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

3. 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

4. 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

5. 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

6. EU countries: political representation

7. 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 % through five elections between
: stagnation at % in the local elections,
Germany : stagnation at % in the Bundestag between
Netherlands : stagnation at % in the local councils from 1990 onwards
TIME-LAG THEORY IS BEING CHALLENGED

8. 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

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

10. 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%

11. 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

12. Women mayors

13. 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?

14. 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’.”

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

16. 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)