Gender and the liberal democrats : representing women? / Elizabeth Evans.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Evans, Elizabeth, 1979- author.

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Liberal Democrats (Great Britain).

Women--Political activity--Great Britain.

Women.

Great Britain--Politics and government.

Great Britain.

Physical Description:

1 online resource (xv, 173 pages) : digital, PDF file(s).

Edition:

1st ed.

Place of Publication:

Manchester ; New York : Manchester University Press, 2011.

Language Note:

English

Summary:

This book provides an exploration of women's representation and the third party in UK politics. Based on extensive research, it is a comprehensive gendered analysis of the Liberal Democrats and the research highlights specific institutional factors within the Liberal Democrats that directly impact upon the party's low number of women MPs. The book explores the extent to which the party's ideology, culture and organisation are dominated by a prevailing masculine bias and questions why the Liberal Democrats continue to overwhelmingly return white, middle-aged, male MPs to Westminster. It highlights a number of findings: the Liberal Democrats' low number of women MPs is due to demand rather than supply; the party have not selected a sufficient number of women in winnable or target seats; the lack of women MPs undermines the party's pro-women policies; and women's interests have not been mainstreamed within the Liberal Democrats. Together, these conclusions address substantive questions regarding the Liberal Democrats' numerical under-representation of women MPs and the extent to which they can act for and symbolically represent women. The book demonstrates the importance of using gender as a tool for analysing the culture, organisation and political recruitment of British political parties. Its contribution lies in the empirical findings and its ability to address wider conceptual debates.

Contents:

Copyright; Contents; List of tables; List of abbreviations; Acknowledgments; Foreword; 1. Gender and the Liberal Democrats: national and international context; 2. The Liberal Democrats: ideology and organisation; 3. Feminist presence and women's descriptive representation; 4. Supply and demand: the political recruitment of women; 5. Women's substantive representation: 'for women' but not by women; 6. The symbolic representation of women: tokens or role models?; 7. Conclusions: representing women?; Appendices; Appendix 1 Research methods

Appendix 2 A chronology of women's representation and the Liberal DemocratsBibliography; Index

Notes:

Title from publisher's bibliographic system (viewed on 28 Apr 2026).

Includes bibliographical references and index.

ISBN:

9781847797872

1847797873

9781781702277

1781702276

9781847794116

1847794114

OCLC:

818847535