2003 Fiscal Year Final Research Report Summary
GENDER GAP IN LOCAL POLITICS-WHY IS A FEMALE COUNCILLOR SO FEW?-
| Project/Area Number |
13410069
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| Research Category |
Grant-in-Aid for Scientific Research (B)
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| Allocation Type | Single-year Grants |
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| Section | 一般 |
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| Research Field |
社会学(含社会福祉関係)
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| Research Institution | KYOTO WOMEN'S UNIVERSITY (2003)
Kobe Gakuin University (2001-2002) |
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Principal Investigator |
TAKEYASU Hideko KYOTO WOMEN'S UNIVERSITY, FACULTY OF STUDY FOR CONTEMPORARY SOCIETY, 現代社会学部, 教授 (70131414)
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| Co-Investigator(Kenkyū-buntansha) |
KASUGA Masashi KOBEGAKUIN UNIVERSITY, FACULTY OF HUMAN, 人文学部, 教授 (90152660)
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| Project Period (FY) |
2001 – 2003
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| Keywords | gender / gender equality / women's under-representation / female councilors / local politic |
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| Research Abstract |
1.The aim of this research
Over the last two decades at every general election, much attention has been paid to the increase in the number of women councilors. After the 15^<th> General Local Election which was held in April of 2003, however, women have been under-representated in political fields of Japan. The aims of this research are to (1)identify the situational and social factors as well as the structural and institutional ones which determine the level of women's representation, and (2)identify whether there are gender-differences between male and female councilors or not. In other advanced countries, the level of women's representation in local politics is higher than in central politics. The level of women's representation in Japanese local politics is even lower than in central parliament. We started from the hypothesis that there are any particular barriers to obstruct women from local politics in Japan.
2.The research
(1)population : 62,025, all councilors at prefectures, cities, towns, villages and Tokyo 23 cities
(2)period : from February to April of 2002
(3)respondent(%) : 17,062(27.5%), male councilors 92.3% and female councilors 7.7%
3.Key findings
(1)Over 80% of male councilors were born in the same area as their wards, on the other hand female councilors were less than 50%. As the result of such a close relationship with the local community, male councilors could mobilize the cross-generational accumulated social relationship within the local communities for a campaign. But female need to build up a various kinds of the social relationship for a campaign
(2)Male councilors tend to come from narrow range of social stratification, similar background and occupation. The evidence suggests that the increase of the women's representation leads to improve the equity in decision making.
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