Term Paper on "Women in Politics the Relationship"

Term Paper 5 pages (1340 words) Sources: 4

[EXCERPT] . . . .

Women in Politics

The relationship of the citizen of a given country to political action depends on the social and political history of that country and the traditions that shape the political system. This is true for both men and women, though historically women have had less direct involvement with the political system because women have been socially marginalized in most countries for at least some period in history. The three countries involved in the North American Free Trade Agreement, have different political histories. The United States and Canada each derive from a British tradition, though Canada has remained more closely tied to that system, while the U.S. has diverged from it considerably. The Mexican tradition harks back to Spain and then to decades of one-party control that ha sonly recently been broken. The role of women in the political systems of each country differs accordingly.

The fact that Canada started as a colonial nation has defined the nation ever since. The region was settled by the French before it was settled by the British, but after the coming of the British, immigration from Britain would be the important source of new inhabitants. War came first to Canada and then to America to the south. The British defeated the French in Canada but were themselves defeated in the south. After this, immigration from what would become the United States increased as British subjects still loyal to the crown fled the southern colonies and became a dominant force in Canada as far as politics and trade were concerned. They retained their loyalties to Britain, and indeed those loyalties were hardened by their experience in the American Revolutionary War. They shunned the republican and democratic principles prevalent in the south and so developed institutions that were faithful to British models.

One of the primary forces pushing toward Confederation was fear of the United States. Americans continued to show a desire for territorial expansion that made Canadians believe there might be designs on their territories, and so in order to fight against the Manifest Destiny infusing American expansion, the Canadian colonies united in a Confederation to protect themselves. Canada thus fought against becoming a colony of the United States.

Canada continues to be faced by two seemingly opposite forces, though both derive from proximity to the United States. While the two societies were different in the past, they have been becoming more alike. A counter-force is seen among Canadians fighting to retain their own identity and to reject American influences as much as possible (Carroll paras. 3-5).

Both countries still face "fundamental issues relating to questions of 'national conformity' still animate the myriad political debates on language policy, bilingual education, the limits of tolerance toward the maintenance of a plural society, the reproduction of distinctive core 'American' and 'Canadian' values and the like" (Burnaby and Ricento 3).

The place of women in American politics has long been ambiguous. Women have participated in varying degrees since suffrage, but they have also tended to take a back seat to males in the political arena. Even the idea that Hillary Clinton may become the Democratic nominee for President in the next election represents a sea-change. The role of women in Canada has been more steady and more progressive:

Canada's female representation levels are higher than those in the United States, and its women's movements flourish. Unlike what Joyce Gelb calls the interest group, ideological, and state feminism models (of the United States, United Kingdom, and Sweden, respectively), Canada combines interest group, ideological, and state commitment inside various government bodies that address equality agendas and on which representatives of women's groups sit. (Staudt 193)

Still, the role women have ikn politics in both countries is more advanced than in Mexico, though this is true of the participation of the average male as well.

Analysts note the centralization and other characteristics that have marked the Mexican political system at least since 1968, a regime marked by one-party rule, incomplete political development, and in the eyes of some, a… READ MORE

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