2025/10/06 by Eva Marín Hlynsdóttir, Hafsteinn Einarsson · 1 voice
Social Sciences · #Gender Politics and Representation
paper · pdf · doi:10.1080/03003930.2025.2568387
openalex publication_date 2025/10/06 · openalex created_date 2025/10/10 · openalex updated_date 2026/06/15
With few exceptions, women are underrepresented in local councils throughout the world. Moreover, female councillors have much higher turnover than their male counterparts, leaving political life quickly and in higher numbers. This paper focuses on the intention of local councillors in Iceland to seek re-election. The Icelandic case is an intriguing example of a system with high gender equality, in which local councils mirror society reaching full descriptive gender balance. The findings demonstrate that even in systems in which descriptive gender balance has been achieved, local politicians’ intention to seek re-election is gendered. While women may be as motivated as men to seek re-election, external factors create gendered barriers to their continued participation in local politics. Despite gender parity having been achieved in local councils, the findings suggest that more is needed to achieve genuine equality, making descriptive representation merely one step in a longer process of institutional change.