Political biography and autobiography and the study of women in politics in Canada: The case of political ambition

This article examines the concept of women's political ambition by focusing on electoral politics in Canada. It begins with an overview of some of the key theories associated with political ambition among women and identifies several ways in which previous research indicates that patterns among women legislators may be different from those of their male counterparts. While recognising that there may be some limitations of auto/biographical works as reliable sources of information, the central idea of this article is that political auto/biography of Canadian women legislators may prove to be important resources in furthering our understanding of political ambition among women legislators. As part of this analysis, this research examines 16 auto/biographical works of women who have served in Canada's federal and provincial legislatures since the Second World War.     

A social and political profile of Canadian legislators, 1996

This research note provides an overview and an update on the social and political backgrounds of all elected Canadian legislators at the federal and provincial/territorial levels of government in 1996. For provincial/territorial legislators data are presented by electoral jurisdiction, and for all legislators by level of government and political party. Relatively few differences in social characteristics were found between the two levels although there were some variations by province, territory and party. Business, education and law are the three most prevalent occupations, although the latter has declined among legislators over time. There is little movement of members from the provincial to the federal level. The most common political experience of both groups lies in municipal governance. Over time women have increased their share of seats at both levels. Even in a polity such as Canada with high rates of legislative turnover at both federal and provincial/territorial levels and with new parties emerging, most changes in social and political experience backgrounds proceed incrementally.     

EDITORIAL

Abstract

Guided by the theoretical framework of quality of life and social disorganization, this study combined data from three independent sources (4,469 community surveys, Census Bureau, and police crime records) to simultaneously examine the influence of contextual characteristics (concentrated disadvantage, social isolation, and violent crime) on residents' perceived incivilities across 10 city council districts in San Antonio, Texas, net of citizen-level covariates. Several findings emerged from the Poisson hierarchical analysis. At the citizen-level, Latino, age, homeowner, perceived safety, and quality of life rating were significantly related to perceived incivility. At the council district level, all the contextual variables were positively and significantly associated with the outcome. Implications from these findings are considered.     

The Making and Unmaking of Feminicidio/Femicidio Laws in Mexico and Nicaragua

This article examines the contested process of law‐making related to the killing of women which resulted in the criminalization of feminicide (feminicidio) and femicide (femicidio) in Mexico and Nicaragua, two countries in which feminists engaged in legal activism to increase state accountability for gendered violence. Through comparative analysis, we demonstrate the importance of (1) the interaction between shifting local political conditions and supranational opportunities and (2) the position of feminist actors vis‐à‐vis the state and its gender regime in shaping regional variation in the making of laws concerning gendered violence. In Mexico, the criminalization of feminicidio resulted from a successful naming and shaming campaign by local feminist actors linked to litigation in various supranational arenas, and the intervention of feminist federal legislators. In Nicaragua, the codification of femicidio resulted from the state's selective responsiveness to feminist demands in a moment of narrow political opportunity within an otherwise highly consolidated regime. We also examine the unmaking of these laws through their perversion in practice (Mexico) and their intentional undermining (Nicaragua) at the hands of the state. Our analysis demonstrates how states' decisions to enact legislation against gendered violence does not occur solely because they are invested in international legitimacy, but also in response to states' shifting acceptance of the legitimacy of supranational authority itself.     

Evaluating contextual patterns of delinquency: Gender-based differences

The effects of legal and extralegal variables on sentences are compared for separate samples of male and female felony imprisonment cases from a state justice system. Although no gross sex differences in sentence severity were found, the variables that predict sentence severity were found to differ by sex. Race affected sentence length for men but not for women; employment status affected the sentences of women but not of men. The effect of offense seriousness on sentence length varied by sex. Family status variables were found to have weak and inconsistent effects on the sentences of female offenders. Qualitative analysis of the official narratives of the cases studied revealed some evidence that sex differences in legal processing reflect the influence of patriarchal values.     

Ideology and Polarization Among Women State Legislators

In early work on women in Congress, scholars consistently identified a tendency among women legislators to be more liberal roll‐call voters than male copartisans. Recent changes in Congress point to the polarization of women, where Democratic women remain more liberal than Democratic men but Republican women are no different from, or more conservative than, Republican men. We use newly available state legislative roll‐call data to determine whether women state legislators are more liberal or polarized than male copartisans. We find that while Democratic women state legislators remain consistently more liberal than male copartisans in most state chambers, Republican women legislators are growing more conservative. Thus, women state legislators are increasingly polarized in most U.S. states. Legislator replacement and increasing polarization among state legislators in office contribute to this effect. We argue that polarization among women legislators has implications for the representation of women in the states.     

Women,the Home and Resistance in Northern Ireland

Abstract

This paper provides a perspective on women's resistance in Northern Ireland by focussing on their experiences of house raids. In light of a growing literature on women in conflict with the state, it argues that women have become increasingly politicised and organised in their resistance to repeated incursions into the home by the security forces which have ruptured traditional boundaries around relations of motherhood, home maker and sexual privacy. Based on a qualitative study of one hundred women in Northern Ireland, this paper suggests the coercive agents of the state have played a significant role in both the individual and collective resistance of women. Paradoxically, it seems, the security forces have become agents of change whereby the exposition and violation of the home has been one of the forces which has nurtured and defined women's political consciousness.     

Prediction of attitudes towards child sexual abuse among three different Norwegian samples

Abstract

The aim of the current study was to reveal attitudes towards child sexual abuse and investigate predictors of such attitudes. A random sample of the Norwegian adult population (n = 296), active Christians (n = 125) and prisoners convicted of child sexual abuse (n = 36) were included in the study. The results show that women were more negative towards child sexual abuse than men, and the prisoners had more accepting attitudes than the other samples. Predictors of attitudes differed across the samples. Empathy and normlessness were the best predictors of attitudes among the random sample of adults and the active Christians. The largest predictor of attitudes among the prisoners was their view of women. The implications of the results for prevention strategies are discussed.     

Promoting a "good death": determinants of pain-management policies in the United States

Many Americans do not experience a good death. The inadequate treatment of pain at the end of life has been associated with a lack of supportive public policies more than a lack of evidence-based clinical practices or organizational efforts. Given a widespread lack of understanding about pain policies, we examine the critical role played by state medical boards in developing pain policies and then apply event history analysis to identify the variables most critical to the formation of these policies. We develop an integrated model and evaluate the adoption of eight different types of pain policies. The analytic models incorporate fifteen years of observational data and test the impact of contextual, political, extrinsic, and institutional variables. They reveal that the presence of legal counselors on state medical boards has consistently increased the likelihood that state boards adopt policies associated with progressive pain management. Further, policy has been negatively influenced by historical activity: boards that previously adopted one pain policy have been less likely to subsequently adopt additional pain policies. This work illuminates mechanisms behind state pain-policy adoption and provides valuable information for advocates who seek to improve pain-management policy and reduce the amount of pain at the end of life.     

Contextualizing sentencing disparities: using conjunctive analysis of case configurations to identify patterns of variability

Using national data from felony cases processed in state courts (n = 48,006), the current study investigates the nature and magnitude of contextual variability associated with sentencing outcomes. Multivariate models are first estimated to identify the main effects of various offender and offense variables on sentencing decisions. Conjunctive analysis is then used to evaluate the contextual variability of each of these main effects across all observed combinations of offender and offense attributes. Separate analyses are also conducted among states with and without mandatory sentencing guidelines to explore whether these guidelines reduce this variability across different contexts. Findings from this study and its comparative methods are discussed in terms of implications for future research on criminal sentencing and assessing the contextual variability of the main effects of particular legal and extralegal factors.     

Strategic Challenger Entry in a Federal System: The Role of Economic and Political Conditions in State Legislative Competition

Over a third of state legislators do not face challengers when seeking reelection. Existing analyses of state legislative contestation almost exclusively focus on the stable institutional features surrounding elections and ignore conditions that change between elections. I remedy this oversight by investigating how political contexts influence challenger entry. State legislators—particularly members of the governor's party—more often face opposition during weak state economies, but the president's copartisans are even more likely to receive a challenger when the president is unpopular. My findings suggest that both national‐ and state‐level political conditions have an important impact on challengers' entry strategies.     

Parliamentary party groups and their parties: A comparative assessment

This article presents a comparative study of the interrelationship between parliamentary party groups and their extra‐parliamentary party organisations in liberal democracies. Starting with a historical overview of the most important party changes that have taken place since the 1960s, a typology of parliamentary party/party organisation relations is suggested. The following variables are identified as being of particular importance in shaping the structure of power in political parties: position of parliament in the political system; (non‐)existence of the incompatibility rule; effects of the electoral system; competition structure and degree of polarisation of the party system; political culture; conditions under which parties emerged; (non‐)existence of public funding for parties; degree of professionalisation of the political elite.     

Situational factors in female-perpetrated child sexual abuse in organisations: implications for prevention

ABSTRACT

Despite increasing interest in child sexual abuse occurring in organisations, the perpetration of such abuse by females is largely ignored. This study examined situational factors in 136 cases of sexual abuse perpetrated by women working with children in the UK, Canada and the USA between 2000 and 2016. Qualitative and quantitative content analysis of court reports, professional regulator decisions, media reports and an online sentencing database was used, findings indicating that situational and contextual factors are highly relevant in perpetration. Much abuse occurs away from the organisational environment, particularly in perpetrators’ homes and cars, and in virtual environments. However, it also occurs within organisations, generally in unsupervised areas, outside of operating hours and often during mentoring/tutoring or extra-curricular activities. Organisational and local culture can be a facilitator in this abuse and allow it to continue even when concerns are raised. Practical prevention measures are suggested to assist in reducing future abuse.     

Statutory discretion and procedural control of the European commission's executive functions

By delegating powers and designing administrative procedures, ministers of the Council, the legislators of the European Union, shape the boundaries of the EU administration. This article uses theories of executive politics to test the factors that affect the degree of statutory discretion delegated by the Council to the Commission in secondary legislation. It suggests that discretion increases with (1) the uncertainty facing legislators, (2) the convergence of preferences between the Commission and the pivotal legislator, (3) the use of qualified majority, and (4) policies that require limited involvement of national administrations. It also tests whether discretion is positively correlated with the stringency of procedural control. The article employs regression analysis and co‐graduation tests on a sample of legislation and concludes that uncertainty, policy types and informal decision rules are statistically and substantively relevant in explaining discretion. Discretion is also significantly correlated with the stringency of control.     

Animal protection and legislators in Britain and the United States

This article considers the reaction of legislators to the emergence of animal protection as a political issue. A quantitative analysis of legislative behaviour in the House of Commons and the House of Representatives in the late 1980s and early 1990s reveals (mainly through the identification of a small but significant group of legislators willing to promote concern for animal welfare) that the growing societal concern for animals has permeated into the political institutions of Britain and the United States. Examining the characteristics of these legislators suggests, moreover, that the most significant variable is party label, with concern for animals being associated with parties of the centre‐left. It is further suggested that there are good reasons to suppose that this association is no accident and that ideologically, there is a fit between animal protection and the ideals of the left.     

Understanding the political goals of non-binding resolutions: evidence from the Mexican Chamber of Deputies

By primarily focusing on bill initiatives, the literature on legislatures and parliaments has understudied other important legislative instruments -such as non-binding resolutions, minutes or speeches- which might help parties and legislators achieve their electoral and policy goals. Non-binding resolutions (NBRs) do not carry the force of law and are primarily used for parties or legislators’ position taking and the request of government actions. This article examines the political goals of NBRs by examining these tools in the lower chamber of the Mexican Congress. Employing a novel dataset, we claim that legislators strategically utilise NBRs to strengthen their relationship with their political principals. We find differences on the use of these instruments across political parties, based on the types of policy areas they choose to target. The analysis also indicates that SMD legislators tend to introduce more particularistic NBRs that might further their political careers at the subnational level.     

Legislative Professionalism and Influence on State Agencies: The Effects of Resources and Careerism

Legislative professionalization typically involves two concomitant processes: increasing institutional resources and increasing careerism among state legislators. These processes, we argue, entail different effects for legislative influence on state administrative agencies. Greater legislative resources serve to increase legislative influence, but greater political careerism among state legislators serves to decrease it. Because these two processes are normally intertwined within the process of legislative professionalization, the net effect of professionalism is uncertain, although our analysis suggests that the negative effect of careerism may outweigh the positive effect of institutional resources. These results have significant implications for the democratic responsiveness of executive branch agencies.     

Do female legislators have different policy priorities than their male colleagues in an undemocratic/semi-democratic legislature? The case of Hong Kong

This article investigates the impacts of democratic transition on gender outcomes in Hong Kong, which has a unique path of transition. The author studies whether democratic transition in Hong Kong since the mid-1980s has brought positive gender outcomes. Specifically, this article examines the extent to which Hong Kong’s female legislators acted for women’s interests from 1970 to 2012. The study finds that after the introduction of legislative elections, female legislators were more likely to represent women’s interests than male legislators. Apart from gender, the study also finds that political orientation of a legislator significantly affected legislator policy priorities and/or gender outcome. Liberal legislators proposed significantly more motions related to women’s interests than conservative legislators. Finally, the study highlights that as the legislature was transited from an undemocratic to a semi-democratic body, legislators were significantly more likely to propose motions related to women’s interests.     

Production Assets,News Opportunities,and Publicity for Legislators: A Study of Israeli Knesset Members

This study proposes a number of theoretical and methodological innovations in an attempt to better understand how legislators compete for media coverage. We make a distinction between those variables that determine the potential newsworthiness of a legislature (production assets) and those that are related to the political and media environment in which the legislators operate (news opportunities). We then put forth five hypotheses and test them by examining the political standing, charismatic communication skills, and radio exposure of 54 members of the Israeli Knesset. The results confirm that political standing and charismatic communication skills are important predictors of media exposure and that the relative importance of these factors changes during different political seasons.