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A Mixed-Methods Comparative Analysis of Feminist Policies

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A Mixed-Methods Comparative Analysis of Feminist Policies MEASURING FEMINIST POLICY AUTHORITY: A MIXED-METHODS COMPARATIVE ANALYSIS OF FEMINIST POLICIES AFTER ADOPTION By RENÉE DAWN EDWARDS A dissertation submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of DOCTOR OF PHILOSOPHY WASHINGTON STATE UNIVERSITY School of Politics, Philosophy and Public Affairs DECEMBER 2015 To the Faculty of Washington State University: The members of the Committee appointed to examine the dissertation of RENÉE DAWN EDWARDS find it satisfactory and recommend that it be accepted. Amy G. Mazur, Ph.D., Chair Steven D. Stehr, Ph.D. David C. Nice, Ph.D. ii MEASURING FEMINIST POLICY AUTHORITY: A MIXED-METHODS COMPARATIVE ANALYSIS OF FEMINIST POLICIES AFTER ADOPTION Abstract by Renée Dawn Edwards, Ph.D. Washington State University December 2015 Chair: Amy G. Mazur This doctoral research study presents a new way to measure, score, and scale feminist policies through their process phases and outcome. It maps the complexity of the policy process and outcome by selecting literature-based variables, operationalizing them, and systematically tracing them through four policy cases in a mixed-methods multi-case comparative analysis to assess the dependent variable—the policy’s impact on society. In addition, it identifies ‘drivers’—the internal and external elements of the selected variables that ‘drive,’ or impact, the variables in creating policy authority (or lack of authority). The guiding research question behind this study was: How much societal change has occurred to increase gender equality as a result of feminist policy? This research question has two primary sub-questions which further guided the research design and analysis: 1) How authoritative are feminist policies in the social and political reality in which they exist? and 2) What makes the policy more authoritative or less authoritative in this reality? The analytical framework in this study uses the large body of feminist policy literature as well as primary sources to systematically analyze and map the iii complex post-adoption processes and outcomes of four national-level feminist policies in two subsectors of feminist policy (violence against women and equal employment opportunity) in two Western post-industrial democracies—the United States and Sweden. For this study, policy cases were viewed as configurations, or combinations of characteristics, and were specifically selected to bring out and test success indicators revealed by literature. By contributing a system for measuring, scoring, and scaling policies ‘in practice’—in the political and social realities in which they exist—systematic analysis can ultimately determine whether these policies matter, and how/why they matter. iv Table of Contents Page Abstract………………………………………………………………………………............iii List of Figures………………………………………………………………………………..xiv List of Tables…………………………………………………………………………………xv Chapter 1: Introduction and Analytical Framework…………………………………………..1 Background ........................................................................................................................... 2 Analytical Framework and Research Questions ................................................................... 4 Scope of Study ...................................................................................................................... 5 Limitations and Delimitations ............................................................................................... 6 Assumptions .......................................................................................................................... 7 Significance and Purpose ...................................................................................................... 7 Literature Review.................................................................................................................. 8 Non-feminist literature. ..................................................................................................... 9 Feminist literature. .......................................................................................................... 11 Outcomes literature ......................................................................................................... 11 Women’s empowerment literature .................................................................................. 12 Process phases literature. ................................................................................................ 14 Interrogatory Template ....................................................................................................... 18 v General Methods ................................................................................................................. 19 Subsectors ........................................................................................................................... 19 Welfare state policies. ..................................................................................................... 20 Public and private spheres. ............................................................................................. 22 Countries. ........................................................................................................................ 23 Variables. ........................................................................................................................ 27 Drivers............................................................................................................................. 27 Summary ............................................................................................................................. 28 Chapter 2: Scoring and Data Collection……………………………………………………..29 Scoring ................................................................................................................................ 29 Data Collection ................................................................................................................... 32 Systematic literature review. ........................................................................................... 36 Interrogatory template. .................................................................................................... 38 Summary……………………………………………………………………………………...42 Chapter 3: Methodology……………………………………………………………………...43 Comparative Mixed-Methods Research Approach ............................................................. 43 Case Selection ..................................................................................................................... 48 Data Analysis ...................................................................................................................... 50 vi Coding ............................................................................................................................. 51 Trustworthiness ................................................................................................................... 54 Researcher Positionality...................................................................................................... 56 Summary ............................................................................................................................. 57 Policy Subsector 1……………………………………………………………………………58 Violence Against Women……………………………………………………………………58 Chapter 4: Case 1—Sweden’s Violence Against Women Policy……………………………61 Case History (Pre-Adoption) .............................................................................................. 61 Adoption ............................................................................................................................. 68 Implementation ................................................................................................................... 72 Evaluation ........................................................................................................................... 77 Process Phase Variables ...................................................................................................... 83 Linked to feminist ideals. ................................................................................................ 83 Institutional feedback. ..................................................................................................... 85 Process summary. ........................................................................................................... 89 Policy Outcome (Indirect and Direct Impact) ..................................................................... 90 Empowerment of women ................................................................................................ 90 Decrease in occurrence of the problem. .......................................................................... 92 vii Outcome summary .......................................................................................................... 95 Chapter 5: Case 2—The United States’ Violence Against Women Act…………………….97 Case History (Pre-Adoption) .............................................................................................. 97 Adoption ........................................................................................................................... 101 Implementation ................................................................................................................. 108 Evaluation ........................................................................................................................
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