The U.S. Women's Jury Movements and Strategic Adaptation
A More Just Verdict

When women won the vote in the United States in 1920 they were still routinely barred from serving as jurors, but some began vigorous campaigns for a place in the jury box. This book tells the story of how women mobilized in fifteen states to change jury laws so that women could gain this additional right of citizenship. Some campaigns quickly succeeded; others took substantially longer. The book reveals that when women strategically adapted their tactics to the broader political environment, they were able to speed up the pace of jury reform, while less strategic movements took longer. A comparison of the more strategic women's jury movements with those that were less strategic shows that the former built coalitions with other women's groups, took advantage of political opportunities, had past experience in seeking legal reforms and confronted tensions and even conflict within their ranks in ways that bolstered their action.

Reviews & endorsements

'McCammon offers the reader a wealth of insights and information drawn from an impressive array of archival sources that, together, improve our understanding of how social movements produce social change … The book is concise and well written and makes an engaging and important contribution to political sociology, social movements' scholarship, and the women's rights movement literature.' Jason T. Carmichael, American Journal of Sociology

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Product details

• Date Published: May 2014
• format: Paperback
• isbn: 9781107663268
• length: 318 pages

• dimensions: 234 x 156 x 18 mm
• weight: 0.49kg
• contains: 10 b/w illus.
• availability: Available