Data show young Australian women are less politically engaged than men. Given the negative experiences of female politicians, that’s hardly surprising. But there’s a glimmer of hope.
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Articles on Preselection
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As the country prepares to go to the polls on February 14, will the low representation of women in parliament improve? Given the systemic barriers in place, probably not.
Confusing court findings have left the rules in party pre-selections in a mess, and members with little say in who contests individual seats.
There are many factors at play including outdated preselection processes at local levels and a lack of targeted efforts by major parties beyond tokenism.
Scott Morrison says that recalcitrant party members should leave things to the professionals, revealing his penchant for control as a standoff surrounding NSW preselection continues
Parties strive for gender equality in preselecting candidates. But if they select more women than men in marginal seats, this isn’t true equality — it’s ticking a box.
Research charting women’s political careers from the moment they are first interested shows they experience abuse at each stage — and this forces some to abandon their ambitions.
Setting targets is one way to attain more female MPs, but it must be accompanied by cultural change.
As the changing nature of political participation presents increasing challenges for parties, we are likely to see more experimentation with new forms of participation, not less.
The old saying “the more things change, the more they stay the same” is particularly appropriate when describing the Australian Labor Party at the moment. Upon being returned to the federal parliamentary…
Top contributors
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Professor of Politics, Department of Government and International Relations, University of Sydney
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Professor of Law, The University of Queensland
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Senior Lecturer, School of Political and Social Inquiry, Monash University
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Associate Professor, Faculty of Arts, Design and Architecture, UNSW Sydney
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Lecturer in Government, Flinders University
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Professor of Politics, Griffith University
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Professorial Fellow, University of Canberra
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Senior Lecturer, School of Political Science and International Relations, Australian National University
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Senior Lecturer in Political Science, Griffith University
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Fox International Fellow, Yale University; PhD Candidate, Australian National University, Australian National University
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Research fellow, Australian National University
