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Survey Findings of Public Attitudes Concerning

Womens Representation in Local Government



Hanna Herzog
Nirit Schreiber





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
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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
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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
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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.

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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.



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