This report represents a sequel to a 1996 public opinion survey on the role of women in Israeli politics. There is general agreement among the Israeli population that the under-representation of women in both local and national politics is the result of discrimination and unequal opportunities. The main question investigated in the present survey pertains to whether the presence of those local issues traditionally characterised as "women's" issues increases the likelihood of women participating in local politics.
This report represents a sequel to a 1996 public opinion survey on the role of women in Israeli politics. There is general agreement among the Israeli population that the under-representation of women in both local and national politics is the result of discrimination and unequal opportunities. The main question investigated in the present survey pertains to whether the presence of those local issues traditionally characterised as "women's" issues increases the likelihood of women participating in local politics.
This report represents a sequel to a 1996 public opinion survey on the role of women in Israeli politics. There is general agreement among the Israeli population that the under-representation of women in both local and national politics is the result of discrimination and unequal opportunities. The main question investigated in the present survey pertains to whether the presence of those local issues traditionally characterised as "women's" issues increases the likelihood of women participating in local politics.
Editors: Dr. Roby Nathanson Ruty Livnat Young Tel Aviv, August 1998
Foreword
The idea of performing the survey whose results are presented in this report was initially raised by the Friedrich Ebert Stiftung, with the intent of broadening the empirical basis supporting the participation of women along the entire political spectrum in the upcoming elections. Due to the subjects importance, a steering committee, joined by Michal Yudin (representing WIZO 1 ) and Efrat Israeli (representing Naamat 2 ) was convened in order to participate in framing the surveys goals.
This report represents a logical sequel to a 1996 public opinion survey, conducted by the Israeli Institute for Social and Economic Research, on the role of women in Israeli politics. That survey examined whether differences could be found in the attitudes held by women versus men regarding various topics: specific issues and their place on the public agenda, the existence of needs and interests unique to women, the influence of womens issues on voting patterns, and the willingness to vote for women as representatives of womens interests.
One finding was found to be identical in both surveys: There is general agreement among the Israeli population that the under-representation of women in both local and national politics is the result of discrimination and unequal opportunities. Despite this attitude, no distinct long-term trend that might indicate a positive change in the number of women sitting in the Knesset is discernible although there does appear to be a moderate but stable increase in representation in local government. This finding should surprise few for similar trends have been witnessed in the majority of western democratic states (Israel finds itself low on the ladder of womens representation on both levels of government).
The main question investigated in the present survey pertains to whether the presence of those local issues traditionally characterised as womens issues education, culture, environmental quality and the quality of life increases the likelihood of women participating in local politics. The findings indicate that the Israeli public demands general leadership qualities rather than the specific talents required to meet the communitys unique needs of its local representatives. In addition, the findings indicate that women enjoy a significant level of esteem,
1 Womens International Zionist Organisation 2 Movement of Working Women & Volunteers 1
and that the public believes they have all the qualities necessary for the roles of mayor and city council representative. Half the respondents (excluding the orthodox members of the sample, a population characterised by discriminatory attitudes toward women) attribute significant importance to the representation of women and a large percentage (men: 57%; women: 63%) are willing to vote for a list of candidates headed by a woman.
We would like to thank Prof. Hannah Herzog and her research assistant, Nirit Schreiber, who conducted the survey; Nina Reshef, who prepared the English translation of the summary; and Ruty Livnat Young, the project manager.
Dr. Roby Nathanson Chairman 2
Abstract
This report presents the findings of a survey on public attitudes concerning womens suitability for local government and the disposition to support women candidates for public office (i.e., mayors, heads of local council or local council members). The survey was conducted during the second week of April 1998, among a representative sample (512 interviewees) of Israels J ewish population.
Main Findings A slowly rising but stable trend in the representation of women in local government can be discerned as of the 1960s. The current rate of womens representation is 10.9%. This trend is clearly visible among J ewish communities; in the Arab sector, the trend is only emerging, and therefore requires specially designed research.
Despite this trend, Israel remains low on the scale of womens representation in local government when compared to other western democracies, especially the Scandinavian countries.
The present survey revealed that more than 40% of the participants viewed discrimination to be the cause for the low rate of womens representation in government. Only 9% of the respondents were convinced that no Israeli women are suited to participate in the politic arena. Another 20% believed that women are incapable of solving Israels problems. In addition, 18% of the sample were convinced that women are uninterested in politics because they, the respondents, thought that women still believed they belonged in the home. These findings support a growing body of research indicating the Israeli publics increasing awareness of discrimination against women.
Furthermore, although both men and women claimed that discrimination is the primary factor inhibiting womens representation in government, the percentage of women upholding this position is greater than among men (48% versus 42%, respectively). In addition, this awareness of discrimination rises with the level of education.
The survey revealed that the degree of the respondents religious commitment influences the perception of discrimination. The less religiously committed a population segment, the more its 3
members pointed to discrimination as the variable explaining womens lack of representation. The most important gap, however, is found between the religiously ultra-orthodox and other segments of the survey population. This difference appears in the answers to all the survey questions, with the ultra-orthodox consistently expressing more extreme attitudes toward women and their roles in society.
With respect to womens suitability for political activity, the survey revealed that 24% of the sample agreed that women are better suited to local rather than to national government, despite 41% who indicated that such a statement was essentially incorrect. However, the last finding incorporates responses from two distinctive populations segments, each of which interprets the relevant question differently. The ultra-orthodox totally disagree that women are better suited to local government because they intensely object to the participation of women in politics under any circumstances, while the secular segment of the sample objects to this statement because they are convinced that women are suited for participation in government irrespective of the level.
In a related question, the participants in the survey were requested to evaluate who is more capable of handling selected issues, all of which were related to the communitys governance. The four areas were social welfare, financial management, defence, and the communitys cleanliness and appearance. Excluding the area of defence, more than half of the sample was convinced that men and women were equally competent to undertake each type of activity.
Those who did not view men and women as being equal tended to assign competence according to traditional lines: women were preferred for the area of social welfare and men for financial management. Defence was almost exclusively perceived as a masculine sphere.
The participants were also requested to indicate which general leadership qualities or specific individual characteristics they had observed as being important for their communitys elected representatives. The interviewees indicated that general leadership qualities, such as responsive to community residents, were considered most pertinent for community leaders. The findings indicate that women enjoy considerable esteem and that the same traits considered important for a mayor or city council member are attributed to them. The sole quality prominently lacking among women was a military background. On the other hand, the 4
respondents consider military experience to be the least important among all the qualities relevant for public office.
A comparison of the assessments of women made by men with those made by women of themselves reveals a clear gender gap: women hold themselves in greater esteem than do men. This finding requires elaboration and more intensive research, but it undoubtedly implies that the contention that women do not support other women is the outcome of labelling, and is unsubstantiated by the survey findings. The gender gap is particularly conspicuous in the assessment of leadership capabilities. Women believe in the leadership potential of women more than men believe in that ability.
Assessments of womens suitability for political leadership roles was clearly linked to Israels discriminatory social structure. Furthermore, about half the respondents in each of the categories comprising the sample, excluding the ultra-orthodox, considered the representation of women in government to be extremely important.
Finally, the members of each of the samples segments were requested to indicate whether or not they wanted themselves represented as a group on their city councils. In terms of the strength of their determination to be represented, ultra-orthodox were the most adamant (more than 70% of the respondents in this category) among all the segments. They were followed by women 51% of the women in the sample very much wanted to see women sit on the councils. We should note that although women were less resolute about representation than were the ultra-orthodox, in consideration of the fact that women comprise half the voting population and the ultra- orthodox only about 8%, their collective electoral voices have greater significance.
5
Table 1: Women's Representation in Local Jewish Municipal Councils, 1950-1993 Year 1950 1955 1959 1965 1969 1973 1978 1983 1989 1993 Total elected representatives
684
838
1008
1050
1070
1124
1173
1227
1360
1396 Women elected 29 34 36 32 39 51 65 93 116 153 Percentage of women 4.2 4.1 3.6 3.1 3.6 4.5 5.5 7.6 8.5 10.9 No. of councils holding elections
61
80
98
98
96
98
99
101
104
106 No. of councils on which women serve
23
25
31
27
31
42
50
56
65
73 Percentage of councils with women
38
31
32
27
32
43
51
55
64
67.9 Average number of women per council*
1.3
1.4
1.2
1.2
1.3
1.1
1.3
1.7
1.8
2.1 *Average number of women elected to a council on which women already serving. Source: Herzog, forthcoming; , 1994
Table 2: Women in Local Government in Selected Countries Country Percentage of Women Year Sweden 38.4 1991 Denmark 31.0 1989 Norway 31.0 1990 Britain 19.0 1985 Australia 18.4 1991 Uganda 15.0 1990 United States 14.0 1990 Israel 10.9 1993 Poland 10.2 1990 Greece 8.2 1990 Mexico 4.5 1989 J apan 2.3 1990 Sources: Bystydzienski 1992:205; Sawer and Simms 1993:149; data from the embassies of Britain, Sweden and Denmark.