Tag: Women
Women are still outnumbered on Commons select committees
Figures from the Select Committee Data Archive Project reveal that women are still outnumbered on Commons select committees, despite a steady increase of female MPs in Westminster. Sophie Wilson looks at the numbers on gender balance of select committees since 1979 and what they mean for parliamentary scrutiny. MPs Tessa Munt and Craig Whittaker during […]
Female cabinet picks: just one more way in which Trump is exceptional
Donald Trump’s cabinet is exceptional in many ways, not least because the share of women in the executive has fallen since the Obama era – even as recent decades have seen it grow all over the world. What effect does government ideology have on cabinet picks? The literature suggests left-wing governments tend to appoint more […]
New women MPs shift their party leftwards – but female leaders don’t
What happens when voters elect more female MPs? Zac Greene and Diana O’Brien reveal that the presence of more women broadens the range of issues discussed, but has no impact on introducing new issues to party manifestos. The presence of women MPs shifts a party markedly to the left – though there is no evidence a female leader has […]
In places where corruption is endemic, women struggle to become local councillors
Across Europe, while some regions elect relatively high shares of women to local councils, men almost exclusively dominate the councils of others. New research by Aksel Sundström and Lena Wängnerud suggests that informal recruitment practices are important in understanding why. Their study shows that in regions where corruption is endemic in local government, authorities elect lower shares of women […]
What did ITV’s EU referendum debate say about the role of women in the campaign?
The impact of EU membership on women has not played a major part in the UK’s referendum campaign. Following a TV debate on 9 June that featured five female politicians, as well as Boris Johnson, Roberta Guerrina assesses how the EU has affected factors such as women’s employment rights and how these issues could be […]
Book Review: What Works: Gender Equality By Design by Iris Bohnet
How might we tackle institutionalised gender inequalities? In What Works: Gender Equality by Design, Iris Bohnet advocates systemic interventions focused on de-biasing environments rather than individuals. Employing a behavioural design approach, the book serves both as a clear indication of where we currently stand and a guide as to how, institution by institution, we can nudge ourselves […]
Is it really that difficult to find women to talk about the EU Referendum?
The significant absence of expert women’s voices from media debates and academic events related to the EU Referendum has been widely reported. Roberta Guerrina, Toni Haastrup, Katharine Wright share a list of women EU experts and argue there are in fact many women voices on these issues and they are not difficult to find. More work needs to […]
More female candidates in 2016 is positive, but not the full story
On Tuesday, Democratic Dashboard launched its data briefing on Gender and the 2016 Elections, looking at the prospects for gender balance in the Scottish, Welsh, Northern Irish and London elections in May. Here, Carl Cullinane summarises the report’s key findings. You can download the briefing here, or get the data here. Similar PostsWhat turnout can […]
The junior doctors’ new contracts reveal the redundancy of equality assessments when policy goals are already determined
The government recently released its Equality Analysis of the contract it intends to impose on junior doctors. Its ‘tortured logic’ reveals much about what the government really thinks about gender equality and work and family life issues, argues Jill Rubery. Similar PostsAudit 2017: How effectively is gender equality achieved in the political and public life of […]
Audit 2017: How effectively is gender equality achieved in the political and public life of the UK?
As part of the 2017 Audit of UK Democracy, Sonali Campion and the DA team examine the extent to which gender equality provisions in British public life accord with democratic requirements. Where previous historical inequalities and discrimination against women are being rectified, is the pace of recent change fast enough? Similar PostsThe junior doctors’ new […]
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