Do female candidates ‘lose votes’?: the experience of female candidates in the 1979 and 1980 Canadian general elections

Dans quelle mesure la sous-représentation des femmes au Parlement du Canada est-elle attribuable à la “perte de votes”? II est évident que lorsque les femmes se présentent à la députation sur un pied d‘égalité avec les hommes en ce qui concerne un rival titulaire, la compétitivité du siège disputé, et le parti politique, les femmes n'obtiennent pas moins de votes que les hommes. Les femmes sont également plus aptes àêtre choisies pour disputer des sièges à des titulaires ou des sièges que le parti a peu ou pas de chance de gagner. II est done peu probable que l’échec relatif des femmes aux élections fédérates soit directement relié aux sentiments des électeurs. II apparait plutôt que le succès limité des femmes dans la politique fédérale au Canada est dû aux difficultés qu'elles ont à se faire nommer pour disputer des sièges qu'elles auraient une assez bonne chance de gagner. This paper explores the extent to which the under-representation of women in the House of Commons in Canada can be attributed to female candidates “losing votes.” The evidence suggests that, when male and female candidates are equated in terms of running against an incumbent, competitiveness of the contested seat, and political party, the women do not receive fewer votes than the men. At the same time, women were more likely than men to be nominated to contest seats against incumbents or seats which their party had little or no chance of winning. It does not seem, then, that the relative failure of women in federal elections can be traced directly to voters' sentiments. Rather, it appears as if the limited success of women in federal politics in Canada largely originates in their difficulties in securing nominations to contest seats which they have some reasonable prospect of winning.     

Cohort size and earnings in Great Britain

Numerous studies in the United States have confirmed that individuals born into large cohorts, ceteris paribus, tend to have lower earnings on entry into the labour force compared to individuals born into small cohorts. On the other hand, only limited attention has been directed towards exploring the relationship between cohort size and earnings in other nations. This paper examines empirically the relationship between cohort size and male earnings in Great Britain. The data used is a time-series of cross-sections (1973–1982) constructed from theGeneral Household Survey. Some support for the hypothesis that large cohorts have depressed earnings is found. However, this effect does not persist as the cohort ages.     

Family Law and Family Systems: Multidisciplinary Training for Professionals

The Family Court in New Zealand has become the crucible for the mixing of legal and mental health professionals. Low key workshops convened by family therapists for multidisciplinary groups have made successful use of family therapy models and expertise to provide a base for the conciliation and mediation alternative to the adversary system so common in law and in earlier family litigation. Enhanced cross-disciplinary understanding and morale appear to have accompanied the more formal learnings in family therapy, and the programme as detailed is included as one possible structure on which such experiences might be offered by other therapists in other places.     

Family Therapy Process in a Family Therapy Seminar

The interaction between leaders and members in a year-long family therapy seminar is systematically compared to the process that unfolds between therapist and family during the course of family therapy. A five stage developmental process common to both is postulated and described: (1) Battle for Structure, (2) Naive Enthusiasm, (3) Conflictual Frustration, (4) Task Orientation, and (5) Mutuality. The dynamic elements of each stage are analyzed and factors affecting their development are identified. It is concluded that this five stage process occurs in all similar groups, but that the content of each stage may vary widely from group to group.