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The new school of political history that emerged in the 1960's and 1970's sought to go beyond the traditional focusof political historians on leaders and government institutions by examining directly the political practices of ordinarycitizens. Like the old approach, however, this new approach excluded women. The very techniques these historiansused to uncover mass political behavior in the nineteenth-century United State – quantitative analyses of electionreturns, for example – were useless in analyzing the political activities of women, who were denied the vote until1920.
By redefining "political activity," historian Paula Baker has developed a political history that includes women. Sheconcludes that among ordinary citizens, political activism by women in the nineteenth century prefigured trends intwentieth-century politics. Defining "politics" as "any action taken to affect the course of behavior of government orof the community," Baker concludes that, while voting and holding office were restricted to men, women in thenineteenth century organized themselves into societies committed to social issues such as temperance and poverty. Inother words, Baker contends, women activists were early practitioners of nonpartisan, issue-oriented politics andthus were more interested in enlisting lawmakers, regardless of their party affiliation, on behalf of certain issues thanin ensuring that one party or another won an election. In the twentieth century, more men drew closer to women'sideas about politics and took up modes of issue-oriented politics that Baker sees women as having pioneered.
By redefining "political activity," historian Paula Baker has developed a political history that includes women. Sheconcludes that among ordinary citizens, political activism by women in the nineteenth century prefigured trends intwentieth-century politics. Defining "politics" as "any action taken to affect the course of behavior of government orof the community," Baker concludes that, while voting and holding office were restricted to men, women in thenineteenth century organized themselves into societies committed to social issues such as temperance and poverty. Inother words, Baker contends, women activists were early practitioners of nonpartisan, issue-oriented politics andthus were more interested in enlisting lawmakers, regardless of their party affiliation, on behalf of certain issues thanin ensuring that one party or another won an election. In the twentieth century, more men drew closer to women'sideas about politics and took up modes of issue-oriented politics that Baker sees women as having pioneered.