The gender gap among local representatives: A potential for local development?

Abstract

This chapter analyses the gender gap in the attitudes of local elected elites in the countries covered by the survey on municipal councillors within the international project Municipal Assemblies in European Local Governments (MAELG). Some studies indicate that, although broadly the same issues are significant for both women and men, women’s perspectives on issues still differ. As women need to be at least a large minority in municipal councils to have an impact on different policies, we use and compare the available statistics on women’s participation in local councils in the countries included in the MAELG project to see whether the identified differences (if any) could result in different policy choices.