Political Recruitment and Local Representation: The Case of Liberal Democrat Councillors

Meadowcroft, John

doi:10.1080/714004092

Cited by 13 publications

(4 citation statements)

References 15 publications

(13 reference statements)

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“…Laymen are thereby usually embedded in organisations of their local community whilst political parties are the outstanding apprenticeship for professionalised councillors (Eliassen and Pedersen 1978). Consequently, parties are claimed to be the perfect steppingstone towards a political career (Moyser and Parry 1986, Meadowcroft 2001, Lazarus 2008.…”

Section: Political Recruitment Of Local Councillors In Belgiummentioning

confidence: 99%

Necessary Asymmetry or Undemocratic Imbalance? Professionalisation in the Recruitment and Career of Belgian Local Councillors

Verhelst

Reynaert

Steyvers

2013

Local Government Studies

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Section: Political Recruitment Of Local Councillors In Belgiummentioning

confidence: 99%

Necessary Asymmetry or Undemocratic Imbalance? Professionalisation in the Recruitment and Career of Belgian Local Councillors

Verhelst

Reynaert

Steyvers

2013

Local Government Studies

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“…The candidates are characterised by a particular motivation to stand for office and by specific personal resources. The responsibility of the selectors is to determine, based on the needs of their party and its political culture, which candidates have the appropriate motivations and possess the required qualifications (Budge & Farlie, 1975;Meadowcroft, 2001;Schwartz, 1969). It is a two-sided process: on the one side self-selection of candidates, on the other side selection by the organisation.…”

Section: Selection: Exit and Recruitmentmentioning

confidence: 99%

Strengthening the Councillor as a Representative and Scrutiniser: The Effects of Institutional Change on Councillors' Role Orientations in the Netherlands

Groot

Denters

Klok

2010

Local Government Studies

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In 2002 the Dutch Ministry of the Interior enacted a new Local Government Act. The introduction of the new legislation was supported by a large-scale Innovation Program. The main objective of this institutional reform in local government was to improve the responsiveness and democratic accountability of municipalities by changing the role orientations and role behaviour of local councillors. The first question we address in this paper is whether these institutional reforms have indeed changed the relevant role orientations of the councillors. Despite widespread scepticism about the impact of institutional change, on the basis of surveys conducted before and after the reforms we found that the Dutch reforms may have been successful in changing some relevant role orientations of councillors. The second question in this paper is whether such possible changes in role orientations can be explained as the result of processes of (1) socialisation of councillors and (2) their selection.

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“…One Portuguese municipality has applied the principle of stimulating youth civic participation not only as voters but also as political representatives (Meadowcroft 2001). In Santa Maria da Feira, Oporto district, in the North of Portugal, the municipality has already twice promoted a "Young councillor" project, inspired by Lewisham, London's "Young Mayor" model.…”

Section: Some Hope For the Future Of Female Representation In Pormentioning

confidence: 99%

Women Mayors in Portugal: A Case Study in Political Representation and Citizenship

Almeida¹

2018

Rev. Sociol. Polit.

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Introduction The article presents a historical analysis of the participation of women in Portuguese politics and reveals the positive effects of the introduction of the parity law in 2006. In the 2015 national elections, for the first time one third of the elected the Members of the Portuguese Parliament were women. However, in municipalities there is still a long way to go to reach this level of female political representation. Does the political system limit women’s access only to elected positions? Thus, important questions remain: why are women still a minority in local politics? What obstacles do they encounter? And what can be done to improve the situation? Materials and Methods For this investigation, data were collected on the electronic pages of municipalities and political parties, as well as in the press, to monitor the evolution of the presence of women in Portuguese local government, initially as members of the administrative commissions appointed to manage municipal councils from 1974 to the first elections that took place on December 12, 1976 and then as elected representatives from 1976 to the latest 2017 local elections, comparing this level with central government. Results The study of this group reveals higher educational levels and more specialized jobs among women than among men, particularly in teaching and management. There is also discussion of partisan membership and it is revealed that left-wing parties invest more in women for local government than do right-wing parties. Discussion Although four decades have passed since the democratic regime was established, the representation of women in politics is still incipient. We present some examples of policy actions that can encourage the presence of women in local government and increase their role as active citizens.

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Political Recruitment and Local Representation: The Case of Liberal Democrat Councillors

Cited by 13 publications

References 15 publications

Necessary Asymmetry or Undemocratic Imbalance? Professionalisation in the Recruitment and Career of Belgian Local Councillors

Necessary Asymmetry or Undemocratic Imbalance? Professionalisation in the Recruitment and Career of Belgian Local Councillors

Strengthening the Councillor as a Representative and Scrutiniser: The Effects of Institutional Change on Councillors' Role Orientations in the Netherlands

Women Mayors in Portugal: A Case Study in Political Representation and Citizenship

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