Lecture 7 Readings

Question 1

representation of women in canbinet

Answer 1

Despite recent parity cabinets, less than ⅓ of cabinet members at any level of government are women

Question 2

common trajectory of women into party leadership

Answer 2

75% of women are selected directly to the premier’s office through a party leadership contest and sometimes lead their parties to majority mandates but then do not have the support to stay in office or to be re-elected

Question 3

explanation for the trajectory of women into party leadership

Answer 3

• This may be because women are more likely than men to be selected to lead parties that are in crisis or decline
• However, half of Canadian cases cannot be explained by this

Question 4

common trajectory of men into party leadership

Answer 4

• This is different than the pattern of male premiers
• Male premier’s path to provincial office is the norm

Question 5

provincial government in Canada

Answer 5

• Provincial governments in Canada have a strong presence and considerable jurisdictional control
• There is an absence of institutional constraints that are found in other cabinet-parliamentary systems

Question 6

what is the most important factor leading to the appointment of women to cabinet?

Answer 6

the proportion of women in the governing party

Question 7

when are women more likely to serve as chief political executives?

Answer 7

when power is shared or constrained

Question 8

do female-led governments promote women into cabinet?

Answer 8

not necessarily

Question 9

stereotypes and women in politics

Answer 9

Gender stereotypes have negative effects on women’s ability to be directly elected to executive office

Question 10

high-level positions and women

Answer 10

The higher the political office, the fewer women there are

Question 11

when are women preferred over men as leaders?

Answer 11

when the crisis or decline was the result of men’s leadership failure

Question 12

crisis and decline as an opportunity

Answer 12

Women may see crisis or decline as a means of gaining a leadership position that they otherwise might not have access to

Question 13

crisis

Answer 13

an acute, intense, time-sensitive period of difficulty for a party or government

Question 14

decline

Answer 14

a more gradual loss of support where a party is on an unfavourable electoral trajectory and may lose votes and seats in the election proceeding the leadership contest

Question 15

identifying decline

Answer 15

• it’s more difficult to identify than a crisis
• operationalized in 5 ways

Question 16

5 ways decline is operationalized

Answer 16

• The party’s performance in the election before a leader’s selection
• Party support stability
• By-election results
• Contributions to party finances
• Publicly available opinion polls

Question 17

support for parties prior to selecting a woman as a leader

Answer 17

was stable or increasing

Question 18

votes following the selection of a female party leader

Answer 18

Nearly every party that simultaneously selected a woman as party leader and premier lost votes in the election following her selection

Question 19

year-to-year decline prior to the selection of a female party leader

Answer 19

No parties experienced consistent year-over-year declines in contributions in the three years prior to selecting women as leaders/premiers

Question 20

financial contributors prior to the selection of a female party leader

Answer 20

Most parties posted declines in contributions prior to selecting women as leaders

Question 21

tenure of female leaders vs. male leaders

Answer 21

Women heading major parties tended to have considerably shorter tenures as leaders

Question 22

explanations for the greater representation of women in municipal politics compared to federal/provincial politics

Answer 22

• Local politics are easier to reconcile with family life
• The nature of municipal politics corresponds better to women’s concerns
• Municipal politics are less competitive
• The cost of municipal election campaigns is lower
• Female landowners were allowed to vote in municipal elections earlier than legislative elections

Question 23

Tremblay and Mevellec on the greater representation of women in municipal politics

Answer 23

• The same obstacles that are present for women in federal and provincial politics are also present in municipal politics, especially in large cities
• Many of the explanations for the greater representation of women in municipal politics are essentialist and governed by traditional gender roles

Question 24

voter perception of municipal politics in Canada

Answer 24

• The municipal level is often considered minor
• Voter turnout tends to be much lower than in federal and provincial elections

Question 25

how are Canadian municipalities run?

Answer 25

by municipal councils, where members are elected in the first-past-the-post voting system by ward or city

Question 26

feminization rate of Canadian politics

Answer 26

In general, municipal politics have a greater feminization rate

Question 27

feminization rate

Answer 27

the proportion of women among a given group of politicians

Question 28

recruitment

Answer 28

an individual’s capacity to submit their candidacy for a legislative or municipal position

Question 29

profile of Canadian politicians

Answer 29

Canadian politicians, including municipal politicians, have a higher elitist profile in terms of their education and profession and have higher social capital

Question 30

financing of municipal campaigns

Answer 30

Financing a municipal campaign is a major obstacle, especially in cities with a population of at least 10,000

Question 31

encouragement of women to run for office

Answer 31

Women are less likely to receive encouragement to aspire to office than men are

Question 32

Institutional factors responsible for the underrepresentation of women in Canada’s parliamentary spaces

Answer 32

• Political parties
• The voting system (first-past-the-post)
• The opportunity for re-election

Question 33

Other factors suspected of playing a role in women’s underrepresentation in municipal politics

Answer 33

• The size of the locality
• The number of candidates per seat