Women and Gender in Local Government

Ridge's study on Women and Gender in Local Government is a Ph.D. thesis that examines whether men and women in local government differ demographically and attitudinally. A survey of city council members in Iowa, a rural state in the United States, is used by the author. The essay contrasts how men and women in Iowa councils compare to those in higher government. According to the report, the majority of feminists believe that women are capable of transforming America's political structure.  It argues that by giving women more chances to participate in political leadership, the institutions are likely to change (Ridge 4). The article is also alive to the dominance by men in political systems. The writer explores the feminists reasoning that women's issues are likely to be taken seriously and that ideas such as cooperation will suffice with women in the political institution. Through reviewing the various literature and scholarly work focusing on women in elective institutions in national and state politics, the article asserts that having women in political offices is an excellent way to champion development. On gender, which is the primary variable, the article examines gender as a social paradigm that depends on various cultural and situational contexts. The writer explains gender as a cultural practice that is related to sex (Ridge 5).

Thesis
Ridge's thesis is that if more women are allowed to be in the political offices, the institutions will change (1). The writer has managed to support this claim by asserting the women character and ways of doing things.While explaining the difference between men and women, the article portrays women as less combative. Also, a comparison of political institutions with the business world tends to support the argument drawing the consequences witnessed through gender inequality in the business sector. The writer aims at testing whether women and men in the local governments differ based on attitudinal and demographic variables as many literature reviews suggest, and the levels in which the two groups are similar to members of the Congress and state legislators. Part of the hypothesis is that the local government officials vary from state legislators and the members of the Congress. The main variable, gender, is conceptually and operationally defined by the writer. The article argues that gender is associated with sex and is highly dependent on various contexts. She writes that gender just like a class is a significant category of political analysis (Ridge 5). Therefore, gender is a concept in the United States and political offices determined gender roles by discounting women from politics.
Methodology
The research methodology used in this article is mostly deductive. Deductive research provides wholly formulated and factual inquiries that are necessary for the theoretical base (Krishnaswamy and Apa14). The researcher is trying to prove or test existing theories applying to therural setting of the United States when it comes to women in political conversation. Iowa is one such rural states that the researcher uses to form the basis of her thesis.
"In order to test these theories, I examine data from rural Iowa. Most of the data for this dissertation comes from a survey of small town council members conducted by Iowa State University's Rural Development Initiative (RDI)" (Ridge 35).
This deductive methodology is linked to the datasets, quantitative analysis, and surveys from the Iowa State University's Rural Development. For example, using Table 3.1 (Ridge 36), RDI presents a statistic on the Council Size and the number of Women Council. Such statistic on the research population is important in coming up with research findings. The thesis in this article, which is, if women are allowed in the political institutions then change is due to occur would not be better expressed without finding out the weaknesses of the prior research studies. The writer states that the existing studies only focused on the urban states. Therefore the conclusions from the contexts used in those research works does not apply in the rural setting (Ridge 35). The article; therefore, brings in a different and new perspective to women and gender in local political institutions. The research design is more of a statistical review. Reviewing and analyzing data by RDI in Iowa State is key to testing the ability of women in elective politics. These data assist in understanding the various contexts such as social and economic backgrounds of the study population. The data on occupation, income, education, age, marital status, group membership, and attendance as well as party identification enables the writer to understand the differences between men and women.
The author used reliable sources of data. Considering that author attributes the data and statistic to a reputable institution, the methodology is valid. Gathering such an extensive data for such abroad topic of review may have been a tough task for the individual researcher. Resolving to analyze the RDI data authenticates these particular findings.
In future, there is a need for researchers to explore such a vast topic both qualitatively and quantitatively. Such a mixture will enable the researcher to have a broad and deep understanding, and validation as they offset the missing links inherent to each of the methods.
Assumptions
The arguments in this research rest on various assumptions. Notably, women's and men's attitudes in the political arena are fundamentally different. Other assumptions include; the political offices' norms are masculine and that women are both willing and capable of changing political cultures of institutions. All these assumptions have been used to argue for dominance by men and stereotypes of masculinity that gives room for individuality and aggression within political institutions.
The data from Iowa towns by RDI enables a concrete conclusion for the article as it has considered both the national and the local politics. By using the studies generated from the national legislators, the perspective of national politics, though not the focus point for this research, is realized. The writer uses the national view against the local view to have an objective consideration of the facts available. The comparison of the behavior of town council members to the ones serving at the higher levels of leadership is important in drawing objectivity of the arguments. Also, comparative research enables discovery of other issues about the topic. It opens up a window for the researcher to study many variables (Lunenburg et al. 45). Part of the conclusions says that the local council members are different national leaders due to demographic variability. Having a comparison point helps the writer to defend her arguments in the article.

Recommendations
The writer makes various recommendations going into the future. The researcher intends to apply the same standards to investigate the same topic in other states, which maybe havening different diversities (Ridge 138). However, the findings from Iowa towns are not pleasing, and a lot needs to be done to improve women's representation in political institutions. Another recommendation is that the findings from Iowa towns, a result of the RDI council member survey, should be applied to other topics as well. Such issues could narrow down into the gender and women issue; for example, differences in priority issues at the local governments. Implementing the second recommendation can be important for any state. Understanding the role of women in a society is important for every society. This statement is supported by Dalton's argument in her book, "Women and Politics in Contemporary Japan." She encourages women to be in politics because they have a track record in their social roles as mothers (Dalton 100). Gender equality is equally a significant determinant of change in government (Hoard 105).
Persuasiveness
The argument of the research that there are only a few differences in the attitudes and behaviors of women and men in local government is less convincing. Bearing the hypothesis that men are more combative while the women are soft in approach, the writer's findings ought to determine whether the same applied in the case of Iowa towns. However, the demographics contributing to the gender differences as far as issues like motivation for running for office and approaches to office for rural government is more persuasive. The conclusions from the findings indicate that council members were more likely to be conservative compared to their counterparts at the higher offices in government. The reasons offered for the arguments are convincing because they are in tandem with the data from RDI. However, in practice, the theories generated from the data of the Congress and national legislators do not apply locally.


Works Cited
Dalton, Emma. Women and Politics in Contemporary Japan. ROUTLEDGE, 2017.
Hoard. Gender Expertise in Public Policy: Towards a Theory of Policy Success. Springer, 2015.
Krishnaswamy K.N, and ApaIyerSivakumar. Management Research Methodology: Integration of Principles, Methods and Techniques. Pearson Education India, 2009.
Lunenburg, Frederick C., and Beverly J. Irby. Writing a successful thesis or dissertation: tips and strategies for students in the social and behavioral sciences. Corwin Press, 2008
Ridge, Charlotte Lee. "Women and gender in local government." PhD (Doctor of Philosophy) thesis, University of Iowa, 2016.http://ir.uiowa.edu/etd/2137