Women in local politics: threats and opportunities Annual conference of FemCities: Women in political decision-making positions at local level, 17 - 18 November 2016, Luxembourg Monique Leyenaar, Professor of Comparative Politics, Radboud University, Nijmegen, Netherlands

Content General trends re. the overall underrepresentation of women politics Some figures Explanations for the underrepresentation of women in local politics: in general and the case of the Netherlands The media as an obstacle for women’s political leadership The election of women as mayors of several large cities

Although all political systems in the world are still male dominated, but - from an earlier position as intruders and strangers in political life - women are now an undisputed part of the political institutions in old Western democracies

Although all political systems in the world are still male dominated, but - from an earlier position as intruders and strangers in political life - women are now an undisputed part of the political institutions in old Western democracies

EU countries: political representation

Stagnation and drops in women’s political reprsentation 2010 : a drop in one-third of parliamentary elections : stagnation in 19 % of parliamentary elections (IPU) Denmark : stagnation at 37-39 % through five elections between 1998-2011 : stagnation at 26-28 % in the local elections, 1989-2005 Germany : stagnation at 31-33 % in the Bundestag between 1998-2009 Netherlands : stagnation at 25-27 % in the local councils from 1990 onwards TIME-LAG THEORY IS BEING CHALLENGED

Explaining women’s presence in political decision-making: 40 years of gender research at country level : institutions : social and economic conditions of women : cultural indicators at party level : party ideology : recruitment and selection processes at individual level: support structure : feeling of personal impact, : individual ambitions at the level of society : dominant discourses on women as politicians : the media attitudes to women’s political leadership  

The Numbers: Women in local politics Sundström, A. – Women’s local representation within 30 European Countries (2013)

Women’s Political Representation (WPR) compared: local councils and national parliaments (EU 28) WPR higher in local councils WPR lower in local councils In eight countries In eleven countries France: 40% X 26% The Netherlands: 27% X 39% Latvia: 31% X 16% Hungary: 30% X 10%

Explaining stagnation at the local level in the Netherlands Historical strenght of the Christian Democrats Mainly rural areas (strong correlation no of women councillors & size of the community) Party fragmentation Merging of smaller communities Lack of pressure from the central party to apply affirmative action Electoral success of local independent lists Women councillors often quit after one term in office

Women mayors

New – relevant - studies Corruption as an obstacle to women’s political representation: Evidence from local councils in 18 European countries, by Aksel Sundstrom and Lena Wangerud, University of Gothenburg, Sweden (2016) Women don’t run? Election aversion and candidate entry, by Kristin Kanthak and Jonathan Woon, University of Pittsburgh, USA (2015) Women, Political Leaders and the Media, Donatella Campus, University of Bologna, Italy (2013) DO YOU RECOGNISE ANY OF THESE OBSTACLES?

Women political leaders and the media The double bind of women political leaders: A double bind is an emotionally distressing dilemma in communication in which an individual (or group) receives two or more conflicting messages, and one message negates the other. Effects of mediatisation and personalisation: Simple messages: one-liners Appearances in entertainment shows: the need to be ‘witty’ A confrontation with another female politician is then described by the media as ‘catfights’ or as ‘screaming bitches’ Overexcited attention to appearance & clothes “Take care to look well, because when a male minister is looking tired ‘he works hard’, but when a female minister looks tired, ‘she cannot cope’.”

Can cities be feminist? Inside the global rise of female mayors (The Guardian, October 12th 2016)

Women Mayors Capital Cities Led by Women Bucharest: Social Democratic Party Rome: 5 star Movement Luxembourg City: Democratic Party Warsaw: Civic Platform Sofia: GERB Prague: ANO 2011 Outsider, relatively new, parties; Paris: Socialist Party ‘Clean up politics’ – ticket Oslo: Socialist Left Party Radical platform Madrid: Ahora Madrid Women political leaders at the local level: agents for change! Stockholm: Social Democrats Source: CESifo group Munich – Women and men in decision-making positions (2015)