Abstract
Chapter six examines the level of substantive representation that women enjoy when there are more female MPs elected to parliament. It does so by tracing the impact of female MPs in New Zealand in two areas of the legislative process: Bill initiation—changes in government policies through the introduction of Private Members’ Bills; and narrative or attitudinal support for women’s issues during parliamentary debates (how female MPs present themselves in Parliament, and how they talk about issues affecting women).
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Notes
- 1.
Substantive representation also takes place outside parliament such as in civil society (lobbying, petitions), but for this study only legislative activities within parliament will be assessed.
- 2.
Also known as the “anti-smacking” law.
- 3.
Between 1996 and 2014, there were 845 MPs and 263 female MPs.
- 4.
This number includes both male and female list MPs.
- 5.
This Bill was not drawn from the Ballot to be debated before the House.
- 6.
The Domestic Violence Bill of 1994 was introduced as a government bill.
- 7.
Although it is predominantly women that are affected, unpredictable and inflexible work hours are likely to impact workers of both genders.
- 8.
When the Private Members Bill was first proposed by Sue Bradford in 2005, it was known as the Crimes (Abolition of Force as a Justification for Child Discipline) Amendment Bill. It was subsequently renamed “Crimes (Substituted Section 59) Amendment Bill” at the Select Committee stage.
- 9.
Labour, Green and Alliance formed the 1999–2002 coalition government.
- 10.
The Foreshore and Seabed Act vested the “full legal and beneficial ownership of the public foreshore and seabed in the Crown” (excluding those parts of the foreshore and seabed held in private title), thus preserving it as public domain for the people of New Zealand. Secondly, it prevented the Māori Land Court from investigating applications relating to the foreshore and seabed and removed the High Court’s power to determine claims for customary title. Thirdly, the High Court’s inherent native title jurisdiction was to be removed and replaced with jurisdiction to grant “territorial customary rights orders” (TCRs).
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Johnson-Myers, TA. (2017). Substantive Representation. In: The Mixed Member Proportional System: Providing Greater Representation for Women?. SpringerBriefs in Political Science. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-44314-0_6
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