In USC student government, where are the women?

[Igel]

2. No female candidates?

Sorry, no sympathy. Getting a nomination is easy enough. Even if the PTB don't like the idea of women involved, you pick up the form, get it signed by enough people to withstand bad information challenges, and return it. You're a candidate.

Winning is a different matter. For that you have to have your game on. Frats and sororities have an edge: If there's a Greek candidate and the Greek organizations rally behind him (usually it's a him) then they have a bunch of member voters queued up in no time flat and can even get their members to campaign quietly among friends and acquaintances. Other student groups, if they're even aware of the elections, may have their own candidate for some office or spot that they're pushing for and ignore the president position or they're smaller than the Greeks and can't muster the same turn-out.

It's a kind of principle that is common even in high-order politics. Unions often have GOTV drives. They're organized, and if the union organization is tight with its membership then it's easy to get members out to vote.

Most stu govs don't do much anyway. They're sort of student-activities coordinators and sponsors.