Item – Theses Canada

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OCLC number
56683755
Link(s) to full text
LAC copy
LAC copy
Author
Ashe, Jeanette B.,1970-
Title
The electoral frontier : women's representation in British Columbia's legislature, 1986-2001.
Degree
M.A. -- Simon Fraser University, 2002
Publisher
Ottawa : National Library of Canada = Bibliothèque nationale du Canada, [2004]
Description
2 microfiches.
Notes
Includes bibliographical references.
Abstract
The attention paid to women's representation in the world's legislatures is increasing as a growing body of social science literature concludes that their presence has a substantive influence upon the amount of attention given to women's issues and ultimately to policies that affect them directly. This thesis is concerned with women's representation in British Columbia's Legislature between 1986 and 2001, and the factors that either facilitate or hinder women's electoral opportunity structure. It proposes that the fluctuations in women's electoral representation in B.C. are an outcome of several interacting institutional and individual level factors. With this in mind, this thesis uses the results of interviews conducted with women candidates, women Members of the Legislative Assembly, and party officials. This thesis considers which institutional and personal level factors influence women's representation in B.C.'s legislature. In addressing women's representation in B.C., I also draw on more general literature pertinent to a Canadian and comparative context. One of the conclusions reached is that the level of women's representation in the legislature is conditioned by political structures and the ways individuals, in this case women candidates and women politicians, respond to them. The interviews with party officials, women candidates, and MLAs suggest that several interacting institutional factors at the recruitment, nomination, and election levels influenced and shaped their attitudes and decisions to come forward, and their experiences once they did. The stories of the women interviewed suggest that the informal elements of a decentralized recruitment process made it possible for gender bias to permeate party level decisions. As well, political structures and processes do not take into account the implication gender has for women's abilities to juggle their political careers with family life. The obstacles faced by women as they move through the political system and recruitment process do not appear to cease once they are in power.
ISBN
0612817261
9780612817265