counties in Maryland used new touch screen voting machines in the 2002 elections, replacing their mechanical lever and punch card voting systems with the AccuVote-TS touch screen voting machine manufactured by Diebold Election Systems. The Center for American Politics and Citizenship (CAPC) and the Human-Computer Interaction Lab (HCIL) at the University of Maryland conducted an exit poll in Montgomery and Prince George's counties to evaluate the performance of the new voting machines. In this second of two reports prepared by CAPC and HCIL on the new voting machines, we found that most voters like the new voting machines and trust them to accurately record their votes. However, a significant number of voters still have concerns about the new machines, many needed help using them, and some continue to report technical problems with the machines. Voters who do not frequently use computers or have not attended college had the most difficulty using the machines. Major Findings: * Seven percent of voters felt that the touch screen voting machine was not easy to use, compared to 93 percent who felt it was easy to use or held a neutral opinion. * Nine percent of voters did not trust the touch screen voting machine, compared to with 91 percent who did. Only 70 percent trusted the mechanical lever or punch card system they previously used. * Three percent of voters reported encountering technical problems with the new machines. * Nine percent of the voters asked for and 17 percent received assistance using the new machine. * More than one-quarter of the voters who use computers once a month or less received assistance using the voting machine. * One-third of voters who have not attended college received assistance using the voting machine. * Voters in Prince George's County found the election judges to be more helpful than did voters in Montgomery County. Four counties in Maryland used new touch screen voting machines in the 2002 elections. Alleghany, Dorchester, Montgomery, and Prince George's replaced their mechanical lever and punch card voting systems with the AccuVote-TS touch screen voting machine manufactured by Diebold Election Systems. All 24 of Maryland's counties will purchase AccuVote-TS voting machines by 2006. The University of Maryland conducted an exit poll in Montgomery and Prince George's Counties to assess the performance of the new voting machine. Our sample included 1,276 respondents from 22 precincts in the two counties. The response rate was 74.6 percent. (UMIACS-TR-2002-107) (HCIL-TR-2002-25

Electronic Voting System Usability Issues

With the recent troubles in U.S. elections, there has been a nationwide push to update voting systems. Municipalities are investing heavily in electronic voting systems, many of which use a touch screen. These systems offer the promise of faster and more accurate voting, but the current reality is that they are fraught with usability and systemic problems. This paper surveys issues relating to usability of electronic voting systems and reports on a series of studies, including one with 415 voters using new systems that the State of Maryland purchased. Our analysis shows these systems work well, but have several problems, and a significant minority of voters have concerns about them. Keywords Electronic voting systems, Direct Recording Electronic (DRE), voting usability. (UMIACS-TR-2002-94) (HCIL-TR-2002-23

Scantegrity II Municipal Election at Takoma Park: The First E2E Binding Governmental Election with Ballot Privacy

On November 3, 2009, voters in Takoma Park, Maryland, cast ballots for the mayor and city council members using the Scantegrity II voting system—the first time any end-to-end (E2E) voting system with ballot privacy has been used in a binding governmental election. This case study describes the various efforts that went into the election—including the improved design and implementation of the voting system, streamlined procedures, agreements with the city, and assessments of the experiences of voters and poll workers. The election, with 1728 voters from six wards, involved paper ballots with invisible-ink confirmation codes, instant-runoff voting with write-ins, early and absentee (mail-in) voting, dual-language ballots, provisional ballots, privacy sleeves, any-which-way scanning with parallel conventional desktop scanners, end-to-end verifiability based on optional web-based voter verification of votes cast, a full hand recount, thresholded authorities, three independent outside auditors, fully-disclosed software, and exit surveys for voters and pollworkers. Despite some glitches, the use of Scantegrity II was a success, demonstrating that E2E cryptographic voting systems can be effectively used and accepted by the general public.United States. Dept. of Defense (IASP grant H98230-08-1-0334)United States. Dept. of Defense (IASP grant H98230-09-1-0404)National Science Foundation (U.S.) (Grant no. CNS 0831149