EQUAL REPRESENTATION FOR WOMEN IN LOCAL GOVERNMENT … · -In Israel, the average rate of women...

EQUAL REPRESENTATION FOR

WOMEN IN LOCAL

GOVERNMENT—THE SITUATION

IN ISRAEL AND IN A

COMPARATIVE PERSPECTIVE

Written by: Rinat Benita and Shelly Mizrahi

18 Adar 5778

Approved by: Orly Almagor Lotan , Team Leader 5 March 2018

The Knesset

Research and

Information Center

Kiryat Ben-Gurion,

Jerusalem, 91950

T e l : 0 2 - 6 4 0 8 2 4 0 / 1

F a x : 0 2 - 6 4 9 6 1 0 3

www.knesset.gov.il/mmm

The Knesset

Research and

Information Center

35 מתוך 1 עמוד

הכנסת

מרכז המחקר והמידע

This document was written at the request of MK Aida Touma-Sliman, chair of the Committee

on the Status of Women and Gender Equality, and it addresses the representation of women

in local government in Israel and in other countries. The first section of the document focuses

on the involvement of women in municipal politics in Israel and contains relevant data on

women who ran and were elected in the most recent local elections in Israel, which took place

in 2013. The second section presents various tools for raising the rate of representation of

women in local government that are practiced in Israel and abroad. The third section of the

document presents a comparative perspective regarding the rate of female representation in

municipal councils in various countries.

We emphasize that for the purpose of distinguishing precisely between various types of

entities in local politics, we used the term "local authorities"1 in the chapter dealing with

Israel, while employing the term "municipal councils"—in accordance with the term

customarily used around the world in writing on this subject—in the comparative discussion.

The following findings emerge from the document:

- Increasing the rate of women's membership in municipal councils is an issue that is

on the agenda of various international bodies and that has been validated in numerous

resolutions—both within broader resolutions on the promotion of women in decision-

making positions and specific statements on the promotion of women in local

government.

- In Israel, the average rate of women among the total number of council members

in local authorities is approximately 13.5%. This rate is substantially lower than the

rate of women among the general population and is even low compared to the

percentage of women in the national government—28% (34 female Members of

Knesset) at the time of writing.

- Of all the local councils and cities in Israel—201 in total— at the time of writing, only

four (Netanya, Yahud-Monosson, Or Yehuda, and Ganei Tikva) are headed by

women. Thus, the percentage of women among heads of authorities is

approximately just two percent.

1 In this document, a "local authority" is a town or local council, to the exclusion of regional councils, in

accordance with the definition of the term set forth in the Local Authorities (Elections) Law, 5725-1965.

Because the elections for membership on a regional council are conducted by a different method, which stems

from the two-tiered structure that characterizes these authorities, data on regional councils are not included

in this document.

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- According to data received by the Knesset Research and Information Center

(hereinafter: RIC) from the Ministry of the Interior, in the 2013 municipal elections

17,673 men and women ran for office to head an authority or gain a seat on a council—

approximately 20% were women (3,557 candidates) and the rest were men (14,116

candidates).

- Of the 3,557 women who ran for office to head an authority or gain a seat on a council,

327 were elected (324 women as members of councils, and another three women as

heads of an authority). Thus, only 9% of the female candidates for seats on local

authority councils were elected. For the sake of comparison, 2,093 (14.8%) of the

14,116 men who ran for office were elected.

- The data show a correlation between the socio-economic ranking of authorities'

residents and the percentage of women serving on their council. While in

authorities ranked in clusters 1–4, women compose less than 3% of the council

members, the average rate is 16% in authorities ranked 5, some 24% in authorities

rated 6–7, and the average in wealthy authorities (clusters 8–10) is approximately one-

third of the total number of council members.

- At the same time, women ran for head of the local authority in more than a third of

the authorities ranked in the highest socio-economic clusters (8 and 9). In contrast, in

all the authorities ranked in the low clusters [including many authorities that are Arab

or haredi (Jewish ultra-Orthodox)] only in two—Mitzpe Ramon and Nazareth—did a

woman run for head of the authority.

- An especially notable under-representation of women exists in the Arab and

haredi authorities, in which only some 4% of the total number of candidates for the

authority council (in both Arab and haredi authorities) were women. The city of

Nazareth is the only Arab local authority in which a woman ran for the leadership of

the authority. In the haredi authorities, not a single woman was elected as a council

member, while in all the Arab authorities, six women were elected (less than 1%

of the total number of council members).

- According to data from the Forum of Deputy and Acting Heads of Councils in Israel

(which is under the Federation of Local Authorities in Israel), some 12% of the deputy

heads of authorities were women, similar to the rate among council members.

- Countries employ various tools to raise the rate of women's representation in the

political system. Some tools are statutory, formally regularized, and implemented at

the national level, and some are voluntary initiatives by organizations or parties. Some

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of the tools (especially quotas) attempt to contend with the existing structural

arrangements, while others (e.g., education and information) are meant to change the

prevalent social and cultural arrangements.

- Gender quotas are one of the main tools for increasing the percentage of women

in the political system, on both the national and municipal levels. A quota may be

set by statutory means, with the state obliging the parties to maintain a certain rate

of representation for each of the genders, or mandating that a certain percentage of the

seats in the institution for which the elections are held be reserved for women. A quota

may also be instituted on a voluntary basis by the political parties. Ensuring that a

sufficient number of women are elected requires more than determining a numerical

quota; the quota must relate to giving women a place on the party's slate of

candidates that gives them a realistic chance of being elected and include sanctions

for breach of the quota requirement (as is indeed done in most of the cases).

- Data from the various countries surveyed indicate that women still comprise a

minority of the members of municipal councils and of the heads of local

authorities. In all the states reviewed in this document—with the exception of Iceland

and Sweden—the rate of women in municipal councils is below 40%. In 60% of the

countries reviewed, the rate of women is lower than even 30%. In addition, in all the

countries reviewed in this document, with the exception of Sweden, women make up

less than 30% of the heads of municipal councils; in some 75% of the states reviewed,

this rate is lower than even 20%.

- In Israel, there are no statutory quotas for the equal representation of women on

either the national or municipal levels. Nevertheless, in 2014 the Knesset adopted

Amendment No. 12 to the Local Authorities (Election Financing) Law, which was

designed to raise the rate of representation of women in local politics by creating a

financial incentive for placing women in places on parties' lists that give the

candidates a realistic chance at election. The amendment stipulates that political

groups in the local authorities whose slate of candidates is at least one-third women

shall receive larger election financing. According to the amendment, such a group

shall receive an additional 15% of the sum of election financing to which it is entitled

by law. This provision will apply as of the next local authority elections, in October

2018; after that point, it will be possible to examine its effects on the rate of women

representatives in municipal politics.

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1. Background: Women's participation in politics

In recent decades, there has been a rise in the percentage of women holding decision-making

positions, including in national and local politics. Thus, for example, in December 2017, an

average of 23.6% of the members of the lower house of parliaments around the world

were women, as compared to an average of 12% in January 1997.2

The following table presents data from the Inter-Parliamentary Union (IPU) regarding the

representation rates of women in the lower houses of parliaments around the world in January

1997 and December 2017, divided by regional group.

Table 1: Percentage of women in the lower house of parliaments around the world in

January 1997 and December 2017, by regional group3

Regional group Jan. 1997 Dec. 2017

Members of the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe 27.3% 13.8%

Americas 28.6% 12.9%

Asia (excluding Arab states) 19.7% 13.4%

Sub-Saharan Africa 23.7% 10.1%

Pacific 15.5% 9.8%

Arab states 18.3% 3.3%

Global average 23.6% 12%

2 IPU, "Women in National Parliaments," Situation as of 1 January 1997, http://archive.ipu.org/wmn-

e/arc/world010197.htm; idem, Situation as of 1st December 2017, http://archive.ipu.org/wmn-

e/arc/classif011217.htm. 3 IPU, "Women in National Parliaments," Situation as of 1 January 1997, http://archive.ipu.org/wmn-

e/arc/world010197.htm; idem, Situation as of 1st December 2017, http://archive.ipu.org/wmn-

e/arc/classif011217.htm.

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Despite the increased percentage of women in parliaments, the data indicate that women are

still under-represented in political decision-making positions and are a minority of those who

head of a political party or hold senior government positions.4

The under-representation of women also applies to local politics; in some countries, the

disparities in the percentage of men and women are even greater in local political

bodies.5 Thus, for example, in 2017, an average of 32.1% of the members of municipal

councils in EU member countries were women, and an average of 14.9% of these

countries' municipal councils were headed by women.6 It is important to point out that in

contrast to the data regarding the percentage of women in national politics (i.e., national

parliaments), which are collected and publicized on a regular basis, the data regarding the

representation of women in local politics are not available to the same extent and with the

same level of credibility.

Various factors lead to the under-representation of women in the political system. The

OECD report prepared in advance of the Conference on Improving Women's Access to

Leadership identified several barriers that women face in the political arena:7 cultural

barriers—the perception that political roles and leadership ability require traits that are

culturally identified with men; structural barriers—these barriers usually include lack of

work-life balance, limited flexible working arrangements, and the lack of support and

contacts; self-imposed barriers such as a lack of confidence, which are usually rooted in

stereotypes related to gender and the role of women; a shortage of mechanisms that

encourage gender equality and of relevant data that are segmented by gender.

A 2013 survey conducted by the IPU among male and female MPs examined the barriers they

identify to developing a political career. As regards the barriers faced by women, the survey

4 United Nations, "The World's Women 2015," Chapter 5—Power and Decision-making;

(https://unstats.un.org/unsd/gender/downloads/WorldsWomen2015_chapter5_t.pdf); OECD, Conference on

Improving Women's Access to Leadership—Background Report 8 March 2016.

(http://www.oecd.org/daf/ca/OECD-Women-Leadership-2016-Report.pdf 5 United Nations, "The World's Women 2015," Chapter 5—Power and Decision-making;

(https://unstats.un.org/unsd/gender/downloads/WorldsWomen2015_chapter5_t.pdf). 6 EIGE (European Institute for Gender Equality), Gender Statistics Database, Women and Men in Decision

Making, Politics, Parliament and Assemblies, "Local/Municipal Councils: Mayors or Other Leaders and

Members," Last retrieved on 14 January 2018. 7 OECD Conference on Improving Women's Access to Leadership—Background Report March 8, 2016.

(http://www.oecd.org/daf/ca/OECD-Women-Leadership-2016-Report.pdf

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revealed results similar to those mentioned in the academic literature: cultural and social

perceptions regarding the role of women in society and the prevailing cultural attitudes

regarding the integration of women in political life; a lack of family support; domestic

responsibilities; a lack of confidence; a lack of financial resources; and the absence of

support from political parties. In contrast, male MPs noted in their replies to the survey that

their political development is liable to be hindered by a lack of support from the electorate

and a lack of financial resources. The men listed cultural and social perceptions among the

least important factors in developing a political career.8

In addition to these barriers, one should note the fact that in Israel, membership in the

council of a local authority does not generally entitle the officeholder to financial

remuneration (except for the head of an authority or a salaried deputy head of an

authority); it is, instead, volunteer work. This constitutes an additional barrier, which

may be much more significant for women.9

Though most of the aforementioned barriers were noted in the context of the national

parliamentary political arena, presumably some are relevant to the local arena, as well.

Nevertheless, it is important to emphasize that studies indicate that in some countries, women

are better able to integrate into local politics than into national politics. Reasons include

women's ability to develop better social and professional networks and a better work-life

balance at the local level than that at the national level.10

In order to overcome the barriers mentioned above, and to enable women equal

representation, to the extent possible, different countries have adopted various tools. Some of

the tools are formally regularized, and others are the result of various initiatives by

8 International Institute for Democracy and Electoral Assistance (IDEA), Atlas of Electoral Gender Quotas,

2013. https://www.idea.int/sites/default/files/publications/atlas-of-electoral-gender-quotas.pdf 9 Telephone conversation with Tal Ohana, deputy head of the Yeroham council, on 8 February 2018. In this

context we note the Municipalities Ordinance (Amendment—Remuneration for Participation in Meetings,

and Reimbursement of Expenses for Council Members) Bill, 5777-2017 submitted by MK David Amsalem

and others, which proposes, inter alia, to enshrine the right of members of municipal and local councils—

who do not receive a salary from the funds of the local authority—to receive remuneration for participating

in meetings of the council and of certain council committees, as well as the right to receive reimbursement

for expenses incurred in the fulfillment of their job. See, Hatsaot Hok HaKnesset, vol. 725 (17 July 2017), p.

222, http://fs.knesset.gov.il/20/law/20_ls1_389032.pdf [Hebrew]. The bill was prepared for the first reading

by the Knesset Internal Affairs and Environment Committee in July 2017, but has not been advanced since

then. 10 United Nations, Economic and Social Commission for Western Asia (ESCWA), Against Wind and Tides: A

Review of the Status of Women and Gender Equality in the Arab Region (Beijing +20), 7 January 2016.

https://sustainabledevelopment.un.org/content/documents/2283ESCWA_Women%20and%20Gender%20E

quality%20in%20the%20Arab%20Region_Beijing20.pdf

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organizations or political parties. Some of them are implemented on the national level, and

some at the local level. In addition, some of the tools, such as quotas, attempt to contend with

the existing structural arrangements in the country, while others—such as programs for

empowering women, and campaigns for raising awareness of the issue—work to change the

social and cultural arrangements. These tools will be discussed in greater detail below.

Note that raising the percentage of women in municipal councils is on the agenda of various

international bodies, and the issue has been validated on many occasions, whether as part of

a broader resolution promoting women in decision-making positions or in specific reference

to promoting the participation of women in local government. Thus, for example, both the

UN Beijing Declaration of 199511 and the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of

Discrimination against Women (CEDAW)12 refer to the advancement of women in politics

by, inter alia, calling upon states to take steps to ensure that women have equal access to and

participation in decision-making entities on all levels, including the local level. The UN

Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), too, relate to increasing the percentage of women

in local government within the context of the goals aimed at achieving gender equality.13

Note that the Council of European Municipalities and Regions (CEMR) is presently writing

a comparative report regarding women in local politics in Europe. This will include a survey

of the tools various countries use to increase the rate of women in municipal councils, and

up-to-date information regarding the rate of women in councils.14

11 United Nations, Report of the Fourth World Conference on Women, (New York: United Nations, 1996),

http://www.un.org/womenwatch/daw/beijing/pdf/Beijing%20full%20report%20E.pdf 12 United Nations Entity for Gender Equality and the Empowerment of Women, "Convention on the Elimination

of All Forms of Discrimination against Women,"

http://www.un.org/womenwatch/daw/cedaw/text/econvention.htm#part2 13 United Nations, "Sustainable Development Goals," https://sustainabledevelopment.un.org/sdgs. Last retrieved

on 18 February 2018. 14 Council of European Municipalities and Regions (CEMR), "Women in Local Politics in Europe,"

http://www.charter-equality.eu/multimedia/publications/women-in-local-politics-in-europe.html, accessed

12 February 2018.

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2. Women in local politics in Israel

2.1. Background

The most recent elections in the local authorities in Israel took place in October 2013. That

year, there were 255 local authorities in Israel with residents, and another two industrial

councils. Among the local authorities with residents, 54 are regional councils, 75 cities and

126 local councils. Unless otherwise indicated, the data in this document that relate to

candidates in elections and representatives in local authorities are based on a data set provided

at the request of the RIC by Shlomit Goldstein, Director of Local Elections Operations in the

Ministry of the Interior.15 The data set includes information on all the candidates in the local

elections—both for seats on the council and for the head of the authority—in the 191

municipalities and local councils that held elections at that time.16

In general, the elections to the local authorities are conducted by placing slips of paper in two

envelopes: one (yellow) envelope for the head of the authority and a second (white) envelope

for a list of candidates to the local authority's council. Elections to the councils in the local

authorities17 take place by means of a proportional-list method, whereby each authority is an

electoral district with its own lists of candidates, some of which are connected to a national

list while others are independent and local. The election arrangements for the councils are

based on the Local Authorities (Elections) Law, 5725-1965. The arrangements for the direct

and personal election of the head of the authority is based on the Local Authorities (Election

of the Head of the Authority and his Deputies, and their Service) Law, 5735-1975. Until this

law was passed, elections were held for all the authorities once every four years, with the

intention of linking them to the Knesset elections. However, because the elections to the

Knesset were repeatedly held early, the decision was made in 1975 to separate the elections

to the local authorities from those to the Knesset, and it was stipulated that the former would

be held every five years.18

15 Email from Shlomit Goldstein, Director of Local Elections Operations in the Ministry of the Interior, dated

November 28th, 2017. 16 The following local councils did not hold elections in November 2013: Arad, Bak'a al Gharbiya, Bukata, Ein

Kanya, I'billin, Jat, Taibe, Majdal Shams, Mas'ada, and Yeroham. 17 Excluding regional councils. 18 Unless otherwise mentioned, this chapter is based on Assaf Meydani "The Law of the Local Government" in

Yagil Levy and Eti Sarig (eds.), The Local Government—Between the State, the Community and the Market

Economy, (Raanana: Open University Press, 2014), volume A, chapter 3, pp. 119–204.

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The council of the local authority is the entity with the authority and ability to approve

issues and matters defined by law, to legislate bylaws, to supervise, to oversee, and to initiate.

The council must debate the acts and intentions of the authority's administration, be familiar

with the policy that the head of the authority seeks to delineate and express its opinion on it,

approve the appointment of senior employees in the authority, examine plans, and approve

the budget. Among the powers of the council: appointments, the dismissal and termination of

officials, approval of the financial affairs of the authority, management of real estate,

establishment of municipal associations, the legislation of bylaws, examination of

comptrollers' reports, and supervision and oversight of the head of the authority and appointed

officials.19

The number of council members in each authority is determined using an index that is

based on the number of registered inhabitants in the local authority around the date of

the elections. Table 2 below presents the index for the number of council members based on

the population of the authority.

Table 2: Number of council members based on the size of the authority20

Number of inhabitants Number of council members

Up to 1,000 5

1,001–3,000 7

3,001–15,000 9

15,001–25,000 11

25,001–60,000 15

60,001–100,000 17

100,001–200,000 21

200,001–300,000 23

300,001 and above 25

19 For further details see: Mif'am - the system for guidance and development centers in local government, The

Guide for the representative in the Local Authority, Part B: the Local Authority Council, pp. 35–154. Last

retrieved on January 14, 2018. 20 Circular by the Director General of the Ministry of the Interior 4/2009, March 2009. Last retrieved on January

14, 2018. In small cities, in which there are up to 15,000 inhabitants, the number of council members is nine,

in large local authorities, in which the population is above 25,000, the number of council members shall not

exceed 15.

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2.2. Women on Local Authority Councils

According to the data received by the RIC from the Ministry of the Interior, 17,673 men and

women ran in the 2013 elections for heads of authorities and seats on the authorities' councils;

3,557 of the candidates were women, and 14,116 were men. Some 41 women ran to be heads

of authorities, as will be elaborated below. Altogether, approximately 20% of all the

candidates who ran for seats on the authorities' councils were women.

Of the 3,557 women who ran to be heads of authorities or council members, 327 women

were elected (324 women as council members and another three women as heads of

authorities). Thus, only 9% of the women who ran for seats on the councils of the local

authorities were elected. By comparison, 2,093 of the men who ran for office—14,116

candidates—were elected. Thus, the percentage of those elected among the men (both as

heads of authorities and council members) was 14.8% of those who ran.

In all women make up an average of 13.5% of the total number of council members in

the local authorities.

Illustration 1: Candidacy and election in the 2013 elections to the local authorities, by

gender21

Over and beyond the general data regarding the aforementioned gender differences among

candidates and those elected in the local authorities, we sought to examine the variables

that affect the percentage of women on the municipal or local council. Graph 1 below

presents the incidence of authorities with at least one female council member, segmented by

21 Data from the Ministry of the Interior as processed by the RIC.

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the socioeconomic ranking of the authority's residents. In other words, in how many of all

the authorities belonging to a certain socioeconomic cluster are women represented at all.

Graph 1: The incidence of authorities with any representation of women among the

council members, by the socioeconomic ranking of the authority's residents22

The graph suggests a positive correlation between the locality's socioeconomic ranking and

the incidence of representation of women among councilmembers. While women are

represented to some extent on the council of all the authorities in clusters 7 and above (the

relatively affluent local authorities), this incidence drops to 87% of the authorities in clusters

5–6 and to less than half of all the localities in clusters 5 and below. As noted above, the graph

refers to authorities in which at least one women serves on the council. Thus, for example,

not a single woman serves on the council in 55% of the authorities ranked in cluster 4.

At the same time, we examined the differences in the percentage of women, in cities and local

authorities in which women are represented on the council, segmented by the socioeconomic

ranking of the authority's residents. The results of this examination are presented in Graph 2

below.

22 Data of the Ministry of the Interior as processed by the RIC.

86% 87%

1 2 3 4 5 6 7+Socioeconomic ranking of the authority's residents

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Graph 2: Percentage of women councilmembers, by socioeconomic ranking of the

authority's residents

(authorities with at least one woman on the council)23

One can see from the graph that in authorities in which women are represented among the

council members, the rate of representation rises alongside the socioeconomic strength of the

locality's population. Thus, in affluent authorities (clusters 8–10), an average of

approximately one-third of council members are women; in clusters 6–7 the rate is slightly

less than a quarter; in cluster 5, approximately a sixth; and in clusters 2–4, the average rate of

women among council members is only some three percent.

2.3. Women at the head of local authorities

In the 2013 elections, 41 women ran for the top post in 36 municipalities and local councils.

Of these candidates, three won their race and were elected to serve as head of the authority.

The percentage of women who ran for leadership of an authority out of the total number of

candidates for such positions (702) was approximately 6% in this election cycle, a rate lower

even than that of women who ran for membership in the authority council (approximately

20%, as mentioned above). In September 2015, a woman was elected as head of the Or

23 Data of the Ministry of the Interior as processed by the RIC. There are no women who serve on the council of

an authority in Cluster 1 of the socioeconomic rankings, while there are only two authorities ranked in cluster

10—Savion and Kfar Shemaryahu. Grouping these latter two authorities with those in clusters 8 and 9 results

in an average of 33% female council members for clusters 8–10.

2-4 5 6-7 8-9 10

Socioeconomic ranking

Rate of representationשיעור הייצוג

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Yehuda local authority in special elections.24 At the time of writing there were in all four

women who head an authority, approximately 2% of all mayors and local council heads.

In order to try to characterize the women who ran for the leadership of local authorities, we

performed a segmentation of the number of women candidates according to socio-economic

rating of the inhabitants of the authorities in which they ran, as appears in table 3 below.

Table 3: Women running for head of authority in the 2013 elections, by authority's

socioeconomic rank25

Authority rank

by socioeconomic

cluster26

Number of

authorities and

cities in the

clusters

Number of

authorities in

which women ran

to head the

authority27

Percentage of authorities

where women ran to head

the authority, out of the

total number of

authorities in the cluster

1–2 47 0 0%

3–5 82 9 11%

6–7 34 11 33%

8–10 38 16 42%

The table suggests a correlation between the socio-economic rating of the authority and the

rate of women who ran for head of an authority. In cities and local councils with the lowest

socioeconomic ranking, women did not run at all for head of authority. In this context, note

that that all the authorities in clusters 1–2 are Arab or haredi (Jewish ultra-Orthodox)

authorities. As socioeconomic ranking increases, so does the incidence of women running for

24 The Official Gazette No. 7120, October 7, 2015. Last retrieved on January 11, 2018.

25 Email from Shlomit Goldstein Director of Local Elections Operations in the Ministry of the Interior, dated 28

November 2017. 26 The segmentation was performed on the basis of a ranking published in late 2016, which was based on 2013

data. For the list of authorities grouped by cluster, see: Central Bureau of Statistics, Chart 2, Local authorities

according to ascending order of the socio-economic index for 2013. Last retrieved on 11 January 2018. 27 In Herzliya, Kfar Yona, Sderot, and Tel-Mond, more than one woman ran for head of the authority.

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the leadership positions. Thus, while only in 11% of all the authorities in clusters 3–5 did

women run for the leadership position, women were represented among the candidates for

head of the authority in more than 40% of those where the population has the highest

socioeconomic standing, i.e., clusters 8–10. In the clusters in the middle of the socioeconomic

rankings (i.e., clusters 6–7(, women were represented among the candidates for leadership of

the authority in approximately a third of the cities and local councils.

Frame 1: Female representation in authorities of the Arab and haredi communities

The under-representation of women is especially noticeable in the Arab and haredi

authorities. Thus, in the 73 Arab authorities in which elections were held in 2013, there were

6,327 candidates for head of authority and council member. After subtracting the candidates

who were elected to head a local authority, the rate of women who were candidates for council

membership was approximately 4% of the total (270). Only six Arab women were elected to

the local council and serve as members—less than one percent of the total number of elected

council members. Four of the six women are members of the Nazareth city council, and the

remaining two are councilmembers in Sakhnin and Eilaboun. Only one women ran for head

of an authority (in Nazareth), and she was not elected.

Of the 367 candidates in the seven haredi authorities,28 a total of 16 women ran for seats on

the authority council—approximately 4.5% of the total number of candidates for the councils

of these authorities. Not a single woman ran for head of a haredi authority. At the end of the

election process, 97 candidates were elected—with not a single woman among them.

2.4. Women as deputies to a local authority head

Alongside the examination of the percentage of women among heads of authorities and

council members, we sought to examine the percentage of women in one of the senior-most

28 The ultra-Orthodox authorities in Israel are: Elad, Beitar Illit, Bnei Brak, Immanuel, Modi'in Illit, Kiryat

Ye'arim and Rekhasim. This list is taken from an appendix on the employment of haredim, which appears on

the website of the Ministry of Labor, Social Affairs and Social Services:

https://www.google.co.il/url?sa=t&rct=j&q=&esrc=s&source=web&cd=1&cad=rja&uact=8&ved=0ahUKE

wisl8qL0N7YAhVG46QKHfIICbYQFggmMAA&url=http%3A%2F%2Femployment.molsa.gov.il%2Flegi

slation%2Fceoinstructions%2Fappendixes%2Fappendix6inst9.3.docx&usg=AOvVaw2fS3ts1Sz2mAHGxB

ffPv0j. Retrieved on 20 February 2018

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public/political positions subordinate to the head of the local authority, i.e., the deputy head

of the authority—whether the position is granted with pay merely with the title. According to

the Local Authorities (Election of the Head of the Authority and his Deputies, and their

Service) Law, 5735-1975 (hereinafter in this chapter: the Local Authorities Law), each local

authority must appoint a deputy authority head, who serves as acting head of the authority in

the absence of the elected authority head. In a local authority with a population above 150,000

(or a local authority in the Negev or the Galilee with over 45,000 residents and which has

been recognized by the minister as an immigration-absorbing local authority), two deputies

may be appointed. An index was developed to govern the number of salaried deputies that

may be appointed; this index appears in Table 4 below.

Table 4: The number of salaried deputies that may be appointed in a local authority,

by population of the authority29

Population of the authority Number of salaried deputies

Up to 10,000 0

10,001–20,000 1

20,001–100,000 2

100,001–200,000 3

200,001–400,000 4

400,001–500,000 5

Jerusalem30 8

29 Local Authorities Law, Article 14–15. https://www.nevo.co.il/law_html/Law01/p213_053.htm Last retrieved

14 January 2018 30 Ibid.

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In addition, authorities with over 200,000 residents that do not receive a balancing grant and

have no current deficits may employ an additional salaried deputy, subject to approval by the

Ministry of the Interior.

The RIC sent a request to the Ministry of the Interior for data regarding the percentage of

women among deputy heads of authorities. The reply to this request stated that the Ministry

does not collect data regarding deputy heads of authorities.31 This, despite the fact that the

appointment of a salaried deputy involves, inter alia, the approval of the municipal council

plenum, and an announcement by the local authority regarding the appointment of said deputy

to the Director of Human Resources Management in the Local Authorities at the Ministry of

Interior.32 Furthermore, the Local Authorities Law stipulates that the Minister of the Interior

must publish notices regarding the selection of deputy heads of authorities and the end of said

deputies' terms in Reshumot (the Official Gazette).

Therefore, in order to receive information regarding the representation of women among

deputy heads of local authorities, we turned to the Forum of Deputies and Acting Heads of

Authorities in Israel, part of the Federation of Local Authorities in Israel. Below, we present

the data as submitted to us by the Forum. We emphasize that the data are updated to 2015,

and that changes have occurred between that date and the time of writing, whether due to

rotation agreements, dismissals of deputies from their position, movement into national-level

politics following the March 2015 general elections to the Knesset, resignation, etc. We

further note that joining the Forum of Deputies is voluntary, and consequently not all the

deputy heads of authorities are members (though, according to Forum chair Mr. Uri Bouskila,

most deputies are, in fact, members).33

All in all, the data from the Forum indicates a membership of 390 deputies, of whom

203 (52%) are salaried deputies and the rest are non-salaried. The Forum of the Deputy

and Acting Heads of Local Authorities does not gather information regarding the gender of

31 Email from Mr. Shimon (Moni) Ma'atuk, Senior Deputy Director General for Human Resources and

Administration, in the Ministry of the Interior, dated January 8, 2018. 32 Local Authorities Law, Article 14–15. 33 Telephone conversation with Mr. Uri Bouskila, Chairman of the Forum of Deputies and Acting Heads of

Authorities in Israel, held on 6 February 2018. In the absence of a government body that gathers the data

systematically, the mapping of the lists of all the deputies in the local authorities in Israel requires an

individual approach to each and every one of them. We found that due to the effort required to attain the

information as mentioned, it is more appropriate to use the list held by the Forum, even though it is

incomplete.

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its members. The RIC therefore examined members' gender on the basis of their names while

examining the websites of the relevant local authorities in cases where it was not possible to

determine the deputy's gender by name alone (there are quite a few unisex Hebrew names).

The results are presented below.

Our survey found that:

Of the total number of deputies, 45 (approximately 12%) are women. This rate is

similar to that of the overall rate of women in the local authorities—13.5%.

Of those deputies, 20 (approximately 45%) are salaried deputies, as opposed to 53%

of male deputies who receive salaries. All the salaried female deputies serve in cities.

Accordingly, the percentage of female deputies who perform the job unpaid is higher

than the percentage of male deputy heads of authorities who perform the job unpaid.

In the local councils, all the women who serve as deputy heads of authorities—19 in

number—are deputies in title only (i.e., without a salary). The same is true of six of

the women who hold this position in cities.

3. Tools for increasing the representation of women in politics

As stated, various countries have adopted different tools for increasing the representation of

women in politics. Some of the tools are codified in legislation, while others are the result of

various initiatives by organizations or parties. Some are implemented on the national level,

others on a local level. Moreover, some of the tools attempt to contend with the state's existing

structures while others try to change societal and cultural structures. Obviously, these tools

are not mutually exclusive and can operate side-by-side.

This section will review some of the tools that exist in different countries. We will start by

presenting arrangements regarding quotas, which are an important tool for increasing the

representation of women in politics—including municipal politics—and continue by

examining various projects that exist in a number of countries and relate to initiatives to

change the country's political culture and worldview.

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3.1. Representation quotas for women34

Representation quotas for women are a major tool for increasing women's representation in

the various political institutions. The quotas relate to the number or percentage of women

who must be included in a list of candidates or to the number of seats that must be reserved

for them. The goal of the quotas is to level the political playing field for men and women and

overcome some of the aforementioned barriers that women face. Quotas in the political arena

can be set on all levels, including the municipal level.

The underlying premise of establishing quotas is that the equal treatment of men and

women in the political world is insufficient to achieve equality; rather, overcoming the

structural barriers that women face in election processes and achieving results that

reflect gender equality requires setting clear numerical objectives. Those who support

setting quotas argue that women have the right to equal representation in the political world

and that quotas enable them to overcome the obstacles they face in their effort to participate

in politics. Those who oppose quotas argue, inter alia, that they infringe on equality of

opportunity by granting preference to women and that politicians are not elected on the basis

of gender but on the basis of their qualifications. Despite the opposition, quotas are quite

prevalent and accepted; today, quotas for the representation of women exist at various

political levels in over 100 countries. It is important to note that the quotas do not remove all

the structural, institutional, and social barriers that confront women in the political arena, and

they must be accompanied by social, political and cultural changes.

According to the academic literature, gender quotas are the most effective tool for

increasing the percentage of women in elected bodies. Nevertheless, in order for quotas

to be meaningful, the following conditions must apply: a) The quota must include clear,

numerical objectives; b) The quota must be tailored to the country's political system, the

structure of voting, the type of list, and additional relevant characteristics; c) The quotas must

be accompanied by well-designed quota that reference, inter alia, the process of ranking the

candidates and their place on the list; d) The quotas must include sanctions for non-

34 The information in this chapter is taken from: IDEA, Atlas of Electoral Gender Quotas, 2013.

https://www.idea.int/sites/default/files/publications/atlas-of-electoral-gender-quotas.pdf; idem,

"Gender Quota Database". https://www.idea.int/data-tools/data/gender-quotas/quotas, Last retrieved on

February 12, 2018

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compliance. Two common sanctions are the disqualification of lists of candidates and a

monetary fine.

It is important to emphasize that if parties place the women at the tail end of the party list, the

quota turns into a meaningless mechanism. A numerical quota alone is not sufficient to

ensure that a sufficient number of women will be elected; the quota must address the

placement of women in slots on the lists of candidates that allow them a realistic chance

of being elected. Accordingly, various models of quotas include rules regarding both: the

percentage or number of women in the list, as well as their position within it. These are called

double quotas. Various rules exist that govern the place of the women in the list,

including: the zipper (or zebra) method, whereby the list of candidates is set by alternating

women and men; a requirement that both genders be represented in the first two positions; a

requirement that every five slot on the list have a 60:40 ratio between men and women; or a

requirement that every three slots include one woman.

In some countries, the quotas are defined as "gender-neutral" rather than quotas intended

specifically to benefit women. In other words, they are designed to correct the under-

representation of either gender, should it exist. Such quotas usually set a minimal level of

representation for each gender of at least 40% (and, consequently, no more than 60%).

Quotas can be adopted in two ways: They can be set statutorily, whereby the state

obligates parties to have a certain percentage of candidates representing each gender,

or voluntarily by the political parties. In some of the countries where quotas were

determined by statute, the state decided to increase the representation of women through

quotas, without any prior cultural change regarding the view of women's roles. Therefore, in

several of these countries, the percentage of women in the political institutions (which is

relatively high) does not correspond to their low status in society. However, the voluntary

adoption of quotas is usually connected to cultural and social changes, which led to an

improvement in women's status in the society and resulted in the voluntary adoption of

quotas.35

35 Asa Shapira, Ofer Kenig, Chen Friedberg and Reut Itzkovitch-Malka, The Representation of women in

policies: Israel in comparative perspective, Policy Study 99, Israel Democracy Institute, August 2013

(Hebrew). https://www.idi.org.il/media/3317/99.pdf

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Quotas in the political arena are customarily divided into three main types:

Legislated candidate quotas—These quotas require the parties running in elections to ensure

that a certain number or percentage of their candidates are women. These quotas are usually

codified in election laws or in the constitution.

Legislated "reserved seats"—These quotas require a certain number or percentage of seats

in the elected body to be allocated to women. These quotas, too, quotas are usually codified

in election laws or in the constitution.

Party quotas—Quotas regarding the percentage of women on the party's list, which each

party adopts of its own initiative. These quotas are usually determined in the party's rules of

procedure.

It is important to emphasize that a system of quotas that does not conform to the customary

electoral system is largely symbolic.

3.2. Best practices models for including women in politics36

Alongside quotas on the national or party level, as mentioned above, additional tools

exist for increasing the representation of women in politics in general, and in municipal

politics in particular. Below, we review several tools considered "best practices" in

advancing this goal:

Empowerment and competence development—Programs for the development of political

skills among women exist in several countries, including Germany, Portugal, Malta and the

Czech Republic. The programs differ from one another in various ways, including the

organizations that run them, the political level for which the program is designed (national or

local), the audience to which the program is targeted, and the services the programs provide.

Nevertheless, it can be said that these programs usually include work with women on issues

of communication and on creating and developing organizational contacts alongside

mentoring, training, and the like. The programs usually work to help women enter local

politics, and focus on up-and-coming young women. Some of the programs are run by

large political parties interested in strengthening the women in their lists, while others

36 EIGE (European Institute for Gender Equality), Study on Good Practices- Women in power and decision-

making, Empowering Women in Politics, 2015; ibid, Advancing Women in Political Decision-Making - Way

Forward, 2015; https://eige.europa.eu/rdc/eige-publications/advancing-women-political-decision-making-

way-forward-study-good-practices-women-power-and-decision-making, 2016.

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cross party lines and are run by various organizations. Below are examples of such

programs in two countries:

Germany (Helene Weber Kolleg)—In Germany, women constitute approximately a

quarter of the members of municipal councils and only 10% of the heads of municipal

authorities. The goal of the current project, which began in 2011, is to encourage

women to participate in local politics, improve their political prospects, and create a

network for support and cooperation. This project is supported by the German

Federal Government. It crosses party lines and provides a monetary prize to

outstanding female politicians on the local level. These women encourage

additional women to participate in politics through local initiatives. In addition, the

project runs a nine-month–long mentoring program for potential female candidates

who wish to participate in local politics. Between 2011 and 2015, 45 women received

the monetary prize, and 107 women participated in the monitoring programs.

Portugal (From Woman to Woman)—This project was carried out between 2008

and 2010 by the Portuguese Network of Young People for Gender Equality, a

nonprofit organization, and was supported by the European Union. Its goal was to

empower up-and-coming young women and to motivate them to take a part in politics,

particularly at the local level. The multi-party project was designed for women ages

16–30, while emphasizing women from minority groups. In order to expand the

program's target audience, the women who sought to participate were not required to

have any political experience. The project focused, inter alia, on improving the

women's political skills and sense of self-confidence. The project included assistance

and mentoring, courses on the development of various relevant skills, etc. In addition,

the project organizers sought to create a change in cultural and social views

among men, too, and therefore young men participated in the project through

events and gatherings on the nature and importance of gender equality to which

they were invited.

Awareness-raising—Campaigns to raise awareness of the importance of women's

participation in politics take place in several countries. Some are designed for the general

public, others for a specific target audience. Some of the campaigns promote gender equality

in elections on a general level, others disseminate relevant information regarding women

candidates, and still others target men to increase their awareness of the importance of gender

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equality in politics. These campaigns are usually designed to overcome some of the barriers

related to stereotypes regarding women's role in society. By raising awareness of the issue,

the political parties and the general public are required to pay attention to the degree of gender

balance within the various electoral lists. The tools used in such campaigns include

publicizing lists that ignore the country's quota requirements, stereotypical and offensive

statements made by politicians, guides to provide women with tools that could help them

break into the political world, guides about the conditions required for achieving a "woman-

friendly" workspace; calling for constitutional changes; and more.

Such campaigns have been run in several countries including Croatia, Ireland, Portugal and

Sweden. It is difficult to difficult to assess or isolate the campaigns' success, but in some of

the countries where such campaigns were run, they are considered to be one of the factors

that helped increase the representation of women on both the national and local levels. We

note that, as a general rule, for a campaign to be effective it must be accompanied by an

additional tool such as quotas or programs for the development of political skills among

women.

Frame 2: Changing discriminatory party practice—the Netherlands37

The Dutch SGP (Staatkundig Gereformeerde Partij, translated as Reformed Political Party) is

a conservative party with a theocratic Christian stance. Until 2013, the party prohibited

women from joining its electoral lists due to religious prohibitions and arguments that

women's participation in politics contradicts their purpose in life as set forth in the Bible. This

position was frequently criticized, both within the Netherlands and by various international

organizations. On several occasions, the UN called on the Dutch Government to take action

to end this practice on the grounds that it violates the UN Convention on the Elimination of

All Forms of Discrimination Against Women (CEDAW). Nevertheless, the Dutch

Government chose not to act, arguing that this was a case of conflicting basic rights—freedom

of religion and freedom of association on the one hand, and equality and the absence of

discrimination on the other. After a seven-year legal battle by women's organizations against

the party and the Dutch Government, the European Court of Human Rights affirmed the

decision by the Supreme Court of the Netherlands that the state cannot accept the exclusion

of women from the party and must, instead, impose sanctions it. As a result, in 2013, the party

changed its existing practices and determined that a candidate's gender is not grounds to bar

him or her from running on the party's electoral lists. In 2014, the party fielded its first female

candidate; she was elected and served as a member of the Vlissingen city council.

37 EIGE, "Advancing Women in Political Decision Making", 2016. See footnote 36.

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3.3. Tools for encouraging representation of women in municipal politics

in Israel

Because the rate of female representation in the local authorities is so low, recent years have

seen examination of various methods to raise it. These will be presented in the coming

chapter.

3.3.1. Monetary incentives for encouraging the securing of the representation of

women in local government

The Local Authorities (Elections Financing) Law, 5754-1993 stipulates the method of

financing local elections by the State treasury. Funding is provided both to those running for

head of the authority and to the lists (i.e., groups) of candidates running for seats on the city

council. The basis for determining the level of financing to which the various candidates are

entitled is the "calculation unit," which is granted for each eligible voter. The amount is set

in Article 3 of the aforementioned law and is linked to the consumer price index. For the 2013

local elections, the value of a calculation unit was NIS 42 per eligible voter.38

In 2014, Amendment No. 12 to the Local Authorities (Elections Financing) Law was passed

to raise the rate of representation of women in local politics by creating a monetary incentive

for placing women in positions on electoral lists that allow them a realistic chance of being

elected to office. The amendment stipulates that factions in the local authorities which are at

least one-third women will receive increased election financing—an additional 15% of the

election financing to which it is entitled by law. According to the amendment, this provision

shall apply as of the next elections to local councils39 in October 2018.

According to a 2014 estimate prepared by the RIC, the estimated cost resulting from the bill,

which was being debated at the time, was between approximately NIS 10.2 million and

approximately NIS 34.5 million. This estimate is based on the results of the 2013 municipal

elections, when 1,219 lists were elected to the local authorities throughout the country, of

38 From Eliezer Schwartz, "Cost Estimate of Local Authorities (Elections Financing) (Amendment No. 12)

(Encouragement of Equal Representation for Women) Bill, 5774—2014," Knesset Research and Information

Center, 4 March 2014. [Hebrew] 39 The Law applies to local authorities and cities only, since the financing mechanism in regional authorities is

determined according to a different index.

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which 218 lists (some 17% of the lists that ran) had women comprising at least a third of the

elected representatives.40

An earlier version of the Bill proposed that a financial sanction be imposed on factions in

which the list of candidates does not include at least one women among every three

candidates. This sanction would have taken the form of a 30% reduction in the level of

financing to which the faction was entitled.41

We note that adoption of the recommendations of the Committee for the Advancement of

Women in Local Government, which are presented in Frame 3 below, and the formation of a

practicable plan to implement them, may also expedite the process of achieving equal

representation for women in local government.

Frame 3: The report of the Committee for the Advancement of Women in Local

Government—draft recommendations by the Ministry of the Interior

In order to advance the status of women in local government, the Ministry of the Interior

established a committee, which was chaired by Ms. Lizy Delaricha, the head of the Ganei

Tikva local council. According to her letter of appointment, which was published on 6 April

2016, the committee was given the mandate to recommend ways of promoting women, both

those who are elected and those who work as professionals in local authorities and associated

corporations.42

As part of this process, the Ministry of the Interior performed a study on the subject in

cooperation with ADALYA Consulting & Management, which was presented to a session of

the Knesset Committee on the Status of the Women and Gender Equality on 20 November

2017.43 The study pointed out various barriers that result in the under-representation of

women in local authorities: lack of information, inappropriate norms and a lack of awareness,

absence of suitable legislation, lack of efficient enforcement, and insufficient incentives to

encourage female initiative.

40 For more details see Eliezer Schwartz, "Cost Estimate of Local Authorities (Elections Financing) (Amendment

No. 12) (Encouragement of Equal Representation for Women) Bill, 5774—2014," Knesset Research and

Information Center, 4 March 2014. [Hebrew] 41 Amendment No. 12 to the Local Authorities (Elections Financing), 5774—2014. 42 Minister of the Interior, Office of the Director General, Appointment letter for the Committee for the

Advancement of Women in Local Government, 5 April 2016. Last retrieved 18 February 2018. 43 The Committee on the Status of Women and Gender Equality, on the Conclusions of the Public Committee

for the Advancement of women in Local Government, held on 20 November 2017.

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The study included a segmentation of the percentage of female council members in all the

authorities, as well as an analysis of the percentage of women in 113 "representative" local

authorities (thus according to the presentation shown to the Committee on the Status of

Women), excluding Arab and haredi authorities.44 This presentation suggests that the

percentage of female councilmembers has increased over the years; however, this rate is still

low compared to the rate of women in the general population—even when the analysis is

performed on the "representative" authorities—and stands at approximately 21%.45

The Committee made the following recommendations related to increasing the

percentage of women among the elected representatives in the local authorities:

transparent information regarding gender representation, equal representation for

women on the candidate lists of the factions in the local authorities, and encouraging the

inclusion of women in positions on the local council. The Committee also recommended

that the Ministry of the Interior be required to publish an annual report regarding

female council members in the local authorities as well as on female council members on

the mandatory committees in the authority.46 The Committee defined the following tools

to attain the goal of equal representation in the factions' lists: granting financial incentives at

varying rates to finance the winning faction and party. As described above, this has already

been codified in legislation, and the change will be evident in the upcoming elections to the

local authorities. In addition, the Committee recommended the establishment of a fund to

encourage women's participation in politics; it would promote the entry of women into the

local political arena by helping finance the costs of political campaigns. According to the

draft recommendations, the assistance would be provided to women who are interested in

running on an existing list, or who form a new list, while granting preference to women

from haredi or non-Jewish local authorities who are running for the leadership of a list

and demonstrate matching funds.47 The Ministry's recommendations do not mention who

will provide the money for this fund and how candidates will receive this financing. In

addition, the draft recommendations mention a female social network, and recommends

promoting local leadership for women who are community activists. We did not find

reference to this subject beyond the recommendation to "formulate a leadership model, and

44 The Ministry of the Interior and “Adalya”, presentation of a draft of the recommendations of the report of the

Committee for the Advancement of Women in Local Government, the Committee on the Status of Women

and Gender Equality, 20 November 2017. 45 Ibid. 46 For the list of mandatory committees in a local authority see: Municipalities Ordinance (new version), Chapter

Eight: Council Committees. 47 Ibid.

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issue a 'call for applications' for the local authorities," even though the professional literature

suggests that a social media network is a catalyst to political participation among women.48

The RIC sent a query to the Ministry of the Interior regarding adopting and acting on the

Committee's recommendations, but no reply had been received up to the time of writing.

48 Osnat Akirav & Yael Ben-Horin Naot, "Shall you hear my voice? From civil participation to political

participation of women in local politics" in: Itai Beeri & Eran Razin eds. Local democracy in Israel -

decentralization, locality, and local political participation Part. 2, Jerusalem, Florsheimer Studies, the

Hebrew University in Jerusalem, November 2015, pp. 164–89.[Hebrew]

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3.3.2. Bills for securing female representation in elections to the Knesset

and local authorities

As elaborated above, the most meaningful and common tool for promoting women's

participation in local and national politics is setting quotas for the representation of women.

These quotas can be codified in law by the State, or on a voluntary basis by the political

parties. For some 25 years, bills have periodically been introduced in the Knesset (including

in the current 20th Knesset) to raise the percentage of women in the Knesset, the Government,

and the local authorities and boards of directors of municipal corporations. The overwhelming

majority of the proposals did not go beyond the stage of submission before preliminary debate

and did not progress to the more advanced stages of the legislative process. Below we present,

by way of example, two recent bills to ensure representation for women in Knesset elections.

As of the time of writing, both bills are still in the stage of submission before preliminary

debate.

In June 2017, MK Ksenia Svetlova submitted Basic Law: the Knesset (Amendment—

Prevention of Participation in Elections due to the Absence of Representation for

Members of Both Genders) to prevent parties from running in Knesset elections if

exclude women from their lists.49

In July 2017, MK Merav Michaeli and additional MKs submitted Basic Law: the

Knesset (Amendment—Minimal Representation for Both Genders in Lists of

Candidates to the Knesset), whereby both genders would compose at least 40% of the

candidates on every list for Knesset elections and have at least two representatives in

each set of five candidates.50

Though there are no statutory quotas for the representation of women on the lists of

candidates in the elections to local authorities in Israel, some of the political parties—

especially national parties—have set voluntary quotas. These quotas ensure that women

are given places on the list that provide them a realistic chance of election, though at rates

that vary by party.

49 Private Members Bill 4284/20, Basic Law: the Knesset (Prevention of Participation in Elections due to the

Absence of Representation for Members of Both Genders). 50 Private Members Bill 4541/20, Basic Law: the Knesset (Amendment—Minimal Representation for Both

Genders in Lists of Candidates to the Knesset).

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4. Women in local authorities—a comparative perspective

The following chapter presents data from various countries regarding the representation of

women as members and as heads of municipal councils. For the sake of comparison, we will

present data regarding the representation of women in these countries' national parliaments

and note the existence of statutory gender quotas that relate to the representation of women

in national parliaments and municipal authorities. Thereafter, we will briefly present

information on the Scandinavian countries—which have a relatively high percentage of

women in municipal government, several additional countries which have quotas for the

representation of women in municipal councils, and several Arab countries that recently

adopted quotas for the representation of women in local government.

It is important to emphasize that the percentage of women elected to municipal councils

is influenced by a set of factors, including the electoral system and the size of the voting

districts. It is therefore difficult to isolate quotas and examine the precise effect they have on

the representation of women, as compared to other factors.51 Therefore, in the detailed country

survey below, we indeed present the percentage of women before and after the adoption of

the quota in the country (insofar as we managed to locate dependable data on this matter). At

the same time, however, it would not be proper to conclude that the entirety of the change

that occurred is attributable exclusively to the adoption of the quota.

We note that according to the European Commission, it is difficult to gather data regarding

the percentage of women and men serving in various institutions of local government. This is

due to the great variety in the systems of local government in the different countries and the

lack of uniformity in the collection of the information and in the intervals at which it is

updated.52 Table 5 below presents the percentage of women in municipal councils, at the head

of municipal authorities, and in the national parliaments in various countries, as well as the

existence of statutory quotas. The countries in the table are organized in descending order, by

the percentage of women in the municipal councils.

51 Lior Ben David and Orly Almagor-Lotan, The Representation of Women in Local Government: Data on Israel

and a Comparative Survey, the RIC, December 2, 2009.

https://www.knesset.gov.il/mmm/data/pdf/m02432.pdf 52 European Commission, 2017 Report on Equality between Women and Men in the EU, 2017

https://publications.europa.eu/en/publication-detail/-/publication/72e1386a-40f4-11e7-a9b0-

01aa75ed71a1/language-en/format-PDF

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Table 5: Percentage of women on municipal councils, at the head of municipal councils

and in the national parliaments of the various countries, 201753

Country % of

women in

municipal

councils

% of women

at head of

municipal

council

Statutory

representation

quotas in municipal

councils54

% of women in

lower house of

national

parliament

Statutory

quotas in

parliament

Iceland 44 21.6 No 38.1 No

Sweden 43 36.9 No 43.6 No

Finland 39.1 21.4 No55 42 No56

Norway 39 28 No 41.4 No

France 38.7 16 Yes57 39 Yes

Spain 35.6 19.1 Yes 39.1 Yes

UK 31.8 17.4 No 32 No

Slovenia 31.8 7.5 Yes58 36.7 Yes

Latvia 31,3 24.4 No59 16 No60

Estonia 31.1 12.8 No61 26.7 No62

Italy 30.4 14.1 No 31 No

Hungary 30.1 20.5 No63 10.1 No

Macedonia 28.8 4.9 Yes 37.5 Yes

Netherlands 28/6 21.6 No 36 No

Denmark 28.5 11.2 No 37/4 No

Poland 27.4 10.7 Yes 28 Yes

Republic

27.1 4.2 No 22 No

Portugal 26.6 7.5 Yes 34.8 Yes

Slovakia 25.8 23.3 No 20 No

53 EIGE op. cit. See footnote 6. 54 IDEA op. cit. See footnote 34. 55European Centre for Parliamentary Research and Documentation (ECPRD), "Obligatory gender quotas on

election lists - Final Summary", 2014 56 Ibid. 57 European Parliament, "The Policy on Gender Equality in France", 2015.

http://www.europarl.europa.eu/RegData/etudes/IDAN/2015/510024/IPOL_IDA(2015)510024_EN.pdf 58 ECPRD op. cit. See footnote 56. 59 Ibid. 60 Ibid. 61 Ibid. 62Ibid. 63 IDEA op. cit. See footnote 34

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Country % of

women in

municipal

councils

% of women

at head of

municipal

council

Statutory

representation

quotas in municipal

councils54

% of women in

lower house of

national

parliament

Statutory

quotas in

parliament

Lithuania 24.9 8.3 No 21.3 No

Austria 23 7.5 No 34.4 No

Luxembourg 22.7 12.4 No 28.3 No

Malta 22 17.6 No 11.9 No`

Ireland 21.8 9.7 No 22.2 Yes

Croatia 19.8 7 Yes 18.5 Yes

Greece 17.3 4.9 Yes 18.3 Yes

Cyprus 15.3 7.6 No 17.9 No

Romania 12.4 4.5 No 20.7 No

Turkey 10.7 2.7 No 14.6 No

The Scandinavian countries64

In the Scandinavian countries, the percentage of women in municipal councils is the highest

among the countries that we surveyed in this document; in some, more than 40% percent of

the council members were women. These countries were the first to adopt a policy of

affirmative action for women, but the process occurred by means of internal party

changes and not through legislation. The minimum percentage of the quota increased

gradually, and in most of the parties, it currently stands at 40% percent. The quota usually

stipulates not only the percentage of women on the lists but also what position they occupy.

Nevertheless, in the Scandinavian countries, too, women still make up a minority of the heads

of the authorities. In other words, absolute gender equality does not exist even in these

countries.

64 Ofer Kenig, "Women in key political positions: Israel in comparative perspective", Israel Democracy Institute,

31 October 2010. https://www.idi.org.il/articles/7829; Lior Ben David, "Equal representation of women in

the political parties," RIC, 26 January 2005.

הכנסת

Spain 65

In 2007 Spain adopted the Equality Law (Ley de Igualdad). The law mandates parties to

ensure that members of each gender represent no less than 40% (and therefore no more than

60%) of the candidates on their electoral lists. This provision regarding the representation of

both genders apply to every set of five positions on the list. When there are fewer than five

places on the list, the number of women and men must be as close as possible to equal. The

provisions of the law apply to every list and every level of politics in Spain. The 2007 law

did not apply to villages with a population under 5,000, but it was amended in 2011 to apply

to authorities with a population over 3,000.

The strength of the Spanish quota system lies in the fact that the law includes the harsh

sanction of disqualifying a list that does not meet the quota requirement. At the same

time, the quota requires that the representation ratio be maintained in each quintuplet; this

prevents parties from pushing the women who compose the 40% quota to which they are

obliged to the bottom of the candidate list.

Studies demonstrate that after the law was enacted and the quotas were set, the share of

women on all levels in the political arena rose.66 The share of women in the municipal

councils rose from 32.3% in 2003 (before the law was enacted) to 39.4% in 2007 (after the

law was enacted).67 As mentioned, in 2007, women made up 35.6% of the members in the

municipal councils and 19.1% of the heads of municipal councils. Note, however, that these

data include localities to which the law does not apply; if such localities are excluded, the

percentage of women in the municipal councils (to which the law does apply) may be even

higher.

65 The information regarding Spain is taken from: EIGE, "Electoral Quotas that Work,"

http://eige.europa.eu/gender-mainstreaming/good-practices/spain/electoral-quotas-work; IDEA, op, cit. See

footnote 8. 66 EIGE, "Electoral Quotas that Work"; Lior Ben David & Orly Almagor-Lotan op. cit. See footnote 52. 67 Lior Ben David & Orly Almagor-Lotan op. cit. See footnote 52.

הכנסת

France68

France was the first country in the world to enact laws that require equal representation for

male and female candidates in various types of elections. The Equality Law (Loi de Parité)

enacted in France in June 2000, requires, inter alia, that women and men be equally

represented in lists of candidates for municipal elections. The law applies to localities with

more than 3,500 residents. An additional law enacted in France in 2007 further reinforced the

requirement for equal representation on the municipal level. This law amended the

requirements governing the placement of women in lists and stipulated that men and women

are to be placed in lists of candidates according to the zipper system, so that a man and a

woman (or the other way around) occupy each set of two places on the list. An additional law

based on the two aforementioned laws was enacted in 2013 and expanded the provisions

regarding equal representation for men and women on the local level to every locality with

more than 1,000 residents. Note that a list that fails to meet the requirements of the law on the

municipal level is disqualified. The strength of the equal representation requirement in France

lies both in the fact that it is a double quota, which also includes rules governing the position

of the women on the list, and in the imposition of sanctions if the rules are violated.

The European Parliament report on the French policy regarding gender equality suggests a

noticeable difference exists in the percentage of female members between municipal councils

that are subject to the quota and those that are not (due to population size). Thus, for example,

according to the data presented in the Report, in the 2008 elections (when the quota applied

to localities with a population of over 3,500) women made up 48.5% of the councilmembers

in localities where the quota applied, as compared to 32.2% of the councilmembers in

localities not subject to the quota rules. That year, women constituted an average of 35% of

the members of municipal councils. As mentioned above, in 2017, women constituted 38.7%

of the members of municipal councils.

68 The information regarding France is taken from: OCED Conference, op. cit, see footnote 4; European

Commission, "The Situation of Gender Equality at Local and Regional Level in Europe," 10 August 2015.

http://www.ccre.org/img/uploads/piecesjointe/filename/CEMR_Situation_of_gender_equality_at_local_and

_regional_level_in_Europe_Final_report_2015_EN.pdf; European Parliament. op cit, see footnote 58; Lior

Ben David & Orly Almagor-Lotan, op. cit., see footnote 52.

הכנסת

Women in municipal authorities in selected Arab countries69

In recent years, changes have been taking place in some Arab countries in the attitudes

towards women, including changes concerning women's involvement in politics. We note that

the Arab countries vary greatly regarding the political rights granted to women; in some,

women gained the right to vote and run for election (including in municipal elections) only

in recent years. For example, women in Saudi Arabia were first able to run and vote in

municipal elections only in 2015.

In order to promote women's participation in politics, some of the Arab states have adopted

various tools, including quotas. A UN report published in 201770 reviews the representation

of women in local government in most of the Arab states (though some of the information it

includes is partial or relates to previous years). According to the data in the report, in some

Arab states, the adoption of quotas was found to be effective on both the national

parliamentary and local levels. According to the data, in the Arab states for which

information is available, women are best represented in local government in Jordan

(around 36%) and Mauritania (35%). On the opposite end of the spectrum, women are

barely represented in local government in Oman, Saudi Arabia, and Egypt (3.5%, 0.7%

and 4.4% of the total number of council members, respectively). In addition, in the Arab

states it is rare to find women at the head of a municipal authority.

Below is more detailed information regarding Jordan and Mauritania, where, as mentioned

above, the share of women in municipal councils are the highest in the Arab states. We also

present information regarding Morocco, where the percentage of women in the municipal

councils increased greatly in the last decade and is today among the highest rates in the Arab

states.

In Jordan a law passed in January 2007 instituted a gender quota for women in municipal

councils—20% of the seats in each local council were reserved for women. In elections held

69 The Information about Arab states is taken from: United Nations, Women’s Political Representation in the

Arab Region, 2017, https://www.unescwa.org/sites/www.unescwa.org/files/publications/files/women-

political-representation-arab-region-english.pdf; idem, Against Wind and Tides: A Review of the Status of

Women and Gender Equality in the Arab Region (Beijing +20), 7 January 2016.

https://sustainabledevelopment.un.org/content/documents/2283ESCWA_Women%20and%20Gender%20E

quality%20in%20the%20Arab%20Region_Beijing20.pdf; United Nations Women, Jordan's Sixth National

Periodic Report to the CEDAW Committee, 2015. http://www2.unwomen.org/-

/media/field%20office%20jordan/attachments/publications/final%20english%20book2.pdf?la=en&vs=2010; IDEA,

Op. cit. See footnote 8. 70 United Nations (2017), see footnote 69.

הכנסת

in August 2013, the rate of women in the municipal councils rose to 35.9% as around 350

women were elected council members (around 300 women under the quota and around 50

women independently of it). According to the authors of the report, the increased number of

women elected to councils independently of the quota (up from around 20 in 2007 to around

50 in 2013, as mentioned above) may indicate that the women's participation in politics in

Jordan is becoming slightly more acceptable among the general public.71

Mauritania amended its Electoral Law in 2012—an amendment that was first implemented

in the national and local elections of 2013—providing, inter alia, for a gender quota setting

aside 20% percent of the seats in municipal councils for women (a quota of reserved seats).

In order to achieve the goal of having women fill at least 20% percent of the seats in the

council, the quota also addresses the precise number of women that must appear on each list

of candidates and their place on the list, accounting for the size of the councils. Parties running

for councils with 9–11 must include at least two women in their lists, with the women

occupying one of the two first places on the list as well as the fourth slot. Lists for councils

with 15–17 members must include at least 3 women at least; they must hold one of the first

two places in the list as well as the fifth and seventh places. Lists for councils with 19 or more

members must include at least four women, who hold one of the first two places as well as

the fifth, seventh, and ninth places. A party that does not meet the quota requirements is

disqualified.72 According to UN data, in 2013, after the adoption of the quota, women made

up 35% of the members in the municipal councils.

In Morocco, a 2008 law instituted a quota reserving 12% of seats for women. In addition, the

Government helped run programs to train female candidates and inform the public about the

participation of women; it also provided a financial incentive to political parties that

supported the female candidates. As a result of these measures, the share of women in local

government rose significantly, from 0.6% before the change to 12.3% in 2009 after the

change. Some 3,406 women were elected (compared to 127 women who served before the

reform)—3,200 through the quota and 206 women without it.73 Before the 2015 local

elections, the parliament adopted a new law regarding elections on the local level, with the

71 Ibid. 72 IDEA op. cit, see footnote 8. 73 United Nations (2017), see footnote 69.

הכנסת

goal of raising the share of women from 12% to 27%. According to data in the aforementioned

report, the share of women in the municipal councils rose after the elections to around 21%.

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