The Higher the Fewer? Patterns of Female Representation Across Levels of Government in Germany

Eder, Christina; Fortin-Rittberger, Jessica; Kroeber, Corinna

doi:10.1093/pa/gsv021

Cited by 20 publications

(12 citation statements)

References 47 publications

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“…The traditional assumption was seriously questioned in 2010 by a study of the 27 EU countries demonstrating, that while women's representation was higher in local councils than in parliament in 15 countries, the opposite pattern was found in nine countries (with an equal percentage at the local and the national level in the remaining three countries) (Kjaer, 2010). Other studies have since got to the same finding, demonstrating that women are not better represented at lower political levels in Italy and Poland (Ortbals et al, 2012) and Germany (Eder et al, 2016).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 55%

“…Studies with focus on women in local government are conducted, and more and more so, in countries around the world. However, so far only very few studies have "multi-levelled" the gender-analysis comparing the percentage of women elected for local office to the percentage of women at higher political levels (Kjaer, 2010;Ortbal et al, 2011;Eder et al, 2016). When the percentages of women at different political levels are compared, the traditional view that women are numerically better represented in local offices than in state legislatures, has been challenged.…”

Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Studies including all three levels of government in a country are very rare. A study of Germany finds (without denoting it that way) a diamond-pattern in 2005 and a nib-pattern in 2009 (Eder et al 2016), while a Canadian study finds a pillar-like pattern where the level of women's representation is more or less similar across the three levels (federal, provincial, municipal) (Tolley, 2011).…”

Section: Different Patterns Of Women's Inter-level Descriptive Represmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Patterns of Inter-Level Gender Gaps in Women’s Descriptive Representation

Kjær¹

2019

LEX

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It is often assumed that women's descriptive representation is higher at the local level than at the state or federal level. However, recent studies challenge this perceived pattern. Therefore, several alternative patterns of inter-level gender gaps in female representation across political levels are systematically introduced. Zooming in on the state-local gender gap, a number of explanations as to why such a gender gap can emerge are hypothesized. And the case of the U.S. is used to illustrate how women sometimes fare relatively better at state than local election.

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Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 55%

Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Different Patterns Of Women's Inter-level Descriptive Represmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Patterns of Inter-Level Gender Gaps in Women’s Descriptive Representation

Kjær¹

2019

LEX

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“…5 Na druhé straně některé novější zahraniční studie nalezly i opačný vzorec politické reprezentace žen a poukazují tedy na to, že předpoklad, že je politika pro ženy méně či více otevřená na lokální úrovni, nelze brát za zcela daný, i s ohledem na značně odlišnou realitu mezi různými zeměmi [srov Holtkamp, Wiechmann, Schnittke 2009;. Tolley 2011;Eder, Fortin-Rittberger, Kroeber 2016;Navarro, Medir 2016].…”

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The Representation of Women in the Position of Mayor in the Czech Republic and Slovakia in 2006-2014: A Comparative Analysis of the Factors of Success

Maškarinec¹,

Klimovský²,

Danišová³

2018

Czech Sociological Review

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Main objective of this article is to analyse political determinants of the descriptive representation of women at the local level in communal elections (i.e. the position of mayor) in the Czech Republic and Slovakia over the past decade. It focuses on the political opportunity structure (i.e. the structure of relationships that affect social and political behaviour) and questions whether this structure affects also women's political representation. It shows that women are significantly advantaged in municipalities where women have held a mayoral post in a previous electoral term. In contrast to other studies, previous women's representation in a municipal council is here found to have only a limited effect. The strong negative effect of the direct election of mayors and the negative effect of municipal size (only in Slovakia) indicate that women's representation as mayors may be the result of interdependent phenomena that are a combination of institutional structure (e.g. electoral procedure, the mayor's powers) and political contextual factors (past experience with a female mayor-not necessarily incumbents). This finding challenges earlier studies and it shows that any effort to identify a clear list of determinants of women's representation as mayors is a complex task, making it difficult to pursue a broader comparative study in a different institutional environment or a different political culture.

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“…The pattern of female representation in countries such as the United States and Canada forms a pyramidal shape, whereby women are scarcest at the highest strata. However, a number of more recent studies find empirical evidence for the reverse pattern in countries such as Germany and Australia, namely that women are most successful at the highest levels of government (Eder et al 2016; Hashimoto 2001; Henig and Henig 2001; Kjaer 2011; Ortbals et al 2012). Until now, contributors have focused solely on putting forward explanations for the pyramid or the reverse shape.…”

mentioning

confidence: 99%

How Party Systems Shape Local–National Gender Gaps

Fortin-Rittberger¹,

Eder²,

Kroeber³

et al. 2017

Gov. & oppos.

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Women’s representation is highest in local assemblies in some countries, while others display the largest share of female office-holders at the national level. Drawing on a new data set mapping the representation of women at all four levels of government in Germany during the 2000s, we argue that differences in party system configurations across echelons explain these distinct patterns and provide evidence for this claim. We show that left-wing parties, the main source of female office-holders, perform better at higher echelons, while minor parties and independent representatives, which favour male candidacy, win more seats at the lowest levels of government.

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The Higher the Fewer? Patterns of Female Representation Across Levels of Government in Germany

Cited by 20 publications

References 47 publications

Patterns of Inter-Level Gender Gaps in Women’s Descriptive Representation

Patterns of Inter-Level Gender Gaps in Women’s Descriptive Representation

The Representation of Women in the Position of Mayor in the Czech Republic and Slovakia in 2006-2014: A Comparative Analysis of the Factors of Success

How Party Systems Shape Local–National Gender Gaps

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