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Women's elected participation at all levels of government has historically, and remains today, disproportionately low compared to their male peers. It's critical to study why women are so underrepresented in politics and government because gender inequity in formal political power has negative consequences. A robust democracy is achieved only when leadership is inclusive of the population it seeks to represent. But we view this as not only an equity issue, gender imbalance also has ramifications for policy and law. Therefore, this study examines both descriptive representation, which involves numerical gender balance, but also substantive representation, an examination of whether or not having female elected leaders directs greater focus on what are considered to be women's issues. The case for greater female participation includes the contention that certain issues that need to be attended to are not sufficiently focused on because they are less likely to be priorities for men. In fact, a global survey of parliamentarians found that male leaders themselves noted significant differences in what men and women considered political priorities (IPU 2008). When men predominate there is less agenda setting, policy focus, and legislative emphasis on what are considered women's issues such as healthcare, child and elder care, education, environment, poverty, and social welfare programs (Berkman and O'Connor 1993; Bratton and Haynie 1999; Carroll and Dodson 1991; Childs and Withy 2004; IPU 2008; Schwindt-Bayer 2006; Swers 1998; Taylor-Robinson and Heath 2003; Thomas 1991). Where women are more heavily represented there are more successes in the passage of related laws and policy in these areas. Women currently comprise 18.5 percent of county legislatures across New York State, but the range is wide - while in some counties there are no female county legislators or supervisors, in a very small number women approach or exceed parity. The purpose of this research is to describe and analyze women's representation in New York State county local government while exploring gender imbalance and its impacts on policy and spending. There is very little empirical research on this topic at the local/county level of government and this project seeks to fill that gap. From county websites we are assembling a database of every county legislator in New York with identifiers for gender, political party, and committee memberships. From the state comptroller's office we have compiled county level spending data by categories which can be categorized as associated with masculine or feminine. These combined datasets will allows us to both describe gender representation and examine its relationship to spending. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This research analyzes women's underrepresentation in elected local government and explores the particular constraints associated with this type of political participation. Theorists have identified cultural, political organizational, and social structural impediments to women's participation in politics. Additionally, gender studies scholars have noted that there are barriers to success in the workplace for women caused by a gender imbalance in work-family domestic obligations. This study examines whether or not primary responsibility for household tasks and child care is a significant impediment to participation for women in the arena of local government. There is very little empirical research on this topic at the local entry level of government utilizing the framework of work-family responsibilities. This project seeks to fill that gap. Multiple datasets, both primary and secondary sources, will be utilized: a database of elected officials, web survey results of elected officials, along with a companion telephone survey of the general population for comparative purposes. Two basic sets of comparison assessments are undertaken: 1) differences between women in elected positions in contrast to their female peers in the general population, and 2) differences between women in elected positions in contrast to their male elected peers. With the Mid-Hudson region of New York State as a study area, this study documents rates of participation and examines cultural, political, and social structural impacts, with a particular focus on work-family constraints. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A prevailing assumption in various food and health movements is that food-insecure households have unhealthy food acquisition habits, specifically prefefring industrialized foods at the expense of fresher, healthier foods. Such food acquisition patterns may be attributed to socioeconomic constraints of education and cultural capital, as well as the expenditure of scarce time and resources needed in urban food deserts to overcome obstacles of food access. We operationalize this prevailing assumption into five hypotheses anticipating negative associations between food- insecure households and (1) preferring stores that sell healthy foods, (2) preferences for organic foods, (3) always reading food-item labels; and positive associations between low-income households and (4) preferences for foods that stay fresh longer and (5) preferences for foods that are easy to prepare. To test these hypotheses, we analyze data from an in-person survey administered to 355 households in the City of Poughkeepsie, New York, a small Northeastern city marked by high poverty, considerable unemployment, and USDA designation (in two Census tracts) of food desert conditions. Preliminary findings indicate that food-insecure and low-income households are no less or more likely to report unhealthy food acquisition habits with one exception: households with incomes less than $35,000 per year and black households are more likely to prefer food that is easy to prepare. While popular assumptions paint low-income, food insecure people as predisposed towards unhealthy eating, our data provides evidence to the contrary. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In 1977, young college students planted the seeds for what was to become one of the most influential revolutionary movements in Afghanistan?s history. College-aged women, who were empowered with a fuel for change and reform, began the Revolutionary Association of the Women of Afghanistan (RAWA) with nothing more than schoolgirls, their songs and poems. Through the martyrdom of their leader Meena, they created a vehicle for change for the women in their society against social and political oppression, and a Soviet occupation. RAWA?s goal was to end the suffering of indigenous people living outside the prosperous capital of Kabul. RAWA set up literacy institutions for women and men who wanted to learn, they taught women that with their homemaking skills they could generate income for themselves and their families, and they provided the entire country with a model for resistance, becoming the only revolutionary organization, male or female, to protest against the Soviet occupation in favor of a more democratic society. Ten years later and in the midst of the influence of the Taliban, RAWA again showed itself to be a fearless feminist, human, and political rights organization. Often at the expense of their own lives, the women of RAWA continue to be a beacon of hope and a testimony to the true pretence of Islam for everyone in their country. This paper will focus on the origins of RAWA and its impact on the educational, economic, and political structure of Afghanistan in the face of poverty, war, and social repression. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]