An innovative account of one of the more significant democratic
deficits in Canadian politics – the under-representation of
Quebec women.
Description
Women represent a slight majority of Quebec's population, yet
they continue to occupy a minority of seats in its National Assembly
and in Canada's House of Commons and Senate. To explain why this
is, Manon Tremblay examines Quebec women's political engagements
from 1791 to the present. She traces the path that led to women
obtaining the rights to vote and run for office and then draws on
statistics and interviews with female politicians to paint an in-depth
portrait of women's under-representation and its main causes. Her
innovative account not only documents the significant democratic
deficit in Canada's parliamentary systems, it also outlines
strategies to improve women's access to legislative representation
in Canada and elsewhere.
Reviews
Quebec Women and Legislative Representation fills a long-standing gap in the Canadian literature, which is full of acknowledgements that the Quebec context is different but short on attempts to unpack why. On this front, Tremblay's treatment of the topic is compelling ... This book will appeal to large segments of the discipline: specialists of domestic politics; graduate students who should see this book on their comprehensive exam lists, and women and politics scholars ... Its first sentence calls women's under-representation 'a problem' rather than a 'question.' Readers who do no approach this book with the same view will no doubt change their positions by its conclusion.
- Elizabeth Goodyear-Grant
"Quebec Women and Legislative Representation fills a long-standing gap in the Canadian literature, which is full of acknowledgements that the Quebec context is different but short on attempts to unpack why. On this front, Tremblay's treatment of the topic is compelling.... This book will appeal to large segments of the discipline: specialists of domestic politics; graduate students who should see this book on their comprehensive exam lists, and women and politics scholars.... Its first sentence calls women's under-representation 'a problem' rather than a 'question' (1). Readers who do no approach this book with the same view will no doubt change their positions by its conclusion."
- Elizabeth Goodyear-Grant