This is the thirty-third year that I have been monitoring participation by women at our Annual Meeting. These PS reports have documented the ascent of women in our profession.

Last year we had a record number and percentage of female papergivers. There was a decline this year, though we had an increase in female discussants and about the same showing as last year for chairpersons.

As I've noted previously, where women head divisions or panels, there is a greater likelihood of other women being selected for program contributions. Again this year one of the two chairs of the Program Committee was female. In 2003 25 Of the 52 division persons were women (48.1&)(Cf. 1995: 38.B%r; 1996: 30.06%; 1997: 37.3kr; As I've noted previously, where women head divisions or panels, there is a greater likelihood of other women being selected for program contributions.

Again this year one of the two chairs of the Program Committee was female. In 2004, 26 of the 57 division persons were women (45.6%) (Cf., 1995: 38.8%; 1996: 30.06%; 1997: 37.3%; 1998: 36.2%; 1999: 42.9%; 2000: 36%; 2001: 35.4%; 2002: 39.2%; 2003: 48.1%). The divisions they headed had women as 29.7% (94 of 317) of the chairpersons, 32.4% (530 of 1635) of the papergivers, and 28.4% (107 of 377) of the discussants (Cf., 1995: 30.1%, 34.2%, 31.0%; 1996: 26.1%, 35.1%, 29.8%; 1997: 35.4%, 32.1%, 31.4%; 1998: 31.8%, 38.8%, 36.7%; 1999: 29.1%, 29.6%, 28.4%; 2000: 32.3%, 36.1%, 28.3%; 2001: 34.5%, 30.9%, 29.5%; 2002: 30.5%, 30.5%, 30.7%; 2003: 31.6%, 34.%, 31.6%).

The convention divisions led by women had 59.1% of the convention's female panel chairs, 57.7% of the papergivers, and 57.8% of its discussants (Cf., 1995: 44.0%, 48.0%, 42.0%; 1996: 40.4%, 48.1%, 50.7%; 1997: 60.1%, 54.0%, 53.4%; 1998: 59.1%, 51.0%, 49.7%; 1999: 54.7%, 51.5%, 53.8%; 2000: 49.3%, 48.8%, 52.8%; 2001: 49.1%, 42.9%, 43.7%; 2002: 52.0%, 47.9%, 47.5%; 2003: 61.0%, 46.9%, 54.8%). Women-chaired panels had 42.9% female papergivers and 44.1% female discussants (Cf., 1995: 41.0, 42.5%; 1996: 38.7%. 33.9%; 1997: 37.7%, 43.0%; 1998: 41.1%, 49.4%; 1999: 38.7%, 45.3%; 2000: 41.9%, 42.2%; 2001: 43.7%, 48.3%; 2002: 38.4%, 50.2%; 2003: 28.9%, 51.1%). These constituted 35.0% of the women giving papers at the 2004 convention and 44.3% of the women serving as discussants (Cf., 1995: 40.8%, 43.3%; 1996: 30.9%, 30.3%; 1997: 38.0%, 40.4%; 1998: 33.8%, 43.7%; 1999: 35.6%, 4S.6%; 2000: 37.3%, 44.0%; 2001: 36.0%, 49.7%; 2002: 38.9%, 48.9%; 2003: 27.8%, 48.4%).

In recent years we've added poster session presentations to the program. At the 2004 meeting, women were 33.2% of those making presentations (136 out of 410) (Cf., 31.4% for traditional paper presentations). (Cf., 2000, 2001, 2002, and 2003 poster sessions: women were 29.7%, 30.1%, 31.7%, and 27.8% of the presenters).

The divisions with the strongest female representation were those on Foundations of Political Theory,* Normative Political Theory, Comparative Politics of Developing Countries,* The Politics of Communist and Former Communist Countries,* International Collaboration, Law & Courts,* Urban Politics,* Women and Politics,* Public Opinion & Political Participation,* Politics and Literature,* New Political Science,* Ecological & Transformational Politics, Comparative Democratization, and Human Rights (*=headed by women).

The divisions with the weakest female representation in 2004 were those on Political Thought & Philosophy, Formal Political Theory, Political Economy, Political Methodology, Comparative Politics of Advanced Industrial Societies, International Security, International Security & Arms Control, Foreign Policy, Conflict Processes, Legislative Studies, Presidential Research, Public Administration, Representation & Electoral Systems, Elections & Voting Behavior, and Qualitative Methods.

Among the predominantly female panels (omitting the panels in the Women and Politics section) were those on North-South NGOs, Globalization & Gender in North America, How Does She Do It?: Feminism & Gender in Contemporary Culture, Women's Movement in Comparative Perspective, Social Policy & Inequality in an Era of Globalization, Gender Equality Institutions & Policies, Why Are Emotions of Affected States Considered “Negative” and/or Pernicious for Political Agency &Deliberation?, Simone de Beauvoir: Feminist Theory/Political Theory, Rethinking Representation, Political Parties & Political Broadcasting Around the World, NGOs & International Collaboration, Does Diplomacy Matter?: Rhetoric & Strategy in History, and Gender, Culture, & Human Rights in Democratizing Countries.

Panels lopsidedly “stag” included Advanced Welfare States Policy, Trends in World Poverty & Inequality, Brownson & Tocqueville in America, The Promise of Classical Liberalism, The Future of Liberalism, Louis Hartz, Political Theory & the Problem of the Color-Line, The New Hobbes, Bargaining in International Politics, Ruling Legislators, Public Opinion & Foreign Policy, The Right Turn: Modern Conservatism in American Politics, Advances in Inference & Estimation, Measuring Political Information, Teaching & Globalization, Federalism, Redistribution & the Emergence of transfer systems in the 1930s, Civil Wars and Violence, Constitutional Design & Policy Making in Latin America, Big Business & the State after Socialism, Governance in Germany, The Public Politics of Globalization, Aspects of World Order, Hierarchy in a Unipolar World, U.S. Preeminence & the Future of Balancing, Moral Hazards & Military Intervention, Assessing U.S. Military Strategy, Understanding the India-Pakistan Enduring Rivalry, TransAtlantic Challenges, Bad Neighborhoods, Civil Wars in Regional Perspective, Formal & Quantitative Approaches to Third-Party Intervention in Violent Conflicts, Measure for Measure Quantifying Ideology, Education Politics & Policy, The Evolving Role of Educational Institutions, The Impact of Media & Specialized Interests on Judicial Decisions, Immigrant Settlement, Fraud & Competition in Electoral Autocracies, Author Meets Critics: A Roundtable on David Mayhew's “Electoral Realignments,” Forecasting the 2004 Presidential Vote, Turnout, Media, & War, Presidents & the Press, Perspectives on Biotechnology, Practices of Deliberation & Democratic Politics, Sovereignty & Hierarchy in History, Mass Politics & Public Opinion in Modern Democracies, Causal Explanations & Case Studies: Analyzing Necessary & Sufficient Causes, The Evolution of Global Income Inequality, Problems in Capability Equality, The End of Enlightenment?, The (In) Compatibility of Democracy & Republicanism, Rethinking Pluralism, Foucalt, Deleuz, & Political Philosophy in a Globalized World, Why People Vote & What They Know, Parties, Legislatures, & Elections, Why Politics Varies Across Countries, Varieties of Capitalism, The Politics of Health & Education Policy in Comparative & Historical Perspective, Dominant Party Regimes in Comparative Perspective, Power, Policy, & Change in Japanese Political Institutions, Trans-National Networks & Economic Policymaking, Threat Perception, Threat Inflation, & Lying, Strategic Bargaining & Endogenous War Termination, Congressional Institutions & Elections in Historical Perspective, Cutting Corners: The Politics of Redistricting, Divided Government, Presidential Elections, Corruption, & Campaign Finance, Issues & Ideology in Voting & Campaigns, Theories, Concepts & Typologies, and QCA/fs: The State of the Art & Future Prospects.