Women, Political Leadership and Substantive Representation: the Case of New Zealand

Abstract

The descriptive representation of women in cabinet is a necessary but not sufficient condition to achieve women-friendly policy outcomes. Rather, substantive representation of women by women political leaders also requires women’s political activism. In this article, I explore the idea that institutionalised separate spaces are important sites of labour women’s activism which promote and sustain women’s policy leadership and the substantive representation of women. Through an examination of the New Zealand Labour Women’s Council and four Labour women ministers who have used this space to pursue positions of influence and implement women-friendly policies, it becomes evident that it is not always possible for women leaders to publicly represent a ‘feminist’ claim, but this does not diminish their attempts at substantive representation. Rather, I suggest that an active and influential feminist reference group is a necessary supplement to women’s executive presence. FEMINIST research on the representation of women has burgeoned in recent years, with considerable attention given to the links between the descriptive and the substantive. Many of these analyses focus on women’s preferences and performances as legislators, and the constraints and opportunities they face in seeking to advance ‘women friendly’ positions. Gendering legislatures is a desirable end in itself, but is also seen to be a means by which ‘women’s interests’ can become more visibly represented. While there is a body of evidence to suggest this may occur, more tenuous is the causal link between the numbers of women elected and the substantive representation of women. 1 Yet, we have only recently reached a time where women’s place in parliament has become ‘accepted’ or ‘normal’, meaning it is too soon to abandon the analysis of the performance of women politicians. In addition, the focus of research to date has tended to be on women as legislators, rather than members of the executive. 2 This is not surprising. It takes time for any politician, male or female, to build a political career to the point where they have the capacity to influence directly the government’s policy agenda, that is, to become part of the