Gender inequality in Assam

Democracy may be seen as a critical component of human development in its broadest sense. It is a need for human advancement. Democracy contributes to the achievement of the broader objectives of society’s growth. In a democratic society, everyone, including men and women, is encouraged to take an active role in the free and fair election of their representatives. Everyone in the world benefits from democracy because it ensures that everyone has the same opportunities for success, equal rights, and the opportunity to participate in government activities, as well as a society that is free from prejudice. Contrast to this fundamental concept of democracy, women are more obviously barred from participation in politics and from many aspects of everyday life in a nation like India. Women in India are dissatisfied with national, state, and even municipal politics, despite the fact that over half of the country’s women are still barred from participating in policy and decision-making. Similarly, Assam, India’s north-eastern state, is not an exception in this respect. Accordingly, in this article an attempt has been made here to explore the extent of participation of women in political activities as well as the factors influencing participating of women in politics.

Levels of Conceptualization and Municipal Politics: Replication in a New Context

Since Angus Campbell and colleagues introduced the Levels of Conceptualization (LoC) framework as a measure of political sophistication, only a very small number of scholars have applied this approach to understanding how electors view political actors. In 2008, Michael Lewis-Beck and colleagues replicated this foundational study and found similar results using much more recent data on American national elections. In this brief research report, we replicate the work of Lewis-Beck and colleagues in the Canadian municipal context. Using survey data from the Canadian Municipal Election Study, we make use of open-ended responses about attitudes towards mayoral candidates to conduct a qualitative examination of the manner in which survey respondents from eight Canadian cities view mayoral candidates. Despite the relative dearth of ideological cues at the local level, we nevertheless find that a noteworthy portion of the electorate views candidates in ideological terms. Like previous work on the subject, we find that high levels of conceptualization are positively associated with turnout, education, political knowledge, and ‘political involvement’.

The Ideological Structure of Municipal Non-Ideology

This paper explores the structure of elite disagreement about the ideological or nonideological character of municipal politics. I propose two possible relationships between a representative’s own ideology and their beliefs about the character of municipal politics: an “ends-against-the-middle” pattern, in which ideologues on the left and right embrace an ideological vision of municipal politics, whereas moderates insist that municipal politics is not ideological; and an “asymmetric visions” pattern, in which individuals on the left endorse an ideological view of municipal politics and those on the right oppose it. I use new survey data from more than 800 mayors and councillors in Canada to assess these possible relationships. While both are supported by the data, the asymmetric visions pattern is the stronger of the two: the nonideological view of municipal politics is most firmly embraced by municipal politicians of the moderate right, while the ideological vision is most common among representatives on the left. This pattern, I argue, is in keeping with a century of municipal political history and should be incorporated into our theories of municipal elections, representation, and policy disagreement.

Policy Ideology and Local Ideological Representation in Canada

To enable new research on local ideology and representation in Canada, we construct a latent measure of the policy ideology of 37,500 Canadian Election Study respondents using 56 policy-relevant questions and then use multilevel regression and poststratification to estimate the average ideological position of each of Canada's 338 federal electoral districts and 250 largest municipalities. We use these local ideology estimates to examine ideological representation in Canadian municipal politics. Combining our municipal ideology estimates with elite survey data from more than 900 Canadian municipal politicians, we find evidence of a strong relationship between mass and elite ideology. This relationship is consistent across differing municipal population sizes and institutional structures. We conclude with additional detail on our publicly available individual and aggregate measures and describe their potential uses for future research on ideology and representation in Canadian politics at all levels.

Exploring diversity of representation in Toronto and Vancouver : political voices.

Previous research has shown that Canadian municipalities have lower visible minority proportionality rates among elected officials than other levels of government. To understand why, six visible minority city councillors and candidates from Toronto and Vancouver were interviewed. Respondents contributed their personal experiences and perspectives on issues of mirror, symbolic, and substantive representation of visible minorities. They discussed their initial involvement or interest in elite politics, their role models, and their understanding of the term “visible minority.” A broad narrative describes the complexities of political representation in practice and revealed that there were fewer entry points into elite municipal politics for individuals from marginalized groups. These entry points are further obscured by systemic barriers. Barriers were common for both cities despite differences in electoral systems and council structure. This paper recommends reimagining the “visible minority” categorization, and a policy framework that promotes the democratic ideal through institutional evaluations and acclaim for advancements.

Constructing the water works, constructing the narrative

The first decades of the 20th century were a great period in urban municipal politics that gave rise to the modern theory and practice of public health. In Toronto, the iconic R.C. Harris Filtration Plant (1941) stands as an emblem of modernity and the marvels of hydraulic engineering that assured every citizen of the social right to clean water. We no longer celebrate the material networks of water supply such as R.C. Harris and his public works department fought to achieve; filtered H20 has become another commodity with no reference to the production process. In this thesis I explore the local, historical specifics of water issues embedded in this site and suggest ways that they might contribute to the renewed visibility of hydraulic infrastructure; a re-imagined materiality that might in turn inspire a more sustainable, collective water citizenship.

Constructing the water works, constructing the narrative

The first decades of the 20th century were a great period in urban municipal politics that gave rise to the modern theory and practice of public health. In Toronto, the iconic R.C. Harris Filtration Plant (1941) stands as an emblem of modernity and the marvels of hydraulic engineering that assured every citizen of the social right to clean water. We no longer celebrate the material networks of water supply such as R.C. Harris and his public works department fought to achieve; filtered H20 has become another commodity with no reference to the production process. In this thesis I explore the local, historical specifics of water issues embedded in this site and suggest ways that they might contribute to the renewed visibility of hydraulic infrastructure; a re-imagined materiality that might in turn inspire a more sustainable, collective water citizenship.

Exploring diversity of representation in Toronto and Vancouver : political voices.

Previous research has shown that Canadian municipalities have lower visible minority proportionality rates among elected officials than other levels of government. To understand why, six visible minority city councillors and candidates from Toronto and Vancouver were interviewed. Respondents contributed their personal experiences and perspectives on issues of mirror, symbolic, and substantive representation of visible minorities. They discussed their initial involvement or interest in elite politics, their role models, and their understanding of the term “visible minority.” A broad narrative describes the complexities of political representation in practice and revealed that there were fewer entry points into elite municipal politics for individuals from marginalized groups. These entry points are further obscured by systemic barriers. Barriers were common for both cities despite differences in electoral systems and council structure. This paper recommends reimagining the “visible minority” categorization, and a policy framework that promotes the democratic ideal through institutional evaluations and acclaim for advancements.

The gendered digital turn: Canadian mayors on social media

Women continue to occupy lesser positions of power at all political levels in Canada, although scholars still argue on the accessibility of municipal politics to women. However, no previous study has systematically examined the gender ratio of mayors across Canada, as well as their (active) use of social media platforms in a professional capacity. Using novel data, this study examines the variation in social media adoption and active use by gender outside of an electoral campaign. Results show that there is a higher proportion of women mayors who have a Facebook page, as well as Twitter and Instagram accounts and who actively use them outside of electoral campaigns, when compared with men mayors’ social media practices.

The Role of the ‘Cities for Change’ in Protecting the Rights of Irregular Migrants in Spain

Have the new municipalist pro-migrant policies succeeded in protecting the rights of irregular migrants? Cities in Spain have powers to design and implement services and programs aimed at the reception and integration of immigrants. Cities can also include those who are in vulnerable conditions, guaranteeing them access to healthcare, minimum income coverage or labour training, regardless of the immigration status. However, old municipal politics have been characterised by pragmatism, being mainly focused on regular immigrants. Besides, there has been a restrictive and punitive turn in immigration policy directly connected to the economic recession and austerity as of 2008. To explore what possibilities do cities have to expand and protect the rights of irregular immigrants, we analyse in this contribution the cases of Madrid and Barcelona for the years 2015–2019 when progressive municipalists fronts ruled the cities. Based on the textual analysis of policy documents and in-depth interviews with political parties, street-level bureaucrats and activists, we first examine the competencies that municipalities have in migration matters and mainstream approaches in Spain. Then we discuss the action of the new municipalism, focusing the analysis on four political measures that have been rebel and innovative in protecting irregular immigrants, namely, the proactive census, the prevention of irregularity, access to healthcare and changes in police protocols. These real experiences allow us to argue that cities can achieve changes in the way state control is enforced. However, the analysis also shows tensions between the political will and institutional constraints.