The Disappearance of a Gender Gap: Tolerance and Liberalism in Denmark from 1971 to 1990

Bad on data from Denmark, the paper examines the development of gender differences in political tolerance during the 1970s and 1980s. There was a large gender gap in tolerance at the beginning of the 1970s. which had totally disappeared by the end of the 1980s. The analysis shows that at the beginning of the 1970s. the gender gap is partly explained by differences in political involvement. Interpreted as a result of the different political socialization of men and women. However. part of the difference is unchanged by any control. and this "unexplained" difference is interpreted as the result of a specific female culture. Against this background, it is surprising that the gender difference in political tolerance has vanished only twenty years later. The paper argues that, during these twenty years. a cultural shift has taken place in Denmark. merging the female and male cultures. and eliminating the hitherto 'unexplained' gender difference.     

The Nature of Declining Party Membership in Denmark: Causes and Consequences

Declining party membership in Denmark is analysed in light of the general development of political participation in the 1970s and 1980s. It is demonstrated that the decline in party membership had nothing to do with a general decline in participation. The decline is rather the result of three different processes: (1) the declining number of farmers, (2) the weakening of the organization of the workers, and (3) the political mobilization of the new middle class and women. It is argued, therefore, that the causes of the decline are primarily demographic and socio-economic. It is furthermore argued that the declining membership threatens the traditional mobilizing and socializing functions of the parties and thereby may increase political inequality in the Danish society.     

Review Article: Scandinavian Parties in the Internal and External Arena

Party research lived a relatively quiet life during the 1970s and 1980s in the western world, and to some degree also in Scandinavia, although the central role of parties in the Scandinavian democracies made it impossible for political scientists to completely ignore political parties in their research. However, from the end of 1980s, political party research has been revitalized, and the number of publications has increased substantially. The three books reviewed here are part of the upswing during 1997, which, of course, includes other books and publications from that particular year. Why this renewed interest in studying political parties? For a long period after World War II, Scandinavian political parties were characterized as stable mass organizations. In 1973, the established Danish political system suffered an electoral backlash, and the shock waves gave fuel to speculations of party decline in electoral behavior studies. At the same time, similar trends were visible in Finland and Norway. Much later, interest focused on finding the same signs of decline in the internal party arena. The discussion is still alive, and during this process students of political science have gained new knowledge about parties and their organizations in Scandinavia.     

Feminist consciousness and candidate preference among American women, 1972–1988

Recent research has suggested that women with a feminist consciousness differ from nonfeminists in their attitudes and values. This paper investigates the impact of feminist consciousness on candidate preference and vote choice in presidential elections from 1972 to 1988. In those elections in which candidates took divergent positions on feminist issues, feminism was a significant predictor of candidate preference after controls for demographic variables, political attitudes, and partisanship. In elections in which the candidates took similar positions, however, feminism did not affect candidate preference. The 1980 election was the exception: in that election, feminists cast relucantant ballots for Carter, while rating John Anderson higher.     

Do the Ladies Run This Mutha? The Relationship between Political Rap and Black Feminist Attitudes

Music has been thought of as an art form that expresses ideas and sentiments of the artist. This article examines the relationship between political and non-political rap and Black feminist attitudes. This study includes data from original experiments conducted at Benedict College; a historically Black college in Columbia, SC, where Black males and females were exposed to various genres of music and their support of Black feminist attitudes were measured. Blacks exposed to political rap display increased support of Black feminist attitudes compared to those exposed to non-political rap and the control group, subjects who were not exposed to any form of music. Our research finds that those exposed to non-political rap have less affinity for Black feminist attitudes than those in any other group. This research is important to political science because it furthers our knowledge about public opinion and political attitudes. Specifically, this article demonstrates that non-traditional media forms also have an impact on political attitudes. Specifically, exposure to political rap has a significantly positive impact on the agreement with Black feminist attitudes when compared to exposure to non-political rap. Therefore, not all subgenres of rap music are consistently harmful to Black feminist attitudes and attitudes toward women.     

Work,fertility, and the status of women in Mexico

Among the major transformations affecting Mexican women in recent decades were their growing participation in the labor market and the fertility decline that began in the 1970s with widespread access to contraception. Data from 3 major Mexican fertility surveys, employment surveys, and censuses are used to analyze changes in female employment and their determinants during the years of economic recession in the 1980s. The main characteristics of the Mexican fertility decline are described, and the relationship between fertility and female employment before and during the economic recession is scrutinized for different social sectors. Suggestions for research on the affects of these changes on the social condition of Mexican women are then presented. The proportions of Mexican women over 12 years old who declared themselves economically active increased from 16% in 1970 to 21% in 1979 and 32% in 1987. Until the 1970s the majority of employed women were young and single or childless. But a clear increase occurred between 1976-87 in the economic participation of older women in union. Economic participation of low income and less educated women increased as they sought work or created their own in response to deteriorating living conditions during the recession. Young women with intermediate or higher educational levels did not increase their relative presence in the labor market in the same period. The marked increase in economic participation of less educated women in union with small children was accompanied by a significant increase in manual occupations. Between 1982-87, the proportion of women aged 20-49 in nonsalaried manual occupations rose from 7.6% to 18.5%. Mexico's fertility decline has been well documented. The total fertility rate declined from 6.3 in 1973 to 3.8 in 1986, while the percentage of women in union using a contraceptive method increased from 30.2 in 1976 to 52.7 in 1987. Fertility differentials have been declining but are still considerable. The inhibitory influence of children on female labor force participation in Mexico is clear, but in the years of economic recession the most notable increase in female workers was in women with 3 or more children of whom the youngest was under 3. It appears that the influence of children on women's employment depends on the socioeconomic status of the woman as well as on the dynamism or sluggishness of the labor market. Research is needed on the significance of changes in fertility and female employment for women's status in Mexico. Several recent works have presented results of microsocial analyses of the ways in which women experience changes in their lives resulting from fertility and employment decisions. A methodological strategy for studying these changes and their influence on women's status should focus on comparisons between different generations and birth cohorts, different types of employment, and different socioeconomic statuses. Both macrosocial and microsocial forms of analysis are needed to provide a full picture.     

Grass roots participation in the Nordic countries

Abstract. Despite the similarities between the Nordic countries with regard to social and political structures, major differences in grass roots participation are found. Participation is highest in Sweden and lowest in Finland, with Denmark, Norway and Iceland falling in between. There are also striking differences between the countries regarding the relationships between participation and factors as age, gender, education, social class and party choice. Two theories may help us to understand these differences. The first, mobilization theory, claims that grass root participation is used to mobilize new social groups. This theory is supported by evidence from Denmark, Norway and Iceland. During the 1970s and the 1980s all three countries experienced political mobilization of the well-educated, the new middle class and the women. The second theory, supplement theory, claims that grass root participation is nothing but an extension of the conventional modes of participation. This theory is supported in Sweden. The last section of the paper argues that differences between countries may be explained by differences in the strength of traditional political organizations.     

Welfare-Ideological Change in Scandinavia: A Comparative Analysis of Partisan Welfare State Positions in Four Nordic Countries, 1970–2003

During the 1990s, the Nordic welfare states, notably Finland and Sweden, faced serious challenges that triggered a number of welfare restructuring processes. This article focuses on the political determinants of these processes, or, more exactly, it analyses changes in partisan welfare policy positions in Denmark, Finland, Norway and Sweden between 1970 and 2003. The main goal of the article is to chart possible changes in party positions on social policy. Has there been a decline in pro‐welfare attitudes during the period 1970–2003, and if so, how are these changes related to ideological and institutional factors? The data analysed in the article consists of election programmes, and more specifically, textual utterances concerning the welfare state. The results indicate a relatively high degree of stability in partisan support for welfare state expansion and investments in social justice, while market‐type solutions to social problems, on the other hand, have become more salient among parties, especially in the Right. The findings suggest that parties still differ from each other as to welfare‐political positions, indicating that Social Democratic and left‐wing parties remain the foremost defenders of the ‘Nordic Welfare Model’, whereas the Right has become more hesitant towards welfare state expansion.     

Beyond compare? Women's movements in comparative perspective

Abstract. This article reviews a selected range of comparative political research on women's movements, a subfield of political science whose recent proliferation now positions it at the leading edge of women and politics scholarship. Recognizing that "women" as a category of research is of necessity heterogeneous and informed by differences of race, class, ethnicity, nationality, generation, and religion, the article argues that this complex intersectionality need not mean that women's movements are beyond the scope of comparative political research. Rather, as the research focus of women and politics scholars has become increasingly carefully specified, general patterns are evident in the research that should serve to advance the comparative study of women's movements and comparative political research more generally. The article focuses on definitional challenges and the limitations of conflating "women's movements", "feminist movements", and "women in social movements", and discusses four major research arenas within which cross–national commonalities among women's movements are evidenced. These include the relationship between women's movements and political parties; "double militancy" as a potentially distinctive collective identity problem for women's movement activists; the extent to which political opportunities for women's movements are (or can be) gendered; and the relationship between women's movements and the state. The article concludes with suggestions for future research in the subfields of comparative women's movements and comparative politics.     

The political mobilisation of the new middle class in Denmark during the 1970s and 1980s

This article deals with recent changes in political participation in Denmark. A distinction is made between the mobilisation and the supplementary theory of participation. Applying data from samples of younger generations from 1979 and 1988, it is shown that a strong collective mobilisation of the new middle class of well‐educated public sector employees took place through grass‐roots activities during the 1970s. This changed during the 1980s, however, when grass‐roots participation increasingly became a supplement to more conventional forms of political participation.     

Women's Entry into Politics: The Experience of the Danish Local and General Elections 1908–20

The article studies how enfranchised women reacted to the established political system. Should they seek to introduce new conflict dimensions or simply adjust to a party system, established before women gained the right to participate? In order to answer these questions. the aims and actions of the Danish women's rights movement are investigated.
A number of women's lists were introduced in the first local elections, but they soon disappeared. Proposals for forming a Women's Party in parliamentary elections were made in Denmark, as in many other countries, after the enfranchisement, but the actual possibilities for a Women's Party were very small. Electoral statistics from this period are studied in order to determine the number of women nominated and elected. and to identify the structural barriers against women's access. The rural-urban dimension seems to be the most decisive factor. with sex itself constituting a resource in rural districts.     

Ladies against women: Explaining the political participation of traditional- and modern-role females

Data from the 1980 National Election Study are used to examine how well participation theory variables and group consciousness variables account for the nonvoting political activity of traditional-role women. Of the little variance in this activity that is explained by a regression analysis among these women (.070 after adjustments for number of respondents and variables, compared to .240 among modern-role women), most is due to two participation theory variables: party identification and efficacy. However, a discriminant function analysis emphasizes two group consciousness variables (gender consciousness and religious consciousness) and only one participation theory variable (political ideology) as the main forces that distinguish active traditional-role from active modern-role women. These findings indicate the need to make clear which comparison group — other traditional-role women or politically active modern-role women — is being used in efforts to understand traditional-role women's political conduct. The findings also call for new theoretical directions about traditional-role women's nonvoting participation, because of the weak explanatory ability exhibited by all fourteen variables together.     

The participation of women in urban labor markets in Mexico: 1970-1980

This article analyzes the presence of women in urban labor markets in Mexico during the 1970s in terms of the regional location of the city and the type and diversity of employment opportunities for women. 49 cities with over 100,000 inhabitants in 1980 were grouped into 3 regions, the relatively urban and industrial north, the heterogeneous center, and the less developed south. Census data for 1970 and 1980 on male and female labor force participation in the municipios containing the 49 cities were analyzed to assess urban labor markets. The cities were grouped according to whether they had higher or lower than average rates of labor force participation in the 2 study years. The cities of the north included the greatest relative number of cases of low female and male labor force participation in 1970 and 1980 and a declining trend for the 1970s. Cities of the center had the highest levels of male and female labor force participation in both 1970 and 1980 and showed a trend toward increasing female participation in the 1970s. Cities in the south were in an intermediate position, but during the 1970s a high percentage showed a trend toward increase in male participation and decrease in female participation. Typologies of the cities were then constructed based on female age specific participation rates and female occupational distribution. Urban areas with high rates of participation among young women aged 15-24 years were distinguished from those with high participation rates for younger and older women, and those with less diversified employment opportunities for women were distinguished from those with more diversity. Female participation presented marked variations between regions. In general, women participated to a greater degree in diversified labor markets that absorbed workers of different ages and degrees of qualification. There were not necessarily more female workers in cities that were more dynamic in terms of economy and male participation. Cities of 100,000 or more inhabitants in the center were characterized by a high proportion of women of different ages in the labor market. Cities in the north had lower average levels of female participation although those on the northern border had a high participation of young women in manufactures and assembly. Southern cities employed women in manual occupations, especially in commerce and services. Primarily adolescents under 15 and women over 25 were employed. Apart from the regional variations there were variations in female employment within regions. An annex discusses the study methodology in greater detail.     

Neoliberal feminism as political ideology: revitalizing the study of feminist political ideologies

Abstract

The emerging literature on neoliberal feminism appears to signal the revitalization of the study of feminist ideologies, suspended since the mid-1980s. However, it is argued here that scholars tend to conceptualize neoliberal feminism in a way that inhibits ideological analysis, as exemplified in Nancy Fraser’s Fortunes of Feminism. They take classifications of feminist political ideologies from the 1980s as representative of the only true feminisms, and thus view neoliberal feminism as a perversion, rather than an outgrowth, of earlier feminisms. This account of the emergence of neoliberal feminism is both historically inaccurate and politically problematic: it positions feminists as passive in the face of an overpowering neoliberal agency, and limits feminists’ capacity to imagine themselves as agents of political and ideological change. Building on Michael Freeden’s work on political ideologies, an alternative account of neoliberal feminism is offered, one that locates feminist agency in the production of new feminist ideologies.     

Political Representation of Women in Northern Ireland

Increasing the political representation of women in Northern Ireland is part of fostering political pluralism. First, the political representation of women requires democratic participation and a justification of 'women' as a category. Second, specific factors of culture and the church unique to Ireland hinder women's participation in elected politics, and there are additional factors of class, violence, and nationalism that are peculiar to Northern Ireland. Third, gender quotas are successful elsewhere, but alone will not alter the powerful resistance to feminist change in Northern Ireland. Structures to encourage inclusionary politics must create spaces for political women to be transformative agents.     

Gendering the Holy Cross School Dispute: Women and Nationalism in Northern Ireland

This article explores the Holy Cross school dispute in Northern Ireland from a feminist perspective. This ethnic quarrel produced a situation whereby women and young schoolgirls became the focal point of a sectarian protest from September 2001 to early 2002. Throughout the conflict, issues of gender were sidelined from the analysis of the dispute. The article attempts to remedy this omission by moving the category of gender to the forefront of the analysis. It examines the relationship between nationalist discourses of gender identity and representations of the nationalist women's agency during the dispute. While exposing these dimensions of the conflict, the article also considers the impact of women's ethno-nationalist agency on their role and positioning within nationalist cultures. It concludes that the Holy Cross conflict exposes the potentially disruptive aspects of women's ethno-nationalist agency and highlights the political significance of that agency for nationalist cultures pursuing ideals of gender equality.     

The Political Mobilisation of Women's Interest Issues: The Failure of Childcare

The Women's Liberation Movement achieved political success with several issues - but not with childcare. This article addresses the reasons for the success and failure of various WII's, examining the nature of pressure politics, methods of organising, public and private debates before focusing on women's attitudes to the childcare issue. The conclusion drawn here is that the more successful feminist issues' do not challenge gender roles to the same extent as childcare does - which could explain the nonmobilisation of childcare as an issue.