SOCIAL SCIENCE RESEARCH

Social Science Research



Social Science Research

Introduction

Critical mass theory, derived from nuclear physics, suggests that nuclear reaction can be a contained process. Beyond a certain point, however, when enough uranium is assembled, there will be an irreversible meltdown, or unstoppable chain reaction of nuclear fission multiplying upon itself, producing an impact far beyond the quantity of the original material.

When applied to social science, the theory of critical mass suggests that the nature of group interactions depend upon size. In many ways this is analogous to Noelle-Neuman's (1984) spiral of silence theory about the expression of dissonant views. But on one occasion the group reaches a certain size, critical mass theory propose that there will be a qualitative change in the temperament of group interactions, as the minority starts to assert itself and thereby transform the institutional culture, norms and values. Rosabeth Moss Kanter (1977) applied this account to gender relations in industrial corporations, identifying four categories. Uniform groups contain only men or women. Skewed groups contain a large imbalance of men or women, up to about 15 per cent of the minority group. Titled groups contain about 15-40 percent of the opposite sex. Lastly, balanced groups contain 40-50 percent of each sex.

Discussion

This theory can be applied to the position of women in public office. Drude Dahlerup (1988) and Jill M. Bystydenski (1992) have argued that if women and men politicians differ in their underlying values, policy priorities and legislative styles, then when parliaments shift from skewed to tilted, or even balanced, groups there will be a transformation in the institutional culture, political discourse, and policy agenda. The expectations are implicit in Clare Short's claims: “As more women come into the Commons, the culture will change, the agenda of politics will broaden, and the institution itself will be transformed.” (Quoted in McDougal 1998). This theory suggests that in the past, we would expect few substantive differences between women and men MPs at Westminster, since, until recently, there have been so few female representatives. Previous research on parliamentary candidates and MPs in the 1992 election found that when compared with men within each party, women were slightly more supportive of feminist and leftwing values, expressed stronger concern about social policy issues, and gave higher priority to constituency casework. Yet in all cases the gender gap was modest, and overall party rather than gender proved the strongest predictor of values and attitudes (Norris and Lovenduski 1995; Norris 1996).

Analysis

The Gender Gap in Political Attitudes

The attitudes and values of politicians were monitored in this survey using a series of 10-point scales monitoring their own position on six key issues dividing the parties. The 11-point scales measured left-right self-placement, the trade-off between inflation versus unemployment, taxation versus public spending, nationalization versus privatization, integration within the European Union, and gender equality. The questions were in the following form:

“in recent times there has been conversation about women's rights. Some people believe that women should have an equal role with men in operation business, industry and ...