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AbstractThis chapter explores how communication studies focuses on human communication among people in groups, teams, and organizations. While persuasive communication has long been at the heart of leadership development, the discipline's contributions to effective leadership also range from advancing our understanding of organizational communicative systems to the development of skills for deliberative democracy and civic engagement.

The purpose of this study was to revisit the trait and belief approaches tested by Huddy and Terkildsen (1993a, 1993b) to determine to what extent these are still used by voters in evaluating female and male candidates, particularly after exposure to campaign communication run on behalf of the candidates. Through an experimental design, participants were exposed to candidate's advertising in two mixed-gender congressional races from the 2008 election cycle. The results indicate that traditional trait stereotypes continue to be generated in the evaluation of female candidates, although the generation of belief (policy) stereotypes are more complicated. Whereas party affiliation influences perceptions of issue competency, vote choice also produces effects on both trait evaluations and perceptions of issue competency. These results ultimately suggest that voters' application of belief and trait stereotypes encourages still further study by scholars and consideration by female candidates running for office.

Research suggests the presence of gender differences in knowledge about political candidates and campaign issues during elections, coining such differences as the "knowledge gap." This study explores that perspective by examining young voters' perceptions of their political knowledge and interest during the 2004 election. Findings indicate that although perceptions of knowledge differ by gender, interest levels between young women and men do not significantly differ and overall are high. Once perceptions of political cynicism and candidate evaluations are examined by perceived knowledge and interest, no differences emerge, although uninterested young women are likely to vote differently than uninterested young men.

The political arena, where historically women in the United States have been under-represented, provides an important laboratory for examining leadership and gender via the candidacy of now Secretary of State Hilary Rodham Clinton, who in 2008 was the first woman to run competitively for the Democratic presidential nomination.

Recent studies of the content of television ads of female versus male political candidates have shown that women and men are increasingly similar in their communication styles and strategies, with some notable exceptions. However, few studies examining gender and political ad content have focused exclusively on US Senate races, considered the influence of the candidates' political party, or compared the messages of women running against female versus male opponents. This study examines 236 political ads—160 from mixed-gender and 76 from female–female—U.S. Senate races in 2020 for their verbal and visual content. Results show gendered and partisan differences in the issues emphasized and the tone used. Candidates were similar in the images emphasized. Female candidates were more balanced between formal and casual attire compared to previous election cycles. And candidates in mixed-gender races used different strategies than those in female–female contests as to the issues and political actors mentioned.

Online self-presentation strategies are critical for female candidates to develop and deliver effectively. This is because the media appear to cover male and female candidates differently in news coverage, and research-based evidence continues to suggest that voters hold male and female candidates to different standards in mixed-gender races. This study examines how women running in mixed-gender races during the 2012 general election cycle employed self-presentation strategies to present a viable image for election. Candidate websites from U.S. House races featuring a female and male candidate are analyzed for their overall use of feminine versus masculine styles, as well as style-based issue discussion and image presentation. The results are compared to past research to further highlight relevant changes over time as women continue to construct their candidacies and define their space—and voice—within the political environment.

Considering the 2004 campaign's attention to the gender gap in voting between women and men and efforts to turn out the youth vote, this study examines the reactions of 301 female and male young voters to televised political advertisements aired on behalf of the two major party presidential candidates. Specifically, the authors compare how women and men rate each candidate's overall favorability and individual character traits as well as indicate their vote intention for George W. Bush or John Kerry. The authors find that the gender gap in vote intention is similar to, but larger than, the actual gender gap in voting in 2004, both overall and for young voters. However, assessments of candidate favorability follow the gender gap only for the Democratic candidate.

Prior research on the media's portrayal of female candidates in comparison to male candidates has indicated that differences do exist, although most studies have focused on general election races of senate candidates. This study analyzed the media's portrayal of candidates in mixed-gender gubernatorial and U.S. Senate races through a comparison of primary coverage to general election coverage in 2000. The study relied on content analyses of more than 1,200 articles from major newspapers to understand how female and male candidates might be framed differently when running for their party's nomination as opposed to during the general election. The findings suggest that although the coverage from the primaries to the general election was relatively consistent across most categories of analysis, female candidates continue to face some stereotypical biases in the news coverage of their campaigns.