Strategic Women, Elite Advocacy and Insider Strategies: The Women's Movement and Constitutional Reform in Wales

Abstract

Women's movements played a significant role in the recent campaigns for constitutional reform in the UK. Their aim was to overturn the prevailing male domination in politics. This article explores this process in Wales, a polity where the women's movement was comparatively weak and fragmented. In contrast to more familiar patterns of mass mobilization, “strategic women” used elite advocacy and “insider strategies” to engender the process of constitutional reform. Thus, this case study tests three widely held theoretical assumptions: that engendering state restructuring must be combined with broader activism; that insider strategies are more effective in influencing state actions; and, that the elite nature of such strategies means they can be neither democratic nor inclusive. The research findings detail the ensuing rise of state feminism and gains in women's representation and provide evidence of a paradox whereby elite action may translate into greater democratization in contexts where women's movements are comparatively underdeveloped.

Citation

Chaney, P. (2007), "Strategic Women, Elite Advocacy and Insider Strategies: The Women's Movement and Constitutional Reform in Wales", Coy, P.G. (Ed.) Research in Social Movements, Conflicts and Change (Research in Social Movements, Conflicts and Change, Vol. 27), Emerald Group Publishing Limited, Leeds, pp. 155-185. https://doi.org/10.1016/S0163-786X(06)27006-X