Representational gains of Canadian women or token growth? The case of Quebec's municipal politics

Canadian Journal of Political Science

Volumn 30, Issue 3, 1997, Pages 511-537

  Gidengil, Elisabeth ^a   Vengroff, Richard ^b  

^a MCGILL UNIVERSITY   (Canada)

^b UNIVERSITY OF CONNECTICUT   (United States)

Author keywords

[No Author keywords available]

Indexed keywords

EID: 0040655478     PISSN: 00084239     EISSN: None     Source Type: Journal    
DOI: 10.1017/s0008423900015997     Document Type: Article

References (101)

1. This may be changing: see Joseph Kushner, David Siegel and Hannah Stanwick, "Ontario Municipal Elections: Voting Trends and Determinants of Electoral Success in a Canadian Province," this JOURNAL 30 (1997), 539-53. We focus strictly on numerical representation in this article. On the larger meaning of women's representation, see Chantal Maillé, "Challenges to Representation: Theory and the Women's Movement in Quebec," and Jill Vickers, "Toward a Feminist Understanding of Representation," in Jane Arscott and Linda Trimble, eds., In the Presence of Women: Representation in Canadian Governments (Toronto: Harcourt Brace, 1997), 47-63 and 20-46, respectively.
2. This may be changing: see Joseph Kushner, David Siegel and Hannah Stanwick, "Ontario Municipal Elections: Voting Trends and Determinants of Electoral Success in a Canadian Province," this JOURNAL 30 (1997), 539-53. We focus strictly on numerical representation in this article. On the larger meaning of women's representation, see Chantal Maillé, "Challenges to Representation: Theory and the Women's Movement in Quebec," and Jill Vickers, "Toward a Feminist Understanding of Representation," in Jane Arscott and Linda Trimble, eds., In the Presence of Women: Representation in Canadian Governments (Toronto: Harcourt Brace, 1997), 47-63 and 20-46, respectively.
3. This may be changing: see Joseph Kushner, David Siegel and Hannah Stanwick, "Ontario Municipal Elections: Voting Trends and Determinants of Electoral Success in a Canadian Province," this JOURNAL 30 (1997), 539-53. We focus strictly on numerical representation in this article. On the larger meaning of women's representation, see Chantal Maillé, "Challenges to Representation: Theory and the Women's Movement in Quebec," and Jill Vickers, "Toward a Feminist Understanding of Representation," in Jane Arscott and Linda Trimble, eds., In the Presence of Women: Representation in Canadian Governments (Toronto: Harcourt Brace, 1997), 47-63 and 20-46, respectively.
4. See, for example, Sylvie Arend and Celia Chandler, "Which Distinctiveness? Politicians," Women & Politics 16 (1996), 1-29; Major Cleavages and the Career Paths of Canadian Male and Female Heather MacIvor, Women and Politics in Canada (Peterborough: Broadview, 1996); and Lucie Desrochers, Femmes et démocratie de représentation (Quebec City: Conseil du statut de la femme, 1994).
5. See, for example, Sylvie Arend and Celia Chandler, "Which Distinctiveness? Politicians," Women & Politics 16 (1996), 1-29; Major Cleavages and the Career Paths of Canadian Male and Female Heather MacIvor, Women and Politics in Canada (Peterborough: Broadview, 1996); and Lucie Desrochers, Femmes et démocratie de représentation (Quebec City: Conseil du statut de la femme, 1994).
6. See, for example, Sylvie Arend and Celia Chandler, "Which Distinctiveness? Politicians," Women & Politics 16 (1996), 1-29; Major Cleavages and the Career Paths of Canadian Male and Female Heather MacIvor, Women and Politics in Canada (Peterborough: Broadview, 1996); and Lucie Desrochers, Femmes et démocratie de représentation (Quebec City: Conseil du statut de la femme, 1994).
7. Caroline Andrew, "Getting Women's Issues on the Municipal Agenda: Violence against Women," in Judith A. Garber and Robyne S. Turner, eds., Gender in Urban Research, Urban Affairs Annual Review 42 (Thousand Oaks: Sage, 1995), 99.
8. Ibid.
9. For useful reviews of the arguments, see Caroline Andrew, "Le pouvoir local: stratégie de pouvoir ou nouvelle impasse pour les femmes?" in L'égalité: les moyens pour y arriver (Quebec: Les publications du Québec, 1991), 63-75; and Jill McCalla Vickers and M. Janine Brodie, "Canada," in Joni Lovenduski and Jill Hills, eds., The Politics of the Second Electorate: Women and Public Administration (London: Routledge & Kegan Paul, 1981), 52-82.
10. For useful reviews of the arguments, see Caroline Andrew, "Le pouvoir local: stratégie de pouvoir ou nouvelle impasse pour les femmes?" in L'égalité: les moyens pour y arriver (Quebec: Les publications du Québec, 1991), 63-75; and Jill McCalla Vickers and M. Janine Brodie, "Canada," in Joni Lovenduski and Jill Hills, eds., The Politics of the Second Electorate: Women and Public Administration (London: Routledge & Kegan Paul, 1981), 52-82.
11. Andrew, "Le pouvoir local."
12. Elizabeth Vallance, "Where Power Is, Women Are Not," Parliamentary Affairs 35 (1982), 218-19. See Robert Darcy, Susan Welch and Janet Clark, Women, Elections and Representation (2nd ed.; Lincoln: University of Nebraska Press, 1994).
13. Elizabeth Vallance, "Where Power Is, Women Are Not," Parliamentary Affairs 35 (1982), 218-19. See Robert Darcy, Susan Welch and Janet Clark, Women, Elections and Representation (2nd ed.; Lincoln: University of Nebraska Press, 1994).
14. Nicholas O. Alozie and Lynne L. Manganaro, "Women's Council Representation: Measurement Implications for Public Policy," Political Research Quarterly 46 (1993), 383-98
15. See Lynn Zimmer, "Tokenism and Women in the Workplace: The Limits of Gender-Neutral Theory," Social Problems 35 (1988), 64-77.
16. Rosabeth Moss Kanter, "Some Effects of Proportions on Group Life: Skewed Sex Ratios and Responses to Token Women," American Journal of Sociology 82 (1988), 968.
17. Ibid., 966. For evidence of the importance of sex ratios in legislative politics, see Sue Thomas, "Women in State Legislatures: One Step at a Time," in Elizabeth Adell Cook, Sue Thomas and Clyde Wilcox, eds., The Year of the Woman (Boulder: Westview, 1994). This is not to suggest that women's representation is simply a matter of numbers, nor is it to overlook the sexism that underpins tokenism (see Janice D. Yoder, "Rethinking Tokenism: Looking Beyond Numbers," Gender and Society 5 [1991], 178-92).
18. Ibid., 966. For evidence of the importance of sex ratios in legislative politics, see Sue Thomas, "Women in State Legislatures: One Step at a Time," in Elizabeth Adell Cook, Sue Thomas and Clyde Wilcox, eds., The Year of the Woman (Boulder: Westview, 1994). This is not to suggest that women's representation is simply a matter of numbers, nor is it to overlook the sexism that underpins tokenism (see Janice D. Yoder, "Rethinking Tokenism: Looking Beyond Numbers," Gender and Society 5 [1991], 178-92).
19. Ibid., 966. For evidence of the importance of sex ratios in legislative politics, see Sue Thomas, "Women in State Legislatures: One Step at a Time," in Elizabeth Adell Cook, Sue Thomas and Clyde Wilcox, eds., The Year of the Woman (Boulder: Westview, 1994). This is not to suggest that women's representation is simply a matter of numbers, nor is it to overlook the sexism that underpins tokenism (see Janice D. Yoder, "Rethinking Tokenism: Looking Beyond Numbers," Gender and Society 5 [1991], 178-92).
20. See Albert K. Karnig and B. Oliver Walter, "Election of Women to City Councils," Social Science Quarterly 56 (1976), 605-13. The increased costs of campaiging may reinforce women's disadvantage in larger cities. See Charles S. Bullock III and Susan A. MacManus, "Municipal Structure and the Election of Councilwomen," Journal of Politics 53 (1991), 75-89. This may apply less in Quebec given the spending limits and provision for 50 per cent reimbursement of successful candidates' expenses.
21. See Albert K. Karnig and B. Oliver Walter, "Election of Women to City Councils," Social Science Quarterly 56 (1976), 605-13. The increased costs of campaiging may reinforce women's disadvantage in larger cities. See Charles S. Bullock III and Susan A. MacManus, "Municipal Structure and the Election of Councilwomen," Journal of Politics 53 (1991), 75-89. This may apply less in Quebec given the spending limits and provision for 50 per cent reimbursement of successful candidates' expenses.
22. See Bullock and MacManus, "Municipal Electoral Structure," and Darcy et al., Women, Elections and Representation. The empirical results have been mixed. To the extent that any relationship has been found in the US studies, the cosmopolitanism thesis has won out over the desirability thesis.
23. See Bullock and MacManus, "Municipal Electoral Structure," and Darcy et al., Women, Elections and Representation. The empirical results have been mixed. To the extent that any relationship has been found in the US studies, the cosmopolitanism thesis has won out over the desirability thesis.
24. Darcy et al., Women, Elections and Representation, 104-18.
25. Albert K. Karnig, "Black Resources and City Council Representation," Journal of Politics 41 (1979), 145. On the impact of income on women's ability to hold local office, see Marcia Lee, "Toward Understanding Why Few Women Hold Public Office: Factors Affecting the Participation of Women in Local Politics," in Marianne Githens and Jewel L. Prestage, eds., A Portrait of Marginality: The Political Behaviour of the American Woman (New York: David McKay, 1977).
26. Albert K. Karnig, "Black Resources and City Council Representation," Journal of Politics 41 (1979), 145. On the impact of income on women's ability to hold local office, see Marcia Lee, "Toward Understanding Why Few Women Hold Public Office: Factors Affecting the Participation of Women in Local Politics," in Marianne Githens and Jewel L. Prestage, eds., A Portrait of Marginality: The Political Behaviour of the American Woman (New York: David McKay, 1977).
27. The focus on inter-minority competition derives from Lee Sigelman, "The Curious Case of Women in State and Local Government," Social Science Quarterly 56 (1976), 591-604.
28. For example, Albert K. Karnig and Susan Welch, "Sex and Ethnic Differences in Municipal Representation," Social Science Quarterly 60 (1979), 465-81; and Alozie and Manganaro, "Women's Council Representation."
29. For example, Albert K. Karnig and Susan Welch, "Sex and Ethnic Differences in Municipal Representation," Social Science Quarterly 60 (1979), 465-81; and Alozie and Manganaro, "Women's Council Representation."
30. For example, Darcy et al., Women, Elections and Representation.
31. Chantal Maillé, Les Québécoises et La Conquête du Pouvoir Politique (Montreal: Éditions St. Martin, 1990).
32. Alozie and Manganaro, "Women's Council Representation," 386.
33. See Susan Welch and Albert K. Karnig, "Correlates of Female Office Holding in City Politics," Journal of Politics 41 (1979), 478-91.
34. Alozie and Manganaro, "Women's Council Representation."
35. See Alfred A. Hunter and Margaret A. Denton, "Do Female Candidates 'Lose Votes'? The Experience of Female Candidates in the 1979 and 1980 Canadian General Elections," Canadian Review of Sociology and Anthropology 21 (1984), 395-406. Kushner and his colleagues found that gender per se had no significant effect on electoral success in their study of selected Ontario municipalities. See "Ontario Municipal Elections"; Donley T. Studlar and Susan Welch, "Understanding the Iron Law of Andrarchy," Comparative Political Studies 20 (1987), 174-91; and Susan Welch and Donley T. Studlar, "The Effects of Candidate Gender on Voting for Local Office in England," British Journal of Political Science 18 (1988), 273-81.
36. See Alfred A. Hunter and Margaret A. Denton, "Do Female Candidates 'Lose Votes'? The Experience of Female Candidates in the 1979 and 1980 Canadian General Elections," Canadian Review of Sociology and Anthropology 21 (1984), 395-406. Kushner and his colleagues found that gender per se had no significant effect on electoral success in their study of selected Ontario municipalities. See "Ontario Municipal Elections"; Donley T. Studlar and Susan Welch, "Understanding the Iron Law of Andrarchy," Comparative Political Studies 20 (1987), 174-91; and Susan Welch and Donley T. Studlar, "The Effects of Candidate Gender on Voting for Local Office in England," British Journal of Political Science 18 (1988), 273-81.
37. See Alfred A. Hunter and Margaret A. Denton, "Do Female Candidates 'Lose Votes'? The Experience of Female Candidates in the 1979 and 1980 Canadian General Elections," Canadian Review of Sociology and Anthropology 21 (1984), 395-406. Kushner and his colleagues found that gender per se had no significant effect on electoral success in their study of selected Ontario municipalities. See "Ontario Municipal Elections"; Donley T. Studlar and Susan Welch, "Understanding the Iron Law of Andrarchy," Comparative Political Studies 20 (1987), 174-91; and Susan Welch and Donley T. Studlar, "The Effects of Candidate Gender on Voting for Local Office in England," British Journal of Political Science 18 (1988), 273-81.
38. See Alfred A. Hunter and Margaret A. Denton, "Do Female Candidates 'Lose Votes'? The Experience of Female Candidates in the 1979 and 1980 Canadian General Elections," Canadian Review of Sociology and Anthropology 21 (1984), 395-406. Kushner and his colleagues found that gender per se had no significant effect on electoral success in their study of selected Ontario municipalities. See "Ontario Municipal Elections"; Donley T. Studlar and Susan Welch, "Understanding the Iron Law of Andrarchy," Comparative Political Studies 20 (1987), 174-91; and Susan Welch and Donley T. Studlar, "The Effects of Candidate Gender on Voting for Local Office in England," British Journal of Political Science 18 (1988), 273-81.
39. See Bullock and MacManus, "Municipal Electoral Structure."
40. Ibid. It is important to distinguish between male and female incumbency since, by definition, female incumbency will be associated with the presence of women on council.
41. Karnig and Walter, "Election of Women." In the US studies, it turns out that partisanship does not have significant effects, and the effects, such as they are, have been positive.
42. Evelyne Tardy, La politique: un monde d'hommes? (Montreal: Hurtubise HMH, 1982), 34-35; Louise Quesnel and Serge Belley, Partis politiques municipaux (Montréal: Éditions Agence D'ARC, 1991); and C. Richard Tindal and Susan Tindal, Local Government in Canada (4th ed.; Toronto: McGraw-Hill Ryerson, 1995), 274.
43. Evelyne Tardy, La politique: un monde d'hommes? (Montreal: Hurtubise HMH, 1982), 34-35; Louise Quesnel and Serge Belley, Partis politiques municipaux (Montréal: Éditions Agence D'ARC, 1991); and C. Richard Tindal and Susan Tindal, Local Government in Canada (4th ed.; Toronto: McGraw-Hill Ryerson, 1995), 274.
44. Evelyne Tardy, La politique: un monde d'hommes? (Montreal: Hurtubise HMH, 1982), 34-35; Louise Quesnel and Serge Belley, Partis politiques municipaux (Montréal: Éditions Agence D'ARC, 1991); and C. Richard Tindal and Susan Tindal, Local Government in Canada (4th ed.; Toronto: McGraw-Hill Ryerson, 1995), 274.
45. Based on figures derived from Directeur Général des élections du Québec, Liste des 75 partis politiques municipaux autorisé au 18 avril 1996 (Sainte-Foy: Gouvernement du Québec, 1996).
46. Andrew, "Le pouvoir local," 67.
47. See Welch and Karnig, "Correlates of Female Office-Holding."
48. See Donley T. Studlar and Susan Welch, "The Party System and the Representation of Women in English Metropolitan Boroughs," Electoral Studies 11 (1992), 62-69.
49. See Maillé, Les Québécoises. On the efforts of municipal parties in recent years to recruit women to run for council, see Evelyne Tardy, Maires et mairesses du Québec: différences et ressemblances, note de recherche numéro 51 (Montreal: Université du Québec à Montréal, 1995), 4.
50. See Maillé, Les Québécoises. On the efforts of municipal parties in recent years to recruit women to run for council, see Evelyne Tardy, Maires et mairesses du Québec: différences et ressemblances, note de recherche numéro 51 (Montreal: Université du Québec à Montréal, 1995), 4.
51. While Quebec women gained the right to run for elected office only in 1940 and there were economic restrictions on the right to run for municipal office as late as 1974 (see Maillé, Les Québécoises, 50-51), Quebec is clearly no representational backwater: 21 per cent of Quebec's MPs are women (compared with 18 per cent for Canada as a whole) and nearly one in five of MNAs are women (see Arend and Chandler, "Which Distinctiveness?").
52. While Quebec women gained the right to run for elected office only in 1940 and there were economic restrictions on the right to run for municipal office as late as 1974 (see Maillé, Les Québécoises, 50-51), Quebec is clearly no representational backwater: 21 per cent of Quebec's MPs are women (compared with 18 per cent for Canada as a whole) and nearly one in five of MNAs are women (see Arend and Chandler, "Which Distinctiveness?").
53. See, for example, Maillé, Les Québécoises; Tardy, La politique; Tardy, Maires et mairesses; and Manon Tremblay and Réjean Pelletier, Que font-elles en politique (Sainte Foy: Les Presses de l'Université Laval, 1995).
54. See, for example, Maillé, Les Québécoises; Tardy, La politique; Tardy, Maires et mairesses; and Manon Tremblay and Réjean Pelletier, Que font-elles en politique (Sainte Foy: Les Presses de l'Université Laval, 1995).
55. See, for example, Maillé, Les Québécoises; Tardy, La politique; Tardy, Maires et mairesses; and Manon Tremblay and Réjean Pelletier, Que font-elles en politique (Sainte Foy: Les Presses de l'Université Laval, 1995).
56. See, for example, Maillé, Les Québécoises; Tardy, La politique; Tardy, Maires et mairesses; and Manon Tremblay and Réjean Pelletier, Que font-elles en politique (Sainte Foy: Les Presses de l'Université Laval, 1995).
57. The information in this paragraph comes from Ministère des Affaires municipales, Répertoire des Municipalités du Québec 1996 (Sainte Foy: Les Publications du Québec, 1996).
58. Tardy, Maires et Mairesses du Québec; Tardy, La Politique; and Lyse Pelletier, "En toute égalité," Municipalité 25 (1993), 31.
59. Tardy, Maires et Mairesses du Québec; Tardy, La Politique; and Lyse Pelletier, "En toute égalité," Municipalité 25 (1993), 31.
60. Tardy, Maires et Mairesses du Québec; Tardy, La Politique; and Lyse Pelletier, "En toute égalité," Municipalité 25 (1993), 31.
61. Data were collected on all urban municipalities. The n's reported throughout this study vary slightly because of missing data.
62. Caroline Andrew, "Recasting Political Analysis for Canadian Cities," in Vered Amit-Talai and Henri Lustiger-Thaler, eds., Urban Lives (Toronto: McClelland and Stewart, 1994), 53-119.
63. The information came from Ministère des Affaires municipales, Répertoire des Municipalités du Québec (Sainte Foy: Les Publications du Québec) for 1985, 1990, 1995 and 1996.
64. Lyse Pelletier, Rapport d'évaluation des programmes d'access à l'égalité dans le milieu municipal (Quebec City: Ministère des Affaires municipales, 1990); and Lyse Pelletier, La situation de l'emplois des femmes dans le milieu municipal (Quebec City: Ministère des Affaires municipales, 1994).
65. Lyse Pelletier, Rapport d'évaluation des programmes d'access à l'égalité dans le milieu municipal (Quebec City: Ministère des Affaires municipales, 1990); and Lyse Pelletier, La situation de l'emplois des femmes dans le milieu municipal (Quebec City: Ministère des Affaires municipales, 1994).
66. Kanter, "Some Effects of Proportions," 968.
67. See Alozie and Manganaro, "Women's Council Representation."
68. Tardy, Maires et mairesses, 11.
69. Valérie Lessard, "Aucune femme élu à Aylmer," Le Droit (Ottawa), November 6, 1995, 5.
70. These categories were used because the Ministry of Municipal Affairs specifically singles out cities of 2,000 population and below and 20,000 and above for political and administrative purposes. The two intermediate categories roughly correspond to categories used by the ministry in grouping data.
71. See Andrew Sancton and Paul Woolner, "Full-Time Municipal Councillors: A Strategic Challenge for Canadian Urban Governments," Canadian Public Administration 33 (1990), 482-505.
72. Population size was logged to minimize the statistical effects of skewness.
73. Andrew, "Le pouvoir local," 65-66. She suggests that female councillors who are linked to specific women's groups can at least assure that certain feminist issues get a hearing. On the other hand, control of councils by local business interests means that the municipal level of government may not prove very useful in representing the interests of women. See Caroline Andrew, "Mouvement de femmes et développement local: volontés et contraintes," in C. Gagnon, J.-L. Klein, M. Tremblay and P.-A. Tremblay, eds., Le Local en mouvements (Chicoutimi: GRIR, 1989), 159-60; and Andrew, "Getting Women's Issues on the Municipal Agenda."
74. Andrew, "Le pouvoir local," 65-66. She suggests that female councillors who are linked to specific women's groups can at least assure that certain feminist issues get a hearing. On the other hand, control of councils by local business interests means that the municipal level of government may not prove very useful in representing the interests of women. See Caroline Andrew, "Mouvement de femmes et développement local: volontés et contraintes," in C. Gagnon, J.-L. Klein, M. Tremblay and P.-A. Tremblay, eds., Le Local en mouvements (Chicoutimi: GRIR, 1989), 159-60; and Andrew, "Getting Women's Issues on the Municipal Agenda."
75. Andrew, "Le pouvoir local," 65-66. She suggests that female councillors who are linked to specific women's groups can at least assure that certain feminist issues get a hearing. On the other hand, control of councils by local business interests means that the municipal level of government may not prove very useful in representing the interests of women. See Caroline Andrew, "Mouvement de femmes et développement local: volontés et contraintes," in C. Gagnon, J.-L. Klein, M. Tremblay and P.-A. Tremblay, eds., Le Local en mouvements (Chicoutimi: GRIR, 1989), 159-60; and Andrew, "Getting Women's Issues on the Municipal Agenda."
76. It might be objected that the 33 per cent criterion is too stringent for the four largest councils, each of which has at least 20 members. Our results hold even when these cases are dropped. US studies typically use the proportion of council seats held by women to measure women's representation in local politics, but with 85 per cent of Quebec city councils having six or eight members, the proportions are too affected by council size to treat representation as a continuous variable.
77. See John H. Aldrich and Forrest D. Nelson, Linear Probability, Logit, and Probit Models (Beverly Hills: Sage, 1984).
78. Otherwise logged population was used since the relationship between city size and 33 per cent female presence in Table 3 was approximately linear and there was no size effect for female mayor.
79. In fact, the effects reported in Table 4 do not hold when the threshold is lowered to 10 per cent, suggesting that the minority presence does indeed have to be substantial for its effects to be felt.
80. The sociodemographic data were taken from Statistics Canada, 1991 Census of Canada, Profile of Census Divisions and Subdivisions in Québec (Ottawa: Industry, Science and Technology Canada, 1994), part B, vols. 1 and 2. The information on municipal political parties was derived from Directeur Général des élections du Québec, "Liste des 75 partis politiques municipaux autorisés au 18 avril, 1996" (Quebec City: Centre de Renseignements 1996). All other data come from Répertoire des municipalités du Québec (see note 35).
81. The sociodemographic data were taken from Statistics Canada, 1991 Census of Canada, Profile of Census Divisions and Subdivisions in Québec (Ottawa: Industry, Science and Technology Canada, 1994), part B, vols. 1 and 2. The information on municipal political parties was derived from Directeur Général des élections du Québec, "Liste des 75 partis politiques municipaux autorisés au 18 avril, 1996" (Quebec City: Centre de Renseignements 1996). All other data come from Répertoire des municipalités du Québec (see note 35).
82. This holds true whether those cities are situated within a major urban area (communauté urbaine) or not (municipalité régionale de comté).
83. Indeed, the coefficient for large city size shrinks only slightly when the labour force variables are added to the equation, the uncontrolled coefficient being 1.03.
84. Analyses using median family income and women's median income confirmed that a city's affluence is unrelated to the presence of women in municipal politics.
85. There is a sizeable correlation (.62) between women's labour force participation and women's presence in managerial and administrative occupations. While this might make for some instability in the respective coefficients, the contrast in effects holds when each is entered alone.
86. Tardy, Maires et mairesses. The lack of other significant correlates of the presence of a female mayor parallels Welch and Karnig's results for the US (see "Correlates of Female Office-Holding").
87. Tardy, Maires et mairesses. The lack of other significant correlates of the presence of a female mayor parallels Welch and Karnig's results for the US (see "Correlates of Female Office-Holding").
88. To ensure that outliers were not having a disproportionate effect, we re-ran the analysis excluding the four cities with councils of 20 members or more. The results were unchanged.
89. Alozie and Manganaro, "Women's Council Representation."
90. One reason the RCM/MCM was able to have a high proportion of women elected to the Montreal city council was that it was a new party, so there were few districts which were already spoken for (Maillé, Les québécoises). Since incumbency rates are fairly low, the importance of this as an obstacle is less than might otherwise be the case.
91. Whether entered separately or in combination with at-large elections to capture the single-member versus multimember distinction, multimember "quartier" elections have no impact. See Donley T. Studlar and Susan Welch, "Does District Magnitude Matter? Women Candidates in London Local Elections," Western Political Quarterly 44 (1991), 457-66, and Susan Welch and Donley T. Studlar, "Multimember Districts and the Representation of Women: Evidence from Britain and the United States," Journal of Politics 52 (1990), 391-412, who found only small and inconsistent effects in British local elections.
92. Whether entered separately or in combination with at-large elections to capture the single-member versus multimember distinction, multimember "quartier" elections have no impact. See Donley T. Studlar and Susan Welch, "Does District Magnitude Matter? Women Candidates in London Local Elections," Western Political Quarterly 44 (1991), 457-66, and Susan Welch and Donley T. Studlar, "Multimember Districts and the Representation of Women: Evidence from Britain and the United States," Journal of Politics 52 (1990), 391-412, who found only small and inconsistent effects in British local elections.
93. On the differences between le Parti Civique and the RCM/MCM in the 1970s and 1980s, see Maillé, Les Québécoises.
94. Welch and Karnig, "Correlates of Female Office-Holding."
95. These cities may be atypical, because it is in these cities that there is the greatest potential for women's groups to mobilize successfully to get women elected.
96. While Kushner and his colleagues found the highest proportion of female councillors (26%) in their sample of Ontario cities of over 100,000, they predict that "the achievement of gender parity will be an especially lengthy process in the larger municipalities" given the fact that "the stronghold that [predominantly male] incumbents possess over their safe seats increases as the size of the municipality increases" (Kushner et al., "Ontario Municipal Elections," 21).
97. There has been much less research conducted outside the US, but British studies have generally found few significant predictors of variations in women's local council representation. See, for example, Steven Bristow, "Women Councillors -An Explanation of the Under-Representation of Women in Local Government," Local Government Studies (1980), 73-90; Studlar and Welch, "Understanding the Iron Law"; and Welch and Studlar, "The Effects of Candidate Gender."
98. There has been much less research conducted outside the US, but British studies have generally found few significant predictors of variations in women's local council representation. See, for example, Steven Bristow, "Women Councillors - An Explanation of the Under-Representation of Women in Local Government," Local Government Studies (1980), 73-90; Studlar and Welch, "Understanding the Iron Law"; and Welch and Studlar, "The Effects of Candidate Gender."
99. There has been much less research conducted outside the US, but British studies have generally found few significant predictors of variations in women's local council representation. See, for example, Steven Bristow, "Women Councillors - An Explanation of the Under-Representation of Women in Local Government," Local Government Studies (1980), 73-90; Studlar and Welch, "Understanding the Iron Law"; and Welch and Studlar, "The Effects of Candidate Gender."
100. As Tardy comments in discussing the research she is conducting with her colleagues on women in Quebec municipal politics: "Comment peut-on se sentir les bienvenues en politique quand on se fait accueillir à la table de la MRC de la façon suivante: 'Moi, les femmes, je les aime dans ma cuisine et dans mon lit'" (Evelyne Tardy, "Peu d'élues sur la scène municipale," La Presse [Montreal], March 8, 1997, B3).
101. Evelyne Tardy cites this perception in "Représentation des femmes et politique municipale: Nettement insuffisant!" Municipalité (March-April 1993), 30.