Abstract: N recent national elections there have been more women than men of voting age in the United States. Their numerical superiority as voters will not enable women to be politically effective, however, unless they also have positions and influence in the major political parties. It is the party organizations which nominate and elect candidates and formulate public policies in national, state, and local government. The voter may make the final decisions, but his choice is usually limited to candidates and issues already decided upon by the political parties. If women are to play more than a passive role, therefore, they must be part of the machinery which determines the candidates and the issues, namely, the two major political party organizations.