Hello friends,
Last week I wrote from Brussels and this week I was visiting with women's representation experts in the UK. Susannah Wellford and I had the privilege of speaking with a number of the leading women's representation advocates in Britain - they shared impressive stories of training and mentoring programs and we got to meet three of their many success stories.
We also spoke with Sarah Childs, whom I have mentioned before - she is the author of The Good Parliament report which outlines recommendations for a more "representative and inclusive House of Commons" that was presented to Members of Parliament last year. While the UK context is somewhat different I think that the process for and content of the report is something we should pursue at the state and federal level in the United States.
I also had the chance to meet with a number of Members of Parliament and staff at the Electoral Reform Society who are wrestling with many of the the same issues which we are challenged by in the US.
Susannah Wellford - our weekly scribe - had another terrific piece in US News & World Report that she had to write in a very busy cafe with the world rushing by.
Kristin Eberhard from Sightline had another terrific piece on the Electoral College - well worth reading, and Rob Richie (my husband) wrote this great piece for the Cato Institute on ranked choice voting.
The Hill ran a good piece on worldwide gains for women's representation that included this brief discussion about the impact of quotas:
Some countries have adopted gender quotas, which according to Kenig have resulted in a steady and significant increase in the number of women elected to parliament and other political positions. Other countries have coupled quotas with additional legislative measures to improve women’s representation in society in general.
The Barbara Lee Family Foundation is proud to partner with Presidential Gender Watch 2016, AtlanticLIVE, and Center for American Women and Politics on December 13th for a much-needed discussion on The Politics and Gender. Register to attend in person or watch the event online!
- Women, Men, and the 2016 Campaign: An Atlantic Politics & Policy Briefing
- December 13th, 2016
- The Newseum, Washington, DC
- 8am to 11am
She Should Run had an event in DC this week that I was very sorry to miss but from all reports it was a smashing success - click this link to watch and the Wilson Center celebrated the 5 year anniversary of the Women in Public Service project yesterday in Washington, DC with an amazing crowd. HOPE is hosting an event in Los Angeles next Thursday - register here.
TIME shared a nice bit of history in this piece on an all-female 'coup' in Umatilla, Oregon - 100 years ago.
Salon.com covered the release of the report on PAC and donor funding of women candidates - that was the product of a year's worth of research and collaboration with Representation2020, the Center for Responsive Politics, and Common Cause. It's been great to work with these allies to reveal where women are funded equally - as incumbents - and where they get fewer dollars - in open seat races. Republican women are especially underfunded. You can read the full report here.
Thanks for all you do,
Cynthia
P.S. My very clever college roommate is developing a parity cartoon strip - it's attached - stay tuned for more!