Female Deputies and Cabinet Members in Quebec: Past and Present

Spencer, Samia I.; Spencer, William A.

doi:10.1080/02722019209481119

Cited by 2 publications

(2 citation statements)

References 3 publications

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“…In the 1960s one woman was considered the limit for federal cabinets (Bashevkin 1993;MacIvor 1996) and probably also for provincial cabinets; in 1976 women held less than four percent of provincial cabinet positions. By 1994 women averaged almost 21 percent of ministerial appointees, with even larger shares in several provinces (Spencer and Spencer 1992;Studlar and Moncrief 1997). There are few systematic studies of women political appointees at the provincial level in Canada.…”

Section: Literature Review and Hypothesesmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…There are few systematic studies of women political appointees at the provincial level in Canada. Research on women as cabinet ministers, on either the provincial or federal level, has been predominantly concerned with political recruitment (Moncrief and Studlar 1996;Studlar and Moncrief 1997) or biographies (Spencer 1985;1986). Most research on the portfolios women hold appears briefly in general surveys of women's representation or as an afterthought in studies of women as legislators (Brodie 1977;Cochrane 1979;Vickers and Brodie 1981;Bashevkin 1993;Spencer and Spencer 1992;Trimble 1992;Arscott and Trimble 1997;MacIvor 1996).…”

Section: Literature Review and Hypothesesmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Women's Work? The Distribution and Prestige of Portfolios in the Canadian Provinces

Studlar

Moncrief

1999

Governance

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Historically not only have women cabinet ministers in Western democracies been few in number, but they have generally been limited to "women's ministries" such as education, health, social services, and culture. This article systematically investigates the responsibilities and prestige of portfolios that women cabinet ministers in the ten Canadian provinces have held over a 21-year period, 1976-1997, an era in which their share of cabinet positions rose from less than 4% to almost 25%. Although still concentrated in traditional women's ministries, they have diversified the portfolios they hold. Using a tri-fold classification of portfolios into (1) important, (2) middle range, and (3) junior positions, we find that women increasingly have achieved more prestigious portfolios, perhaps a reflection of the reduced number of cabinet positions in the 1990s and more concerted attempts to promote women. But the law of increasing disproportion still exists, at least in overall terms of the relative prestige of cabinet positions.In party leadership, in senior administrative posts, in parliaments and in governments, the few women included concentrate on specialized matters, such as health, education, motherhood, family welfare, housing, etc.-that is, on all problems which, in the general opinion, are considered to be of special interest to women (Duverger 1955, 123-124).Within each strategic elite the proportion of women declines as we move from lower to higher strata (Putnam 1976, 36).Despite the fact that the cabinet is the apex of political power in a parliamentary system, women political appointees are one of the most understudied groups in political elites. In contrast to the numerous studies of women in legislatures, there is little systematic data-based research on women as cabinet ministers, perhaps because there are usually few women in any individual cabinet. This paper fills this gap by providing the first systematic, overtime research comparing the relative prestige of women's and men's cabinet positions in any polity. The paper utilizes data from all ten Canadian provinces over a 21-year period, 1976-1997, to investigate the extent to which women's patterns of ministerial

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Section: Literature Review and Hypothesesmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Literature Review and Hypothesesmentioning

confidence: 99%

Women's Work? The Distribution and Prestige of Portfolios in the Canadian Provinces

Studlar

Moncrief

1999

Governance

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Les femmes nommées ministres au Canada pendant la période 1921-2007 : la loi de la disparité progressive est-elle dépassée?

Tremblay¹,

Andrews²

2010

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Ce texte examine la participation des femmes aux cabinets canadiens, et ce, à la lumière de la loi de la disparité progressive. Trois hypothèses l’ont inspiré : 1) la proportion de femmes nommées ministres est plus élevée que la proportion de femmes élues députées; 2) la proportion de femmes au Cabinet reflète la proportion de députées au sein du caucus parlementaire du parti qui forme le gouvernement; 3) les femmes nommées ministres sont cantonnées dans les secteurs traditionnellement considérés comme féminins et au bas de la hiérarchie exécutive. Ces hypothèses ont été vérifiées auprès des 286 femmes nommées ministres dans un cabinet fédéral ou provincial au Canada de 1921 à 2007. Il ressort de l’analyse que la loi de la disparité progressive offre un potentiel heuristique mitigé pour expliquer la participation des femmes aux cabinets canadiens.

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Female Deputies and Cabinet Members in Quebec: Past and Present

Cited by 2 publications

References 3 publications

Women's Work? The Distribution and Prestige of Portfolios in the Canadian Provinces

Women's Work? The Distribution and Prestige of Portfolios in the Canadian Provinces

Les femmes nommées ministres au Canada pendant la période 1921-2007 : la loi de la disparité progressive est-elle dépassée?

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