Women's Representation in Local Politics: An Analysis of Local Elections in Kanagawa

2017 Fiscal Year Final Research Report

• Project/Area Number: 26870196
• Research Category: Grant-in-Aid for Young Scientists (B)
• Allocation Type: Multi-year Fund
• Research Field: Gender; Politics
• Research Institution: Ochanomizu University
• Principal Investigator: Oki Naoko お茶の水女子大学, グローバルリーダーシップ研究所, 特任講師 (80612572)
• Project Period (FY): 2014-04-01 – 2018-03-31
• Keywords: リクルートメント / ジェンダー / 女性 / 地方政治 / 選挙研究

Outline of Final Research Achievements

This research is how the candidate recruitment process of political parties in Japan have impacts on women's representation women in local assemblies from the point of recruitment systems. From analysis of the data of Nation-wide Elections from 1999 to 2015, women’s presence in local assemblies in Japan varies depending on levels of local government, political parties, district magnitudes, and so on. We can see three findings from the interview research. First, the major national parties are recruiting more women as candidates in prefectural assembly-member elections, not necessarily to empower women in politics or even achieve gender parity in politics. Second, female legislators and party members at the branches expect that parties will promote women’s empowerment policy inside the parties. Third, at local elections, the fundamental reform, such as introduction of gender quotas, has not been open to discuss among legislators and party members.

Free Research Field

ジェンダー研究