Hostname: page-component-745bb68f8f-5r2nc Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2025-01-10T20:47:26.864Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

Doing Politics Differently? Applying a Feminist Institutionalist Lens to the U.K. Women's Equality Party

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  04 October 2019

Elizabeth Evans Open the ORCID record for Elizabeth Evans [Opens in a new window]  and
Meryl Kenny
Elizabeth Evans
Affiliation:
Goldsmiths University of London
Meryl Kenny
Affiliation:
University of Edinburgh
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Abstract

The U.K. Women's Equality Party (WEP) was established in 2015 to “bring about change by winning—support, votes and seats.” It has thus far recruited tens of thousands of members and run candidates in European, national, devolved, and local elections. This article provides one of the first empirical analyses of this new actor in U.K. politics. Adopting a feminist institutionalist lens, we examine the extent to which WEP “does things differently” by looking at its discourse, formal party rules, and informal ways of doing things “on the ground.” Drawing on a set of semistructured interviews, observations of local and national party meetings, and document analysis, we argue that while WEP has to some extent tried to set up alternative participatory structures and new “ways of working,” it has also at times fallen back on more traditional, centralized, and hierarchical modes of party organizing, as well as informal practices that are more typically associated with male-dominated parties.

Keywords

Women's partiespolitical partiesU.K. politicsfeminist institutionalismfeminism
Type
Research Article
Information
Politics & Gender , Volume 16 , Special Issue 1: Special Symposium on Women's Parties , March 2020 , pp. 26 - 47
Copyright
Copyright © The Women and Politics Research Section of the American Political Science Association 2019

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

Footnotes

The authors would like to thank the anonymous reviewers, Mary Caputi, and participants at the UIC Gender Conference at the University of Manchester and the ECPG Conference in Lausanne for their helpful feedback on this article. We have had three children (between us) since starting this project and would like to thank our child care providers, without whom this article would not have been completed.

References

REFERENCES

Barnea, Shlomit, and Rahat, Gideon. 2010. “‘Out with the Old, in with the New’: What Constitutes a New Party?” Party Politics 17 (3): 303–20.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Bjarnegård, Elin. 2013. Gender, Informal Institutions and Political Recruitment. Basingstoke: Palgrave Macmillan.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Bjarnegård, Elin, and Kenny, Meryl. 2015. “Revealing the ‘Secret Garden’: The Informal Dimensions of Political Recruitment.” Politics & Gender 11 (4): 748–53.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Bjarnegård, Elin, and Kenny, Meryl. 2016. “Comparing Candidate Selection: A Feminist Institutionalist Approach.” Government and Opposition 51 (3): 370–92.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Bjarnegård, Elin, and Zetterberg, Pär. 2016. “Political Parties and Gender Quota Implementation: The Role of Bureaucratized Candidate Selection Procedures.” Comparative Politics 48 (3): 393–417.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Bolleyer, Nicole. 2013. New Parties in Old Systems. Oxford: Oxford University Press.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Caul, Miki. 1999. “Women's Representation in Parliament: The Role of Political Parties.” Party Politics 5 (1): 79–98.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Childs, Sarah. 2008. Women and British Party Politics. London: Routledge.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Childs, Sarah, and Webb, Paul. 2012. Sex, Gender and the Conservative Party: From Iron Lady to Kitten Heels. Basingstoke: Palgrave Macmillan.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Clarke, Nick, Jennings, Will, Moss, Jonathan, and Stoker, Gerry. 2018. The Good Politician: Folk Theories, Political Interaction, and the Rise of Anti-Politics. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Cowell-Meyers, Kimberly. 2011. “A Collarette on a Donkey: The Northern Ireland Women's Coalition and the Limitations of Contagion Theory.” Political Studies 59 (2): 411–31.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Cowell-Meyers, Kimberly. 2016. “Women's Political Parties in Europe.” Politics & Gender 12 (1): 1–27.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Cowell-Meyers, Kimberly. 2017. “The Contagion Effects of the Feminist Initiative: Agenda-Setting, Niche Parties and Mainstream Parties.” Scandinavian Political Studies 40 (4): 481–93.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Cowell-Meyers, Kimberly. 2019. “The Women's Movement Knocks on the Door: Theorizing the Strategy, Context and Impact of Frauen Macht Politik (FraP!) on Women's Representation in Swiss Politics.” Politics & Gender. Published online May 28. https://doi.org/10.1017/S1743923X19000266.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Dahlerup, Drude, ed. 2006. Women, Quotas and Politics. London: Routledge.Google Scholar
Dominelli, Lena, and Jonsdottir, Gudrun. 1988. “Feminist Political Organization in Iceland: Some Reflections on the Experience of Kwenna Frambothid.” Feminist Review, no. 30: 36–60.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Evans, Elizabeth. 2011. Gender and the Liberal Democrats. Manchester: Manchester University Press.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Evans, Elizabeth. 2015. The Politics of Third Wave Feminisms: Neoliberalism, Intersectionality and the State in Britain and the US. Basingstoke: Palgrave Macmillan.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Evans, Elizabeth. 2016. “Feminist Allies and Strategic Partners: Exploring the Relationship between the Women's Movement and Political Parties.” Party Politics 22 (5): 631–40.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Evans, Elizabeth, and Kenny, Meryl. 2019. “The Women's Equality Party: Emergence, Organisation and Challenges.” Political Studies. Published online January 2. https://doi.org/10.1177/0032321718812885.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Ford, Robert, and Goodwin, Matthew. 2014. Revolt on the Right: Explaining Support for the Radical Right in Britain. London: Routledge.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Galea, Natalie, Powell, Abigail, Loosemore, Martin, and Chappell, Louise. 2015. “Designing Robust and Revisable Policies for Gender Equality: Lessons from the Australian Construction Industry.” Construction Management and Economics 33 (5–6): 375–89.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Helmke, Gretchen, and Levitsky, Steven. 2006. Informal Institutions and Democracy: Lessons from Latin America. Baltimore: John Hopkins University Press.Google Scholar
Hinojosa, Magda. 2012. Selecting Women, Electing Women. Philadelphia: Temple University Press.Google Scholar
Jennings, Will, Stoker, Gerry, and Twyman, Joe. 2016. “The Dimensions and Impact of Political Discontent in Britain.” Parliamentary Affairs 69 (4): 876–900.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Kantola, Johanna. 2006. Feminists Theorize the State. Basingstoke: Palgrave Macmillan.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Katz, Richard S., and Mair, Peter. 2009. “The Cartel Party Thesis: A Restatement.” Perspectives on Politics 7 (4): 753–66.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Kenny, Meryl. 2007. “Gender, Institutions and Power: A Critical Review.” Politics 27 (2): 91–100.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Kenny, Meryl. 2013. Gender and Political Recruitment: Theorizing Institutional Change. Basingstoke: Palgrave Macmillan.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Kenny, Meryl. 2018. “From Thatcher to May and Beyond: Women in British Politics.” In None Past the Polls: Britain at the Polls 2017, ed. Allen, Nicholas. Manchester: Manchester University Press, 121–40.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Kulawik, Teresa. 2009. “Staking the Frame of a Feminist Discursive Institutionalism.” Politics & Gender 5 (2): 262–71.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Levin, Leah Simmons. 1999. “Setting the Agenda: The Impact of the 1977 Israel Women's Party.” Israel Studies 4 (2): 40–63.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Levitsky, Steven. 1998. “Institutionalization and Peronism: The Concept, the Case and the Case for the Concept.” Party Politics 4 (1): 77–92.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Lovenduski, Joni. 2005. Feminizing Politics. Cambridge: Polity Press.Google Scholar
Lowndes, Vivien. 2014. “How Are Things Done Around Here? Uncovering Institutional Rules and Their Gendered Effects.” Politics & Gender 10 (4): 685–91.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Lühiste, Maarja, and Kenny, Meryl. 2016. “Pathways to Power: Women's Representation in the 2014 European Parliament Elections.” European Journal of Political Research 55 (3): 626–41.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Mackay, Fiona. 2014. “Nested Newness, Institutional Innovation and the Gendered Limits of Change.” Politics & Gender 10 (4): 549–71.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Mackay, Fiona, Kenny, Meryl, and Chappell, Louise. 2010. “New Institutionalism through a Gender Lens: Towards a Feminist Institutionalism?” International Political Science Review 31 (5): 573–88.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Majic, Samantha. 2017. “Participating, Observing, Publishing: Lessons from the Field.” Perspectives on Politics 50 (1): 103–8.Google Scholar
Malley, Rosa. 2012. “Feeling at Home: Inclusion at Westminster and the Scottish Parliament.” Political Quarterly 83 (4): 714–17.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Norris, Pippa. 1996. “Legislative Recruitment.” In Comparing Democracies, eds. Le Duc, Lawrence, Niemi, Richard G., and Norris, Pippa. London: Sage, 184–215.Google Scholar
Norris, Pippa, and Lovenduski, Joni. 1995. Political Recruitment: Gender, Race and Class. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.Google Scholar
Panebianco, Angelo. 1988. Political Parties: Organization and Power. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.Google Scholar
Pierson, Paul. 2004. Politics in Time: History, Institutions, and Social Analysis. Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Piscopo, Jennifer M. 2016. “When Informality Advantages Women: Quota Networks, Electoral Rules and Candidate Selection in Mexico.” Government and Opposition 51 (3): 487–512.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Ross, Karen, Evans, Elizabeth, Harrison, Lisa, Shears, Mary, and Wadia, Khursheed. 2013. “The Gender of News and News of Gender: A Study of the Press Coverage of the 2010 British General Election.” International Journal of Press/Politics 18 (1): 3–20.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Schwartz-Shea, Peregrine, and Majic, Samantha. 2017. “Introduction—Ethnography and Observation: Political Science Research in This ‘Late Methodological Moment.’” Perspectives on Politics 50 (1): 97–102.Google Scholar
Scott, Joan W. 1986. “Gender: A Useful Category of Historical Analysis.” American Historical Review 91 (5): 1053–75.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Verge, Tània, and de la Fuente, Maria. 2014. “Playing with Different Cards: Party Politics, Gender Quotas and Women's Empowerment.” International Political Science Review 35 (1): 67–79.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Women's Equality Party. 2015. “Party Objectives.” https://www.womensequality.org.uk/objectives (accessed July 1, 2019).Google Scholar
Women's Equality Party. 2016a. “Our Code and Constitution.” https://www.womensequality.org.uk/our_code (accessed July 1, 2019).Google Scholar
Women's Equality Party. 2016b. “What It Means to Be a WE Candidate.” https://d3n8a8pro7vhmx.cloudfront.net/womensequality/pages/705/attachments/original/1449526777/What_it_means_to_be_a_WE_candidate.pdf?1449526777 (accessed July 1, 2019).Google Scholar
Women's Equality Party. 2017. “Manifesto: General Election 2017.” https://d3n8a8pro7vhmx.cloudfront.net/womensequality/pages/2512/attachments/original/1494600051/WE_3495_Manifesto_2017_V4_Singles.pdf?1494600051 (accessed June 19, 2019).Google Scholar
Zaborszky, Dorothy. 1987. “Feminist Politics: The Feminist Party of Canada.” Women's Studies International Forum 10 (6): 613–21.CrossRefGoogle Scholar