This book explores why the United States has not ratified the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women (CEDAW).

Lisa Baldez is Associate Professor of Government and Chair of Latin American, Latino, and Caribbean Studies at Dartmouth College. She holds a BA from Princeton University and a PhD from the University of California, San Diego. She is the author of Why Women Protest: Women's Movements in Chile (Cambridge, 2002) and the co-editor of Political Women and American Democracy (Cambridge, 2008). Her articles have appeared in the American Journal of Political Science, Latin American Politics and Society, Legislative Studies Quarterly, and the Journal of Legal Studies. She and Karen Beckwith co-founded the journal Politics and Gender.

1. Introduction; 2. A scaffolding for women's rights, 1945-70; 3. Geopolitics and the drafting of CEDAW; 4. An evolving global norm of women's rights; 5. CEDAW impact: process, not policy; 6. Why the United States has not ratified CEDAW; 7. CEDAW and domestic violence law in the United States?; 8. Conclusions.