Political recruitment model

Last updated


Political Recruitment Model Diagram. A citizen moves up from Eligibles to Legislator. Political Recruitment Model Diagram.jpg
Political Recruitment Model Diagram. A citizen moves up from Eligibles to Legislator.

The political recruitment model is a framework, used by political scientists, to explain the stages a citizen goes through to become an elected official. [1] The model has four stages: eligibles, aspirants, candidates, and legislators. [1] There are barriers between each stage that has the potential to keep an eligible citizen from becoming a legislator. These barriers are individual resources and ambition, political party gatekeepers, and voters. [1] The Political recruitment model is mainly utilized to study why women hold political office at lesser rates than men. [2] Scholars use a supply vs demand model within the political recruitment framework to investigate where and why women "drop out" of the pipeline. [3]

Contents

Description and origins

The political recruitment model shows both the roles one takes to become an elected official as well as the barriers that keeps one from moving up the ladder to the next step. [1] The first step, eligibles, are anyone who is legally able to run for political office. Eligibles then turn into aspirants when an eligible has the ambition and desire to hold office. The aspirant group is smaller than the eligible group. An aspirant turns into a candidate when they declare a candidacy and run. The candidate group is smaller than the aspirant pool. The final step in the recruitment model is an elected official. [1]

Each step also has barriers that keep individuals from moving closer to becoming an elected official. Individual ambition and resources would stop someone from moving from eligibles to aspirants. Political party gatekeepers stop aspirants from moving to candidates. Finally, voters stop candidates from becoming elected officials. [1]

The very broad idea of the political recruitment model was discussed by David C Schwartz in 1969, [4] however, the stages and barriers weren't clearly defined until Pippa Norris' work in 1993. [1] Schwartz examined how men entered political office in the United States [4] whereas Norris examined how women entered the British political arena. [1] Political scientists have expanded on Norris' model to examine gendered barriers to political office.

Political recruitment model and gender gaps

The political recruitment model is used to analyze why women hold political office at lesser rates than men. [2] When reviewing the model, feminist scholars look to see where and why women "fall off" the pipeline to becoming elected officials. Supply and demand concepts are utilized by scholars to divide the gendered barriers into two subcategories. The framing affects for the cause of women's underrepresentation can vary by race or ethnicity. [5]

Supply barriers

When women fall off the political recruitment model between eligibles stage and the aspirants stage it is the result of a supply issue. [6] A supply issue is when there aren't enough women who have the desire or motivation to run for office. [5] Supply barriers seen in the political recruitment model are individual resources, and ambition. There are two main factors that affect the supply of women aspirants (women who have the desire to run for office) resources such as time, money, etc., and ambition. [1]

Political ambition

Nascent political ambition is the desire to hold political office [5] and eligibles must have nascent ambition to become aspirants. A study done by Richard L. Fox and Jennifer L. Lawless investigated where women were leaving the political recruitment model; they determined that women drop off at the aspirant stage. [3] Women are less likely to consider running for office than men. [3] When women do express interest in running its for lower-level positions. [3]

Political ambition barriers

There are many different reasons why women have less ambition to run for political office than men. Scholars theorize that political socialization plays an important role. According to research of American children, girls are socialized to see politics as a "male sphere", this affects their career aspirations later in life. [7] Additionally, women receive less support from parental figures to join the public sphere. [8] Role models are another important aspect of political socialization. There is statistical evidence that shows the gender gap in girls career aspirations and educational attainment closes when women lead/hold political office. [9] A study done by Coffé et al. (2023) displays another reason for political ambition barriers due to gaps within policy making due to gender. The study from the 2022 Flemish Political Ambition Survey mirrored a 0.71 gender gap on European ambition level implying that there are gender ambition gaps causing barriers for participation and when participation does take place it is more likely to happen on a local scale. [10] Another important factor to this ambition gap is that there are gender differences in perceptions of qualifications and the importance of qualifications in determining who gets to run for political office. Women underestimate their qualifications and they put more emphasis on qualifications when it comes to moving from the eligible to aspirant stage. [8] [3] Campaign training programs can be seen as a supply focused solution; [11] these program aim to increase women's political ambition by providing knowledge about the electoral process and by offering networking opportunities. [11]

Demand barriers

When women fall off between the aspirant stage and the candidate stage, or between the candidate and legislator stage, it is the result of a demand issue. [6] A demand framework describes a general desire expressed by voters, elites within political parties, and institutions for women to hold political office. [5] Demand barriers can manifest in many different ways. Voter bias can be heavily gendered creating a barrier that keeps women from becoming legislators. The institutional structure of a state's government can have an effect on demand barriers. Political party gatekeepers can keep women from becoming candidates in both PR (proportional representation) government systems and majoritarian systems. [12] In PR government systems, gender quotas, are a common tool used to mandate women's candidates thereby erasing the demand barrier of party gatekeepers. [12]

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Women in Japan</span>

Although women in Japan were recognized as having equal legal rights to men after World War II, economic conditions for women remain unbalanced. Modern policy initiatives to encourage motherhood and workplace participation have had mixed results.

Employment discrimination is a form of illegal discrimination in the workplace based on legally protected characteristics. In the U.S., federal anti-discrimination law prohibits discrimination by employers against employees based on age, race, gender, sex, religion, national origin, and physical or mental disability. State and local laws often protect additional characteristics such as marital status, veteran status and caregiver/familial status. Earnings differentials or occupational differentiation—where differences in pay come from differences in qualifications or responsibilities—should not be confused with employment discrimination. Discrimination can be intended and involve disparate treatment of a group or be unintended, yet create disparate impact for a group.

The Wish List is a political action committee devoted to electing pro-abortion rights, also called pro-choice, Republican women to the House of Representatives and Senate. The Wish List was founded in 1992. The acronym "WISH" stands for Women In the Senate and House. The Wish List recruits candidates to run for federal office and state legislative offices.

In many countries, women have been underrepresented in the government and different institutions. This historical tendency still persists, although women are increasingly being elected to be heads of state and government.

Gender inequality is the social phenomenon in which people are not treated equally on the basis of gender. This inequality can be caused by gender discrimination or sexism. The treatment may arise from distinctions regarding biology, psychology, or cultural norms prevalent in the society. Some of these distinctions are empirically grounded, while others appear to be social constructs. While current policies around the world cause inequality among individuals, it is women who are most affected. Gender inequality weakens women in many areas such as health, education, and business life. Studies show the different experiences of genders across many domains including education, life expectancy, personality, interests, family life, careers, and political affiliation. Gender inequality is experienced differently across different cultures and also affects non-binary people.

Preselection is the process by which a candidate is selected, usually by a political party, to contest an election for political office. It is also referred to as candidate selection. It is a fundamental function of political parties. The preselection process may involve the party's executive or leader selecting a candidate or be some contested process. In countries that adopt Westminster-style responsible government, preselection is also the first step on the path to a position in the executive. The selected candidate is commonly referred to as the party's endorsed candidate.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Voter turnout in United States presidential elections</span> Aspect of election history

The historical trends in voter turnout in the United States presidential elections have been determined by the gradual expansion of voting rights from the initial restriction to white male property owners aged 21 or older in the early years of the country's independence to all citizens aged 18 or older in the mid-20th century. Voter turnout in United States presidential elections has historically been higher than the turnout for midterm elections.

A gender gap in voting typically refers to the difference in the percentage of men and women who vote for a particular candidate. It is calculated by subtracting the percentage of women supporting a candidate from the percentage of men supporting a candidate. Contrary to many popular media accounts, gender gaps are not within-the-gender differences in candidate support, nor are they the aggregate total of men's and women's within gender differences.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Jennifer L. Lawless</span> American academic

Jennifer L. Lawless serves as the Commonwealth Professor of Politics of the University of Virginia and a faculty affiliate of the Frank Batten School of Leadership and Public Policy, in addition to being a Non-Resident Senior Fellow in Governance Studies at the Brookings Institution.

Voting behavior refers to how people decide how to vote. This decision is shaped by a complex interplay between an individual voter's attitudes as well as social factors. Voter attitudes include characteristics such as ideological predisposition, party identity, degree of satisfaction with the existing government, public policy leanings, and feelings about a candidate's personality traits. Social factors include race, religion and degree of religiosity, social and economic class, educational level, regional characteristics, and gender. The degree to which a person identifies with a political party influences voting behavior, as does social identity. Voter decision-making is not a purely rational endeavor but rather is profoundly influenced by personal and social biases and deeply held beliefs as well as characteristics such as personality, memory, emotions, and other psychological factors. Voting advice applications and avoidance of wasted votes through strategic voting can impact voting behavior.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Gender pay gap</span> Average difference in remuneration amounts between men and women

The gender pay gap or gender wage gap is the average difference between the remuneration for men and women who are working. Women are generally found to be paid less than men. There are two distinct numbers regarding the pay gap: non-adjusted versus adjusted pay gap. The latter typically takes into account differences in hours worked, occupations chosen, education and job experience. In other words, the adjusted values represent how much women and men make for the same work, while the non-adjusted values represent how much the average man and woman make in total. In the United States, for example, the non-adjusted average woman's annual salary is 79–83% of the average man's salary, compared to 95–99% for the adjusted average salary.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Women's political participation in India</span>

The term 'political participation' has a very wide meaning. It is not only related to 'Right to Vote', but simultaneously relates to participation in: decision-making process, political activism, political consciousness, etc. Women in India participate in voting, run for public offices and political parties at lower levels more than men. Political activism and voting are the strongest areas of women's political participation. To combat gender inequality in politics, the Indian Government has instituted reservations for seats in local governments.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Women's empowerment</span> Giving rights, freedom to make decisions and strengthening women to stand on their own

Women's empowerment may be defined in several ways, including accepting women's viewpoints, making an effort to seek them and raising the status of women through education, awareness, literacy, and training. Women's empowerment equips and allows women to make life-determining decisions through the different societal problems. They may have the opportunity to re-define gender roles or other such roles, which allow them more freedom to pursue desired goals.

The Nigerian Women's Trust Fund is a women's political action committee dedicated to increasing women's representation and addressing gender equality in line with the National Gender Policy (NGP) of 2006. The Nigerian Women's Trust Fund conducts mentorship programs, provides access to funding, and publishes policy data. Founded in 2011, the Nigerian Women's Trust Fund is a non-governmental organization that was established in response to a vacancy of gender-focused political action committees supporting women in politics. The organization's strategy is oriented around promoting advocacy, developing research, fundraising, and grant creation, and developing competitive candidates that sustain the organization's values. The Nigerian Women's Trust Fund has partnered with various organizations to promote social equality across the region.

Sexism in American political elections refers to how sexism impacts elections in the United States, ranging from influences on the supply, demand, and selection of candidates to electoral outcomes. Sexism is inherently a product of culture, as culture instills a certain set of beliefs or expectations for what constitutes appropriate behavior, appearance, or mannerisms based on a person's sex. Sexism in American political elections is generally cited as a socially-driven obstacle to female political candidates, especially for non-incumbents, raising concerns about the representation of women in the politics of the United States. Such prejudice can take varying forms, such as benevolent or hostile sexism—the latter stemming from fears of women threatening the power or leadership of men.

The 43rd Canadian Parliament once again set a record number of female Members of Parliament, with 98 women elected to the 338-member House of Commons of Canada (28.9%) in the 2019 election. Of those 98 women, 31 were elected for the first time in the 2019 election. 2 more women were elected in by-elections in October 2020, reaching the historic milestone of 100 women in the House of Commons for the first time. This represents a gain of twelve seats over the previous record of 88 women in the 42nd Canadian Parliament. By contrast, the 116th United States Congress had 102 women sitting in the 435-seat United States House of Representatives (23.4%).

New American Leaders is a nonprofit organization that recruits people of immigrant heritage to run for elected office in the United States.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">New Politics (political non-profit)</span>

New Politics is an American bipartisan 527-organization that recruits, develops, and elects leaders with service backgrounds, either through the military or national service organizations like AmeriCorps or the Peace Corps. The organization is working to elect a new generation of political leadership by helping service-oriented leaders run for public office. It was founded by Emily Cherniack in 2013.

The 44th Canadian Parliament includes a record number of female Members of Parliament, with 103 women elected to the 338-member House of Commons of Canada (30.5%) in the 2021 election. Of those 103 women, 22 were elected for the first time in the 2021 election. This represents a gain of five seats over the previous record of 98 women elected at the beginning of the 43rd Canadian Parliament, and a gain of three seats from the record high of 100 women during the previous parliamentary session following by-elections.

A gender quota is a quota used by countries and parties to increase women's representation or substantive equality based on gender in legislatures. Women are largely underrepresented in parliaments and account for a 25.8% average in parliaments globally. As of November 2021, gender quotas have been adopted in 132 countries. Around the world, quotas vary greatly in their enforcement and the stage of electoral process targeted, creating three main types of quotas: legislated candidate quotas, voluntary party quotas, and reserved seats. Regardless of their prevalence, they are a controversial measure, creating debates concerning their impacts, both negative and positive.

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 Norris, Pippa (2004). Political recruitment : gender, race, and class in the British Parliament. Cambridge Univ. Press. ISBN   0-521-46558-3. OCLC   254169525.
  2. 1 2 "Women in politics: 2023". UN Women – Headquarters. Retrieved 2023-05-03.
  3. 1 2 3 4 5 Fox, Richard L.; Lawless, Jennifer L. (2004). "Entering the Arena? Gender and the Decision to Run for Office". American Journal of Political Science. 48 (2): 264–280. doi:10.2307/1519882. ISSN   0092-5853. JSTOR   1519882.
  4. 1 2 Schwartz, David C. (1969). "Toward a Theory of Political Recruitment". The Western Political Quarterly. 22 (3): 552–571. doi:10.2307/446349. ISSN   0043-4078. JSTOR   446349.
  5. 1 2 3 4 Holman, Mirya R.; Schneider, Monica C. (2018-04-03). "Gender, race, and political ambition: how intersectionality and frames influence interest in political office". Politics, Groups, and Identities. 6 (2): 264–280. doi:10.1080/21565503.2016.1208105. ISSN   2156-5503. S2CID   147854693.
  6. 1 2 Krook, Mona Lena (2010). "Beyond Supply and Demand: A Feminist-institutionalist Theory of Candidate Selection". Political Research Quarterly. 63 (4): 707–720. doi:10.1177/1065912909336275. ISSN   1065-9129. JSTOR   25749243. S2CID   55426128.
  7. ↑ Bos, Angela L.; Greenlee, Jill S.; Holman, Mirya R.; Oxley, Zoe M.; Lay, J. Celeste (17 September 2021). "This One's for the Boys: How Gendered Political Socialization Limits Girls' Political Ambition and Interest". American Political Science Review. 116 (2): 484–501. doi: 10.1017/S0003055421001027 . ISSN   0003-0554. S2CID   239280430.
  8. 1 2 Lawless, Jennifer; Fox, Richard (March 2013). "Girls Just Wanna Not Run: The Gender Gap in Young Americans' Political Ambition" (PDF). School of Public Affairs, American University.
  9. ↑ Beaman, Lori; Duflo, Esther; Pande, Rohini; Topalova, Petia (2012-02-03). "Female Leadership Raises Aspirations and Educational Attainment for Girls: A Policy Experiment in India". Science. 335 (6068): 582–586. Bibcode:2012Sci...335..582B. doi:10.1126/science.1212382. ISSN   0036-8075. PMC   3394179 . PMID   22245740.
  10. ↑ Coffé, Hilde; Devroe, Robin; Vandeleene, Audrey; Wauters, Bram (2023). "Gender Gaps in Political Ambition on Different Levels of Policy-Making". academic.oup.com. Parliamentary Affairs Volume 76. Oxford University Press. pp. 924–946. Retrieved 2024-01-05.
  11. 1 2 Sanbonmatsu, Kira (2015-04-03). "Electing Women of Color: The Role of Campaign Trainings". Journal of Women, Politics & Policy. 36 (2): 137–160. doi:10.1080/1554477X.2015.1019273. ISSN   1554-477X. S2CID   143227673.
  12. 1 2 Brechenmacher, Saskia (2018). Tackling women's underrepresentation in U.S. politics : comparative perspectives from Europe (PDF). Carnegie Endowment for International Peace.
This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.