Women and British party politics : descriptive, substantive and symbolic representation / Sarah Childs.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Childs, Sarah, 1969-

Series:

Routledge advances in European politics ; 51.

Routledge advances in European politics ; 51

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Women--Political activity--Great Britain.

Women.

Women--Political activity.

Women legislators.

Great Britain.

Women legislators--Great Britain.

Representative government and representation--Great Britain.

Representative government and representation.

Women--Great Britain--Social conditions.

Social conditions.

Physical Description:

xxvii, 203 pages : illustrations ; 24 cm.

Place of Publication:

London ; New York : Routledge, 2008.

Summary:

Women and British Party Politics examines the characteristics of women's participation at the mass and elite level in contemporary British politics; as voters, party members and elected representatives respectively. It explores what this means for ideas about, and the practice of, descriptive, substantive and symbolic representation. The main focus is on the feminization of British party politics - the integration of women into formal political institutions and the integration of women's concerns and perspectives into political debate and policy - in the post-1997 period.

Not only specifically designed to bring together cutting-edge conceptual developments in the sub-discipline of gender and politics, with robust British empirical research, this book also presents reflections on how best to study gender and politics. The empirical findings which are presented through the extensive use of case studies derive from a range of research projects which were undertaken over a period of ten years, and which make use of a variety of research methods and techniques.

This book will appeal to all those with an interest in British Politics, Feminism and European Studies; and will provide the reader with an overview of the complex relationship between sex, gender and politics in a conceptually sophisticated fashion.

Contents:

Prologue

Introduction

Political participation and descriptive representation

Women's political participation and voting / Rosie Campbell with Sarah Childs

Feminizing British political parties

Women's legislative recruitment

Substantive and symbolic representation

Representation : why women's presence matters

The substantive representation of women / Sarah Childs and Mona Lena Krook

Women politicians, the media and symbolic representation

Conclusion.

Notes:

Includes bibliographical references (pages [181]-198) and index.

ISBN:

9780415366823

0415366828

9780203019443

020301944X

OCLC:

179101725