Given their potential to negatively impact men's goal of staying in office, can gender quotas be aligned with the preferences of male legislators who adopt the policy? In other words, does the rapid spread of gender quotas worldwide challenge notions of the rationality of legislators as career-driven individuals? These are the main questions that drive this thesis. To answer these questions, I develop a prospect theory-based framework that accounts for how electoral security and political ambition impact legislators' behaviour in influencing the strength of gender quota designs. I argue that, faced with growing pressures to adopt gender quotas, male parliamentarians engage in the risk-taking process of assenting with gender quotas, meanwhile seeking to minimize the potential costs of the policy to their future careers by actively weakening quota designs. To evaluate the plausibility of my theory, I employ a series of multi-method and multi-level analyses presented across five substantive chapters, each of which is respectively based on: 1) a cross-sectional analysis of Latin America countries; 2) an elite survey experiment with Brazilian state legislators; and, in-depth process tracing of the cases of gender quota adoption in 3) Costa Rica; 4) Brazil; and, 5) Chile. The work makes three main contributions. Firstly, although previously identified, the resistance of male legislators towards gender quotas had never been systematically analysed in a comparative manner; focusing on the behaviour of male incumbents is thus a relevant contribution. Secondly, although various authors have provided explanations for the origins of gender quota adoptions, no work had ever comparatively assessed sources of the variation in gender quota designs. Thus, I move the study of gender quotas beyond the binary choice of adoption. Thirdly, I show that the static assumptions of endogenous institutionalism need to be modified by the introduction of risk, which can only be achieved by integrating the insights of prospect theory.

The goal of the current study was to explore whether personality differentially predicts performance for male and female leaders. The predictive relationship between personality assessment and performance evaluation is a cornerstone of performance management practice. Using the lens of gender stereotype theory, the relationship between personality assessment and performance evaluation was reconsidered. It was hypothesized that the gender stereotypes associated with certain leader personality traits may have a differential impact on the performance evaluations of female leaders. In order to test this, gender as a moderator in the relationship between Hogan personality assessments and multi-rater performance evaluations was examined in a sample of mid- to senior-level leaders at a large multi-national consumer products organization. Results revealed no significant differences in the performance evaluations of male and female leaders. Results provided partial support for the proposition that personality differentially predicts performance for male and female leaders; the traits that predicted performance for female leaders differed from the traits that predicted performance for male leaders. Significant gender differences in personality were broadly consistent with gender stereotypes, but were not central to the relationship between personality and performance. Exploratory analyses revealed that the predictive relationship between personality and performance also varied by leader ethnicity, with personality only significantly predicting performance for White leaders. The predictive relationship between personality and performance also varied intersectionally, with personality only significantly predicting performance for White and non-US male leaders; personality did not significantly predict performance for female leaders of any ethnicity. This study highlights the unique contribution of stereotype theory to the structures of performance management and adds nuance to the conversation on performance evaluation for leaders of non-dominant social identity groups.

Political communication plays a crucial role in politics. It justifies, it critizices, it promises and it explains. All those activities have one in common - they try to persuade. Politicians want to persuade us that their claims are truthful and morally right. At that, they can choose from a wide variety of means - from argumentation to manipulation. On the receiving end of the communication, there is a voter who can also choose from a wide variety of ways in which it is possible to accept those claims. Lest the democracy should fail, it is advisable to pay attention to those options.

This study is a textual analysis of the mainstream media coverage of the 2008 U.S. Presidential election, surveying more than 1,000 news stories featuring Clinton, Palin, Obama, Biden and McCain published between January 1, 2007 and November 11, 2008. The central findings of this study are twofold: first, mainstream news sources continue to use stereotypical and sexist news frames that describe women in ways that are at odds with the criteria we set for being a good president; and second, feminism is characterized in ways that divorce the ideas of the movement from the activism necessary to overcome existing injustices. Chapter 2 discusses how the news frames and double binds-in place for more than 100 years in media coverage and constructions of women-are still being used to describe women candidates today. These frames highlight sexist concerns about how women candidates will balance their public and private lives and deflect the multiple, competing roles women are capable of enacting. Chapter 3 analyses news articles that relate the terms "feminism" and "feminist" to comments about Clinton and Palin to determine the ways in which the movement is being defined by mainstream media. The chapter argues that this coverage offered a limited vision of feminism that ignored race, class, and issues presented in the third wave. It also divorces the feminist movement from the activist work that has and will continue to make change possible in our country by equating feminism with postfeminist ideas. Chapter 4 highlights the associations made between the male candidates and the women's movement. The coverage of the male candidates in the campaign posits a vision of women's experiences that are defined through the media by male candidates. These definitions highlight women as caregivers and separate the issues important to women from the feminist activism necessary to work toward changing the situation women in the United States face. Finally, the conclusion offers suggestions for how to intervene in the 135-year cycle that perpetuates limited and damaging views of women candidates and of the feminist movement. Through these types of interventions, feminist-minded men and women can continue to work toward more positive and fair representations of women candidates and that changes in representations of women candidates will lead to the election of the first woman president of the United States.

This thesis is a narrative history of the major groups and individuals on the Australian extreme right since 1950. It assesses their genesis, growth, successes and failures as well as their origins in regard to Australia’s domestic situation and international influences. Various arguments are put forward: groups that emerged in the post World War 2 period are different than preceding groups; the Social Credit movement is in decline; the ideas of neo-Nazi and fascist groups, while powerful, are generally no longer viable; anti-immigration and racial nationalist groups were an attempt to forge an indigenous movement; the role of individual activists are an important element in extreme right political activity; the Confederate Action Party was destroyed by internecine fighting; the Citizens Electoral Council is representative of a movement with the potential to promote dissent in society and may become one of the more important groups of the extreme right; Pauline Hanson’s movement eventually proved damaging to the extreme right. It is concluded that the extreme right has exerted a significant negative influence over Australian society, influencing both national and international trends / Doctor of Philosophy (PhD)

In this thesis I argue that food and drink were of central importance to Don Dunstan throughout much of his political and private life. The conventional view of Dunstan always proclaimed that his passionate interest in food and drink was merely peripheral to his life. Food and drink were simply an aberration, of the same idiosyncratic order of importance as his song and dance routine with Keith Michell, his piano playing, or his reciting poetry from the back of an elephant. These various accomplishments were merely confirmation that Dunstan was different from other politicians. I argue that Dunstan was indeed different, but that the difference was rooted firmly in his life-long love affair with food and drink. I argue that his fascination with food and drink drove much of his reform agenda, that it helped his day-to-day survival, and that it provided him with the means of expressing his ove for others. Dunstan's 1976 cookbook announced his arrival as a devotee of gastronomy and furthers my argument that he helped to introduce and establish a new Australian cuisine. After Dunstan left political life in 1979 he tried to establish himself in other spheres, but it was his almost obsessive interest in all of the aspects of a gastronomic life that triumphed. In the final decade of Dunstan's life his long love affair with food and drink became a full-blown passion. I argue that, with his long-overdue adventure as a restaurateur, he finally became the complete Don Dunstan. / Thesis (Ph.D.)--School of History and Politics, 2004.

<p>Young councillors are currently under-represented in Sweden's municipalities. Young councillors are also stepping down in greater numbers than older members. This paper explores the reasons why young councillors choose to resign from their mission, so to identify possible remedies to the problematic trend of underrepresentation of younger people in local authorities in Sweden.</p><p>This qualitative essay intends, through interviewing politically-active young people who has left their assignment, to study the reasons for resignations from elected posts. To see what could be the reason I have looked at previous studies and theories about opting out but also tried to remain open to identifying new and emerging trends previously undetected in existing surveys.</p><p>The results showed that the political assignment proved to be too time-consuming, with young people choosing to spend their time on career and leisure. Those who resign from political life often express criticism towards the Municipal Council; they consider it tedious and many complain of having little influence. The increasing underrepresentation of younger people in political office and the fact that it is hard to recruit new active members shows that structural changes needs to be made to succeed in attracting new young members to political assignments.</p>

This paper investigates political representation by exploring the relationship between citizens' preferences and the preferences of their elected representatives. Using Swedish survey data, the empirical analysis shows that voters and politicians have significantly different preferences for local welfare services, implying that voters do not elect representatives with the same preferences as their own. The results show that when comparing a politician of a certain age, gender, educational level and marital status, with a voter with identical characteristics, the politician still has preferences for a significantly higher level of spending on the locally provided services. Hence our results indicate that the representation of different socio-economic groups does not necessarily lead to a larger degree of representation of these groups' agendas. Moreover, we find the observed difference to be largest for the least salient expenditure item. We do, however, not find any evidence for differences in preferences between the two groups being associated with a decline in trust for politicians among voters

This thesis aims to describe and analyze the politicians who belong the right-wing political conservative traditions in Turkey by the mediation of their understanding and mentality. In this framework, the study primarily intends to investigate and analyze their perceptions of political and ideological imaginations. Turkish right seems to have a quite heterogeneous structure. While the recognition of the heterogeneity embodied around the political-institutional structuring is crucial to understand the Turkish right-conservatism, focusing merely on the heterogeneity and differences is inadequate to understand the right-conservative tradition. This study aims to analyze the aforesaid diversity and heterogeneity in the axes of politics and ideology. In spite of its heterogeneous qualifications, there are some attributions which made the Turkish right-wing conservative tradition homogeneous on certain economic, social and cultural issues. In this context, the study aims to analyze and understand the differentiations and affinities among the politicians who belong to the mainstream right-wing conservative political parties by focusing on the politicians discourses.

Sammanfattning Syfte och frågeställningar: Syftet med studien har varit att jämföra politikers och idrottslärares uppfattningar om betyg och bedömning i relation till ämnet idrott och hälsa. För att uppfylla syftet har vi undersökt vilka fördelar och nackdelar som finns med betyg, vilka utvecklingsområden som finns inom området betyg och bedömning, samt jämfört politikers motiv till och idrottslärares åsikter om betygsättning i tidiga åldrar. Metod: Metoden som använts är kvalitativ i form av intervjuer. Två strategiska urval har genomförts för att finna de respondenter som ingått i studien. Urvalskriterier har bestått av att idrottslärarna skulle ha arbetat minst tre år på grundskola inom årskurserna sex till nio, och politikerna skulle tillhöra ett av allianspartierna och vara anslutna till utbildningsutskottet i riksdagen. Som teoretisk referensram har vi använt oss av Lindes läroplansteori samt utgått från Wrights handlingsteori med dess fyra bestämnings faktorer. Resultat: De båda respondentgrupperna ser likartat på betygens fördelar. Betyg är studiemotiverande, ger en tydlig signal för stödinsatser, ett kvitto på kunskapsnivåer hos elever. Betyg möjliggör även urval till vidare studier. Betygens nackdelar som anges är betygstress samt svårigheter att få en likvärdig bedömning. Politikerna och idrottslärarna har som gemensamma utvecklingsområden tydligare styrdokument, fler betygssteg samt större samarbete mellan skolor. Politikerna nämner även lagstiftningar och utbildning, medan idrottslärarna nämner utvecklandet av skriftliga omdömen och kursplansförändringar.Politikernas motiv stämmer väl överens med idrottslärarnas åsikter om betyg i tidigare ålder. Både politikerna och idrottslärarna är överens om att den nya betygsreformen är ett steg i rätt riktning mot en förbättrad bedömning. Den gemensamma uppfattningen är också att betygsättning i tidigare åldrar är positivt för skolan och för ämnet idrott och hälsa Slutsats: Med utgångspunkt tagen i Wrights handlingsteori framträder att betyg ses som den främsta metoden att bedöma elevers kunskaper i skolan. Skillnader som framkommit mellan politikernas och idrottslärarnas uppfattningar om betyg utgår ifrån att politikerna ser betyg som ett verktyg för den politiska styrningen av skolan, medan idrottslärarna uppfattar betyg som ett pedagogiskt verktyg i undervisningen. Studiens slutsatser pekar på att det finns behov av en uppföljning av hur det nya betygssystemet lyckas bidra till både en rättvis urvalsprocess och ett ökat lärande hos elever. / Summary Aim: The purpose of this study has been to compare the perceptions of politicians’ and physical education teachers’ of grading and assessment in relation to physical education and health. To fulfill this aim, we investigated the opportunities and constraints of grading, recent developments in the areas of grading and assessment. We also compared the ambitions of politicians´ and PE-teachers´ opinions on grading in younger ages in elementary schools. Methods: The method used was qualitative and based on interviews. Two strategic selections have been used to find the respondents for the study. The criterias were that the PE-teachers should have worked at least three years in elementary school, grades six to nine and that the politicians should be members of one of the alliance parties and active in the government´s department of education. As theoretical frame Lindes’ curriculum model and Wrights’ action theory with its four determinants has been used. Results: The two respondent group’s share opinions about the opportunities of grading including that they motivate studying, provide clear guidance for the need of supportive measures directed to students, accurately measure the level of achievement of pupils, and allow for the selection of pupils for further studies. Main disadvantages identified included increased stress and difficulties in obtaining equivalent grades. Politicians and PE-teachers alike mentioned the following areas in need of further development: more specific curricula, extended grade spans, and increased cooperation between schools. Politicians also mentioned legislation and further education, while PE-teachers mentioned normative assessment as written reviews and curriculum changes as potential development areas. The politicians and PE-teachers also believe that grading in younger ages is positive for elementary school and for physical education and health. However the PE-teachers mentioned the risk of increased stress among pupils, while the politicians did not mention any such negative factor. Conclusion: In the analysis based on Wrights action theory it appears that grading is seen as the prime method currently available for assessing pupils’ knowledge in school. Both politicians and PE-teachers agreed on that the changes due to the new grading reform are necessary, and that this is a positive step towards improving the assessment procedure. The differences between politicians and PE-teachers are that the politicians refer to the grading procedure as an instrument for political control of the school, and the PE-teachers perceive it is as a pedagogical tool. Finally, the conclusions of the study point to the necessity of a following up of how the grading reform contributes both to a fair selection process and an increased learning amongst pupils.