Why Women Matter Summit

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Why Women Matter Summit WWhhyy WWoommeenn MMaatttteerr LESSONS ABOUT WOMEN’S POLITICAL LEADERSHIP FROM HOME & ABROAD Summit Materials National Press Club, Washington, DC March 3, 2003 Crowne Plaza, San Francisco, CA March 6, 2003 WHY WOMEN MATTER SUMMIT THE WHITE HOUSE PROJECT 110 Wall Street, 2nd floor New York, NY 10005 (212) 785-6001 - 1 - Find further information about The White House Project and our other research and programs online at: www.thewhitehouseproject.org The White House Project would like to thank the following for their contributions to this Briefing Book: Ann Burroughs Georgia Duerst-Lahti, Beloit College Morgan Hanger & Erin Vilardi, WHP Interns Anat Maytal, former WHP Intern Karen O’Connor, Women & Politics Institute at American University Rob Richie and Steven Hill, Center for Voting & Democracy The Proteus Fund Women’s E-News Briefing Book for “Why Women Matter” Summit © 2003 by The White House Project Edited by Shauna L. Shames Research Director, The White House Project WHY WOMEN MATTER SUMMIT THE WHITE HOUSE PROJECT 110 Wall Street, 2nd floor New York, NY 10005 (212) 785-6001 - 2 - Table of Contents Introduction 3 The White House Project Overview 5 PART I: SUMMIT MATERIALS Why Women Matter Summit Schedules 6 Why Women Matter Speaker Biographies 9 Summit Partner Organizations 15 Summit Postscript 18 PART II: U.S. RESEARCH Women in Politics: National Statistics 20 Research Overview: Do Women in Local, State, and National Legislative Bodies Matter? 21 A Definitive Yes Proves Three Decades of Research by Political Scientists PART III: INTERNATIONAL INITIATIVES & STRATEGIES Women in Politics: International Overview 26 Women in Politics: Country Rankings 28 Strategies for Equality: Initiatives from a Selection of Countries 33 PART IV: U.S. INITIATIVES & STRATEGIES Introduction: U.S. Initiatives & Strategies 39 Overview: A Selection of Possible Strategies to Increase Women’s Political Representation 41 Detailed Descriptions of Select Strategies: A. Recruitment & Training Programs: Overview 42 Local & Community Projects to Increase Women’s Political 43 Participation in Individual States B. What is Proportional Representation? 52 C. What is Instant Runoff Voting? 54 Related Article: American Women Have a Long Way To Go 55 D. Public Funding of Campaigns & Clean Money Initiatives 57 E. How Can CEDAW Be Used to Increase Women’s Political Power? Two Local Initiatives 58 Conclusion: More Women in Political Leadership - Strategies for the Coming Decade 62 WHY WOMEN MATTER SUMMIT THE WHITE HOUSE PROJECT 110 Wall Street, 2nd floor New York, NY 10005 (212) 785-6001 - 3 - Board Of Directors Deborah Carstens (AZ) Kathryn Kolbert (PA) E ntrepreneur, WISH National Board Executive Producer, Justice Talking B arbara Dobkin (NY) Deborah Slaner Larkin (NY) F ounder & Chair, Ma'yan Activist Wi ni Freund (NY) Colleen May (CA) Owner, Intervine Inc. L ong Island Community Foundation Mary McCormick (NY) Margaret Greenawalt (PA) Activist President, Fund for the City of New York Donna Frisby Greenwood (PA) Wendy Puriefoy (DC) E xecutive Director, Inner City Games President, Public Education Network Kath leen Hall Jamieson (PA) The Rev. Dr. Katherine Ragsdale (MA) D ean, Annenberg School for Communication Religious Coalition for Reproductive Choice B oard Emeritus Davia Temin (NY) President, Temin & Company White House Project Staff White House Project Interns 2002-2003 Marie C. Wilson, President Alanna Chan B everly Neufeld, Executive Director Sevan Basil Helen French, Executive Assistant Lorett Cisse Mary Semela, Development Director Morgan Hanger Shauna Shames, Research Director Kate Henningsen Sonal Nalkur, Public Education Director Anat Maytal Tanya Rodriguez, Finance Associate Marlysha Myrthil B obbie Watkins, Fundraising Associate Julie Nimnicht Eliz abeth Chatalas, Programs Janice Oh Sarah Phillips Alyssa Saunders Erin Vilardi White House Project Consultants 2002-2003 A merican Viewpoint, Linda DiVall and Bob Lake Snell Perry & Associates, Celinda Lake Carpenter Laguens, Hamburger, Stone, Dawn Laguens Bronznick & Jacoby, Shifra Bronznick and Martin Hamburger Melissa Silverstein Public Interest Media Group, The Cosgrove Group, Tom Cosgrove Susan Lamontagne & Andrea Miller Communications for Development and PSG Consulting, Page Gardner Social Change, Ann Burroughs The Strategic Issues Management Group The Farwell Group, James P. Farwell WHY WOMEN MATTER SUMMIT THE WHITE HOUSE PROJECT 110 Wall Street, 2nd floor New York, NY 10005 (212) 785-6001 - 4 - Introduction By Marie C. Wilson President, The White House Project Despite its historical role of leadership in the women’s movement, the United States ranks 58th among nations in its representation of women at the national level. We believe that the time has come to change the face of America’s political leadership. To this end, The White House Project has launched a new initiative, Why Women Matter: Lessons About Women’s Political Leadership from Home and Abroad. Our primary goal is to inspire a national movement to increase the number of women in politics in this country. Our summits in Washington D.C. and San Francisco brought together international and domestic leaders, political experts and representatives from women’s organizations. We looked at successful ideas and initiatives that have been used in other countries and at home to increase women’s representation. These summits presented a unique opportunity for our nation’s leaders and aspiring women leaders to collaborate with women who have successfully created change and opened the doors to political leadership for women in their own countries. In some cases, this has been accomplished through political mandates for inclusion, and in others, a groundswell of support for women candidates at the grassroots level. In all cases, there were valuable lessons for us to learn. Consensus is building globally that women play pivotal roles as agents of change in their communities and societies. Increasingly, women collaborate within and across their borders to reach their full political and economic potential, irrespective of cultural differences. During the last ten years, many nations have recognized the power of women as a force for social change and have embraced mandates to include substantial numbers of women in government. There is no doubt that democracy in the United States would be strengthened if it were to be more reflective of the demographics of this country and more representative of the majority. At present women comprise 52 percent of the nation’s population, yet they are vastly under- represented in government. Only 14 positions in the 100 member Senate are held by women, and only 59 women serve in the 435 House of Representatives. Nationally, only 20 percent of all elected officials are women. Of the 50 state governors, six are women, and in our nation’s history, only 23 women have served as governors. This is particularly significant since many men have launched successful bids for the presidency from the governor’s office. At the local level, representation of women has dropped dramatically. It is this pipeline that provides the most critical conduit for state and national representation. If we are to fuel this pipeline, we will need all the help we can get to reframe, reinvigorate and support local strategies to foster the entry of women into positions of leadership. If we are successful, we will inevitably change the face of government in the United States. WHY WOMEN MATTER SUMMIT THE WHITE HOUSE PROJECT 110 Wall Street, 2nd floor New York, NY 10005 (212) 785-6001 - 5 - Why Women Matter gathered together some of the best minds to think creatively about which strategies and initiatives, from home and abroad, will be most effective in advancing women’s representation in this country. Our summits in Washington D.C. and San Francisco were set within a framework of key questions: Why is it important that women enter government and what happens when a significant number of women govern? What strategies were used by women in other countries to push for and maintain this critical mass? How can we do the same in the United States? Without losing sight of our long-term goal of changing the face of government in this country, Why Women Matter provided all of us with the opportunity to achieve several key objectives. We strengthened and expanded collaboration among sister organizations. We began the creation of a network amongst ourselves, comprised of advocates for more representative democracy in our country and a corps of natural allies and supporters for women candidates. We believe that a drumbeat of support across the country will shift broad public perceptions about the capacity of women to lead. It is our hope that this drumbeat will motivate more women to become involved in politics and inspire more party activists and grassroots organizers to support them. There is no dearth of women and men who have both the passion and the capacity to pursue a vision for truly representative government. The Why Women Matter summits offered a rare opportunity to gather this energy and expertise together, and to document and share the rich diversity of experience that has resulted in the inclusion of women in government the world over. The White House Project has worked with several partners to create the Why Women Matter summits. The depth of the collective wisdom and expertise that our partners have so generously put at our disposal has been extraordinary. They have functioned in a way that we can best describe as the beginnings of a brain trust
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