Gender and
Constitutional Change
Fiona Mackay, Alice Brown, Elizabeth Meehan, Tahnya Donaghy
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In Brief
The project examines two issues under the theme of gender and constitutional change. First it evaluates the strategies used by women activists to place gender concerns onto the devolution reform agendas in Scotland, Northern Ireland and Wales. Second, it analyses the impact of the new devolved bodies and the political processes surrounding them on women, their political roles and identities and gender relations.
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Women did shape constitutional reform agendas and the new institutions in Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland.
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Better representation on devolved bodies (except NI) is one symbolic result; impact on substance of policy less clear/more contested, though there have been innovations in equality mainstreaming
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Better representation has had an impact on political practices, though less than activists may have hoped
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Equality agendas are not just about gender; community relations in NI and language issues in Wales may take more prominence
Context
Issues of gender are often neglected in accounts of political change and constitution building. However women activists have been crucial in the shaping of constitutional reform within the UK. In particular, a common agenda emerged during the 1980s and 1990s to shape new, more inclusive constitutional arrangements. Women activists campaigned to introduce a gender perspective to wider debates on accountability, participation and (in Northern Ireland) peace-building, to improve the political representation of women in the new elected bodies, and to ensure that the voices of women be heard and included in public policy-making. The project explores the impact of this agenda for change in three phases: (i) how women entered political debates and influenced the processes of constitutional change in Northern Ireland, Scotland and Wales; (ii) what impact the post 1999 structures, institutions and practices have had on women and women's political roles; and (iii) what lessons can be drawn from UK experience and transferred to other contexts.
Objectives
The research will analyse the specific gender dimension of the processes and dynamics of constituional change in the UK, exploring the ongoing interaction between gender relations, new political agendas and institutions in the devolved nations of the UK. It will:
• Identify the strategies used by women activists to place gender onto the political agenda of constitutional reform
• Assess how far the operation and consequences of new electoral systems and associated candidate recruitment and selection procedures have improved the political representation of women
• Evaluate the extent to which the political process has become more open to women in terms of:
(i) symbolic representation (political representation of women inthe new elected bodies)
(ii) substantive representation (women's engagement in public policy-making through inclusive mechanisms such as consultative fora and mainstreaming strategies) and
(iii) discursive representation (the engendering of ideas of an inclusive 'new politics' post-devolution)
• Contribute to wider theoretical debates in surounding constitutional change, democratic participation and representation.
Research Plan
The research will run for 18 months from January 2001. It will include a survey of documents and papers from relevant organisations and institutions involved in the constitutional reform process; analysis of the gender dimension of relevant reports, policy statements and working papers which have emerged in the practice of devolved government; and interviews with politicians, civil servants, party activists, academics, trade unionists as well as advocates from equality agencies and women's organisations. Workshops will be run, involving women's organisations, party and trade union activists, equality agencies and other relevant persons, to enable end-user input into the project and to identify practical lessons.
| Principal Contact |
Dr Fiona Mackay
Department of Politics
University of Edinburgh
31 Buccleuch Street
EDINBURGH EH8 9TJ
f.s.mackay@ed.ac.uk
Tel: 0131 6504244
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| Project Members |
Professor Alice Brown
Department of Politics
University of Edinburgh
Professor Elizabeth Meehan
Institute of Governance, Public Policy
& Social Research
Queen's University Belfast
Dr Tahnya Donaghy
School of Politics
Queen's University Belfast |
| Duration of Project: |
1 January 2001 - 30 January 2002
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| Amount of Award: |
£117,820
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| ERSC Project Number: |
L219 25 2023
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| Project Website : |
http://www.pol.ed.ac.uk/gcc/
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