Gender and political process in the context of devolution: A case study of Wales

<p>Abstract copyright data collection owner.</p>The data consist of transcripts of 91 in-depth interviews and the interview guides. The interviews are with 29 Assembly Members, 30 local councillors and local authority officers and 30 representatives of local and all-Wales NGOs. There are 3 different interview guides: 1 for use with AMs, one for use with local government, one for use with local and all-Wales NGOs. In addition there are 6 specialised interview guides. For more information please see the ReadMe file attached. <p>Project description:</p>The devolution of government within the UK was accompanied by a significant increase in the proportion of women political representatives in the new legislatures. Using Wales as a case study, this research aimed to explore the effect on political processes and participation of the election of a high proportion of women representatives to devolved government. Its objectives were: 1. To explore the contribution made by women members of the National Assembly for Wales to policy development and to the Assembly’s responsiveness to gender-based welfare claims. 2. To identify the discourses within which policy issues are framed and the relation of this framing to gender politics. 3. To investigate the political and organisational culture of the Assembly, its gendering, and its relation to the political and organisational culture of local government in Wales. 4. To explore how those organising in civil society around family and child welfare and/or equality issues perceive themselves to be affected by the different gender balance amongst political representatives at local and regional levels of government and the extent to which they organise on the basis of explicitly gendered collective identities. 5. To develop a common analytic framework so that meaningful comparison can be made between gendered political processes in different parts of the UK. The research drew on a range of methods including semi-structured interviews, observation, and documentary analysis. We carried out interviews with: 31 AMs, during the Assembly’s second term (2003-7), 27 councillors and senior officials (9 in each case study area), 30 representatives of civil society organisations at local and national level (8 in each case study area), 4 senior civil servants and 1 statutory equalities body. We conducted 20 observational sessions at National Assembly plenary sessions and committee meetings, council meetings, and Welsh political conferences of the four main parties: Conservative, Labour, Liberal Democrat and Plaid Cymru