Women's Council Representation: Measurement Implications for Public Policy

Abstract

Previous accounts of the determinants of women's service on city councils focused on the degree of women's representation. In this paper we suggest that understanding women's representation on these legislative bodies requires that attention also be paid to potential differences between communities where women have been able to break the cycle of exclusion from those where they have not. This paper compares two different measures of women's council representation using both logit and the OLS regression. The results indicate that, alone, electoral structure is not a significant explanatory factor in understanding either the presence of women on city councils or the extent of women's representation on these legislative bodies. However, the size of the legislative body has a significant effect which, except among district election cities, largely improves the likelihood of electing a woman to the council (as compared to improving the degree of women's representation). Other results indicate significant regional disparities which favor the Midwest and West over the Northeast and South. The past three decades witnessed a gradual integration of women into policymaking positions in local government in the United States. As women's role in governance at the local level continues to expand, so has the torrent of literature exploring the correlates of women's officeholding in city politics (cf.In the typical account on the determinants of women's service on city councils since the 1980s, the percentage of council seats occupied by women is regressed on electoral structure and other ecological factors. Within this framework, analysts continue to make pronouncements about the factors NOTE: We wish to thank Anne L. Schneider and Alvin Mushkatal for their helpful comments on an earlier draft of this paper.

Race, Ethnicity and the Female Cop: Differential Patterns of Representation

“…The presence of a female mayor and/or the representation of females as municipal council members have shown to be important predictors of gender equity oriented policies in a city (Alozie & Manganaro, 1993). These factors have also been found to be important determinants of the hiring of female employees in municipal governments.…”

Variation in Structural Home Rule: Evidence from California City Councils

“…Some studies find that city council size affects representation of underrepresented groups. For example, Alozie and Manganaro (1993b) demonstrate that council size, especially when cities use at-large elections significantly improves the odds of the presence of women on the city council, though these structural features have no effect on the actual share of women on a city council. The presence of black or Hispanic council members is related to council size and election method (Alozie and Manganaro 1993a;Brouthers and McClure 1985).…”

“…For example, Alozie and Manganaro (1993b) demonstrate that council size, especially when cities use at-large elections significantly improves the odds of the presence of women on the city council, though these structural features have no effect on the actual share of women on a city council. The presence of black or Hispanic council members is related to council size and election method (Alozie and Manganaro 1993a;Brouthers and McClure 1985). Trounstine and Valdini (2008) however, find that council size does not matter nearly as much as election method for minority representation.…”

“…District elections significantly advantage black representation on councils, though not necessarily Hispanic representation (Brouthers and McClure 1985). Atlarge elections and hybrid elections significantly reduce the proportion of blacks and especially Hispanics (Alozie and Manganaro 1993a).…”

Unequals among equals: Party strategic discrimination and quota laws

“…In other words, intra-party competition over available offices is critical to female representation (Alozie and Manganaro, 1993;Lovenduski and Norris, 1993). The fewer offices there are in dispute, the more difficult it is that the (political) majority -men -shares power with the minority -women.…”