Women's involvement in local government: The ultimate community group?

Political Science

Volumn 50, Issue 2, 1999, Pages 195-203

  Drage, Jean ^a  

^a VICTORIA UNIVERSITY OF WELLINGTON   (New Zealand)

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EID: 22444455898     PISSN: 00323187     EISSN: None     Source Type: Journal    
DOI: 10.1177/003231879905000205     Document Type: Article

References (26)

1. The title for this article emerged from a discussion with women councillors from the Tasman District Council and Nelson City Council in Richmond in September 1997 on how these women had come to be involved in local government. I am grateful to Dr Elizabeth McLeay for her assistance in reviewing an earlier draft of this article.
2. These figures stand in sharp contrast to those of only 100 years ago, when there was 2,125 authorities with 13,981 elected members. At that time New Zealand's population was 630,000 whereas now the population is about 3.8 million. Refer Michael Bassett, The Mother of all Departments: The History of the Department of Internal Affairs (Auckland, 1997), p. 43.
3. The Department of Internal Affairs, Local Authority Election Statistics 1995, 1997. Provisional figures from the 1998 elections show that we now have 19 women mayors (25 per cent) and women have been elected to 29 per cent of seats on city, district and regional councils. Figures for community board elections have not been compiled at this time.
4. Kenneth Prewitt, The Recruitment of Political Leaders: A Study of Citizen-Politicians (Indianapolis, 1970), p. 7.
5. Prewitt, The Recruitment of Political Leaders, p. 13.
6. Prewitt, The Recruitment of Political Leaders, p. 86.
7. Susan Gluck Mezey, 'The Effects of Sex on Recruitment: Connecticut Local Offices', in Debra W. Stewart (ed.). Women in Local Politics (Metuchen, 1980), p. 72.
8. Sharyne Merritt, 'Recruitment of Women to Suburban City Councils: Higgins vs. Chevalier', in Women in Local Politics, p. 94.
9. Janet A. Flammang, 'Female Officials in the Feminist Capital: The Case of Santa Clara County', Western Political Quarterly, Vol. 38 (1985), pp. 94-118.
10. Amanda Sinclair, with Margaret Bowman and Lynne Strahan, Getting The Numbers: Women in Local Government (Victoria, 1987).
11. Sinclair, Getting the Numbers, pp. 54-7.
12. Vicky Randall, Women and Politics: An International Perspective, 2nd edn. (Houndmills, Basingstoke, 1987), p. 58.
13. Anne Else (ed.), Women Together: A History of Women's Organisations in New Zealand (Wellington, 1993), p. viii.
14. Rosemarie Smith, 'Rural Organisations', in Women Together, p. 379.
15. Fiona McKergow, 'Dominion Federation of Townswomen's Guilds 1932-', in Women Together, p. 313.
16. Dorothy Page, The National Council of Women: A Centennial History (Auckland, 1996).
17. Also see, Roberta Nicholls and Dorothy Page, 'National Council of Women of New Zealand 1896-1906, 1916 -', Women Together, p. 83.
18. John Halligan and Paul Harris, 'Women's Participation in New Zealand Local Body Elections', Political Science, Vol. 29 (1977), p. 105.
19. Philippa Hardy, 'Women in Local Government in New Zealand', unpublished B.A. Honours paper. University of Otago (1991), p. 37.
20. The Department of Internal Affairs, Local Government Candidates:1992 (Wellington, 1994), p. 25.
21. Judith Aitken, 'Women as Candidates for Local Government Office', unpublished B.A. paper, Victoria University (1977), p. 56.
22. Diane Grant (ed.), Here I Stand: The Experiences of Women Candidates in the 1980 Local Body Elections (Martinborough, 1983), p. 2.
23. This research was based on a survey of all elected women councillors in city, district and regional council (including women mayors) in 1998. The research approach was approved by the Victoria University of Wellington Human Ethics committee.
24. The 1995 local authority elections resulted in 311 women being elected to district, city and regional councils (15 women mayors and 296 councillors). Total figures used for this survey have been adjusted to 309 as three women have resigned, one has died, and two more women have been elected in by-elections since the 1995 elections. Note that these are the changes that I am aware of. Apart from legislative requirements to publish election results there is no compulsion to notify any central office of changes in representation in the period between elections. Elected women on community boards were not included in this research.
25. A questionnaire was sent to all elected women. No follow-up letters were sent.
26. This figure reflects the declining influence and involvement of political parties in local government.