Policy Research: What is the Problem that Necessitated the Policy?

Policy Research Paper
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Policy Research Paper on Women’s suffrage movement
The women suffrage movement presented a face of women that the global community was unwilling or perhaps unable to appreciate in the 19th century CITATION DuB98 \l 1033 (DuBois, 1998). It reflected the centuries old theme of male patriarchy and domination. The struggle was in effect a demand for the equal enjoyment of women’s right as guaranteed in the constitution. The paper thus investigates the women’s suffrage movement, its history, effect and impact on the generations that followed.
What is the problem that necessitated the policy?
The women suffrage movement was the struggle by the women in the United States for the right to vote. The problem of women suffrage was formed from the larger problem of women’s rights. Women agitated beginning in the 1830s for the enjoyment of their rights equal to men and the end of gender discrimination. The Seneca Falls Convention was the first women's convention where women embraced women suffrage as an essential element of their agitation for women's right. It stemmed from the knowledge that politicians were unlikely to take their demands seriously as they did not have the right to vote. The women's suffrage movement was especially pronounced in the United States and the United Kingdom from the middle of the 19th century CITATION Dud11 \l 1033 (Dudden, 2011).
The problem affected all women in the United States and other global nations. Women were viewed as occupying a lower station in life compared to men. The men as such did not want women to have voting rights as this would allow them the right to make decisions. Conservatives held the view that such an action would quickly result in a degeneration of society. Women such as Lucretia Mott and Elizabeth Cady Stanton were critical to the movement, organizing the Seneca Falls convention CITATION Gin09 \l 1033 (Ginzberg, 2009). Lucy Stone was another key player helping organize the first National Women's Rights ConventionCITATION Lib09 \l 1033 (Library of Congress, 2009). These players would, later on, merge their organizations to merge an organization with a national perspective on women suffrage the National American Woman Suffrage Association (NAWSA) and Susan B. Anthony was chosen as the first chair CITATION Har01 \l 1033 (Harper, 1901). These women were key in identifying the problem of women suffrage as key to unlocking women’s rights. Early women author’s had contributed to the movement through writing such as, "Equality of the Sexes and the Condition of Women," by Sarah Grimke CITATION Sar38 \l 1033 (Grimke, 1838).
The values and interests of women were essential to the women suffrage movement. The organizations were constantly aware of these and attempted to direct their efforts towards achieving this. The problem was essential historically as it set the stage for the nineteenth amendment to the US constitution CITATION Kob94 \l 1033 (Kobach, 1994). The amendment would utilize the wording of Senator Aaron A. Sargent, who was a friend to Susan B. Anthony CITATION Nat15 \l 1033 (National Women's History Museum, 2015).
What is the Historical Background of the policy?
Before 1776, women in some colonies of the British colony of America had the right t vote. However, after the formation of the Union, predominantly male legislative organs disenfranchised women. Women would continue to vote in some states such as New Jersey until 1807 when the state outlawed women suffrage. The abolitionist movement benefited from the contribution of women who wrote books, pamphlets, circulated the same and speaking to the audience. Women such as Angelina Grimke and Sarah Moore Grimke would receive national acclaim for the action CITATION Nat07 \l 1033 (National Women's History Museum, 2007). The abolitionist women forced women to question the rationale behind disenfranchisement of women. Legislators believed that the issue of women suffrage ought to have been dealt with by the states and not the federal government. Thus, the women suffrage movement would initially agitate individual states to franchise the women in their respective states. The failure of the policy would result in Senator Aaron A. Sargent introducing an amendment bill in Congress that aimed at facilitating women suffrage. The bill failed but would, later on, be utilized in creating the nineteenth amendment to the US constitution. The policy originated from this amendment to the constitution. The amendment, as the document that ensured enfranchisation on women, has not changed since its creation. The only notable developments being the ratification by states and the challenge of its constitutionality in Leser v. Garnett, 258 U.S. 130CITATION Sup22 \l 1033 ( Supreme Court of the United States, 1922).
The women suffrage movement has been key to the resolution or attempted resolution of key welfare issues. These include maternal care that was dealt with in the Sheppard–Towner Act of 1921. The act would, later on, result in women joining the employment industry after the commencement of the world war. The women suffrage movement has been essential in enabling women to deal with issues...