As of May 2023, there are 424 mayors that are women in the United States. The state of California has the largest number of women mayors, at 92. The next closest state, Illinois, had 40. Most states have fewer than ten mayors that are women. The mayor of Washington D.C. is a woman.

In 2020, 85.6 percent of mayors in Italy were women, whereas 85.6 percent were men. According to the results of a recent survey, a small share of respondents declared that they would feel uncomfortable if a woman would hold the highest position in politics in Italy.

Do women elected officials contribute to the creation of public sector workforces that are more representative of the populations they serve? A more representative bureaucracy is expected to produce better outcomes, and thus understanding the role that elected leadership plays in diversifying the bureaucracy is important. Using data from over 5000 Brazilian municipalities from 2001 to 2012, we examine whether the election of women mayors leads to the formation of municipal executive bureaucracies that are more representative in terms of gender. In addition, we test whether the presence of a woman mayor leads to increased wages for women bureaucrats and smaller wage gaps between men and women bureaucrats. We find that while women mayors do not increase women’s numerical representation in the municipal executive bureaucracy, they do contribute to the creation of bureaucracies with fewer gender inequalities. Electing a woman mayor increases the average wages of women bureaucrats and decreases the gender wage gap in the bureaucracy. These findings suggest that women mayors advocate for the promotion of women to leadership positions and reduce the gap between men’s and women’s ranks in the bureaucracy since the salaries of Brazilian civil servants are linked to their positions.

Sector: Public administration Algorithm: Number of women mayors out of total mayors * 100 Phenomenon: Stock Territorial comparisons: South Tyrol, Italy

In 2022, the state in Mexico with the highest percentage of women mayors was Baja California Sur with 80 percent. Following with the second-highest share was the state of Quintana Roo with 63.6 percent. In contrast, the state with the lowest share for females as mayors was Tlaxcala with 13.3 percent.

We explore an electoral quasi-experiment where a woman nearly won or lost to a man in a mayoral election. Our data combines municipal Brazilian election results, which occur every four years, with municipal level votes for female and male candidates in state and federal deputy elections, whose districts are larger than the municipalities. Our results show that when voters are exposed to a female leader, the relative number of votes given to female candidates increases. This result depends on the political environment in which the exposure occurs. These effects on the electorate's response tend to be stronger: 01. in municipalities where there is a previous higher proportion of female councilors, and 02. when the mayors have higher education levels. Our results provide evidence that the observed electorate's gender preferences in politics are alterable, but that policy interventions aimed to equalize access will be more effective if they are targeted at underrepresented populations that have the correct skill requirements to perform in leadership positions.

The 2008 Center for American Women and Politics (CAWP) Recruitment Studies are studies of United States state legislators' and mayors' pathways to office that were conducted by the Center for American Women and Politics (CAWP) at the Eagleton Institute of Politics at Rutgers University. Data about state legislators and mayors of big cities were gathered through survey instruments that consisted primarily of questions concerning the decision to seek office, previous political experience, and personal background. The studies, which were conducted by mail, web, and phone, were designed to replicate a 1981 CAWP study about gender and pathways to elective office. All women serving in the legislatures of the 50 states were surveyed, along with a random sample of men state legislators; men were randomly selected and sampled in proportion to the number of women serving in each chamber and state. All women mayors of cities with a population of 30,000 and above serving in 2008 were surveyed, along with a random sample of men mayors. Demographic variables include age, education, race, and marital status.

Women remain underrepresented in politics and it remains unclear how this might change. In this paper, we investigate whether female council candidates receive more preferential votes when a female mayor has been recently elected into office. We hand collect data for 109,017 candidates in four open-list local council elections (2001-2016) in all 426 municipalities of a German state. Based on RDD estimations for close mixed-gender races, we show that female council candidates advance more from their initial list rank when the mayor is female. This effect spreads to neighboring municipalities and leads to a rising share of female council members.

In 2021, the majority of mayors in Bolivia were men, holding 93.4 of the mayoral positions. This means that only one in ten mayors are women.

As of 2023, the number of female mayors in Norway was record high. More than a third of the mayors in Norway were female, and the share of women in chairmanship positions in the Norwegian municipalities was 44 percent. These numbers are unprecedented in the Norwegian political history. The political transformation is indeed a recent one. Within twenty years, from 1999 to 2019, the share of female mayors more than doubled in Norway.

For the mayors’ elections in Linz, the number of voters (male, female, total), the number of votes cast and valid, as well as the votes attributed to the candidates, are presented according to statistical districts.

Acronyms:

• BZÖ = Alliance Future Austria
• Green = The Greens — The Green Alternative
• KPÖ = Communist Party of Austria and independent left
• FPÖ = Freedom Party of Austria
• Left = The Left
• Neos = NEOS — The New Austria
• ÖVP = Austrian People’s Party
• Pirate = Pirate Party Upper Austria
• SPÖ = Social Democratic Party of Austria

Polling stations and “flying commissions” were grouped under the “Special Warrior”.

Petition subject: School discrimination Original: http://nrs.harvard.edu/urn-3:FHCL:25500550 Date of creation: (unknown) Petition location: Malden Legislator, committee, or address that the petition was sent to: Edward M. Flanagan, Malden; committee on education Selected signatures:John P. Donnelly Actions taken on dates: 1969-01-01,1969-01-01 Legislative action: Received in the House on January 1, 1969 and referred to the committee on education and sent for concurrence and received in the Senate on January 1, 1969 and concurred Total signatures: 1 Legislative action summary: Received, referred, sent, received, concurred Legal voter signatures (males not identified as non-legal): 1 Female only signatures: No Identifications of signatories: citizens, Massachusetts Mayors Association Prayer format was printed vs. manuscript: Printed Additional non-petition or unrelated documents available at archive: additional documents available Additional archivist notes: for an investigation by a special commission including members of the General Court relative to the financing by the Commonwealth of elementary and secondary public school education, includes address Location of the petition at the Massachusetts Archives of the Commonwealth: Resolves 1969, c.61, passed August 4, 1969 Acknowledgements: Supported by the National Endowment for the Humanities (PW-5105612), Massachusetts Archives of the Commonwealth, Radcliffe Institute for Advanced Study at Harvard University, Center for American Political Studies at Harvard University, Institutional Development Initiative at Harvard University, and Harvard University Library.

In 2024, the highest share of women working in political leadership positions was seen among diet members in the House of Councilors, where women made up 25.5 percent. By contrast, only about 1.9 percent of the mayors of towns and villages were women.

How does politician gender shape citizen responses to performance in office? Much of the existing literature suggests that voters hold higher expectations of women politicians and are therefore more likely to punish them for malfeasance. An alternative perspective suggests that voters view men politicians as more agentic and are therefore more responsive to their performance, whether good or bad. Using an online survey experiment in Argentina, we randomly assign respondents to information that the distribution of a government food program in a hypothetical city is biased or unbiased, and we also randomly assign the gender of the mayor. We find that respondents are more responsive to performance information—both positive and negative—about men mayors. We find little evidence that respondents hold different expectations of malfeasance by men versus women politicians. These results contribute to our understanding of how citizens process performance information in a context with few women politicians.

BackgroundThe medical literature has demonstrated that macro-variables and social factors can influence suicide rates. Additionally, social science literature has shown that women in prominent political positions (such as mayors) can influence the behavior of other women. The purpose of our work is to demonstrate that women in such positions reduce suicide rates within a group affected by gender inequality: married women.MethodologyWe use regression discontinuity methodology and quasi-experimental electoral designs (elections with a margin of victory very close to zero) to ensure causal inference between the election of women and suicide rates among married women.Principal findingsMunicipalities that elected women as mayors have 1.33 fewer suicides among married women per 100,000 inhabitants compared to those that elected men as mayors.ConclusionThese results offer new insights into how empowered women can challenge social norms and improve public health outcomes.

New York City's "MWBE" program, enacted by the City Council and signed by the Mayor as Local Law 129 of 2005, is designed to promote government contracting opportunities for businesses owned by minorities and women. Our "Emerging Business Enterprise" program, enacted by the City Council and signed by the Mayor as Local Law 12 of 2006, is designed to promote such opportunities for businesses owned by persons who are "socially and economically disadvantaged." Together, the programs establish the following Citywide goals for contracts and subcontracts in amounts under $1 million.

41,864 (Persons) in 2030.

Petition subject: For the repeal of the personal liberty laws Original: http://nrs.harvard.edu/urn-3:FHCL:10512596 Date of creation: 1861-01-19 Petition location: Boston Legislator, committee, or address that the petition was sent to: Committee on the personal liberty laws Selected signatures:Joseph Wrightman Actions taken on dates: 1861-01-19,1861-01-21 Legislative action: Received in the Senate on January 19, 1861 and referred to the committee on the personal liberty laws and received in the House on January 21, 1861 and concurred Total signatures: 1 Legislative action summary: Received, referred, received, concurred Legal voter signatures (males not identified as non-legal): 1 Female only signatures: No Identifications of signatories: mayor Prayer format was printed vs. manuscript: Manuscript Additional non-petition or unrelated documents available at archive: additional documents available Additional archivist notes: Mayor of Boston, includes resolution Location of the petition at the Massachusetts Archives of the Commonwealth: St. 1861, c.91, passed March 25, 1861 Acknowledgements: Supported by the National Endowment for the Humanities (PW-5105612), Massachusetts Archives of the Commonwealth, Radcliffe Institute for Advanced Study at Harvard University, Center for American Political Studies at Harvard University, Institutional Development Initiative at Harvard University, and Harvard University Library.

Petition subject: General Rufus Putnam state reservation Original: http://nrs.harvard.edu/urn-3:FHCL:25950540 Date of creation: (unknown) Petition location: Worcester county Legislator, committee, or address that the petition was sent to: Charles T. Tatman, Worcester; committee on harbors and public lands Selected signatures:Charles A. HowlandJohn O. HallCharles H. PorterWilliam O. Howland Actions taken on dates: 1900-02-15,1900-02-16 Legislative action: Received in the House on February 15, 1900 and referred to the committee on harbors and public lands and sent for concurrence and received in the Senate on February 16, 1900 and concurred Total signatures: 9 Legislative action summary: Received, referred, sent, received, concurred Legal voter signatures (males not identified as non-legal): 9 Female only signatures: No Identifications of signatories: citizens of the County of Worcester and vicinity, in this Commonwealth, and other persons interested in preserving lands and buildings of historic colonial interest for the use and benefit of the Commonwealth, mayor, ["others"] Prayer format was printed vs. manuscript: Printed Additional non-petition or unrelated documents available at archive: no additional documents Additional archivist notes: Rutland, historic preservation, civil engineer, large dwelling house, two barns, Dorchester Heights, evacuation by the British, Revolutionary War, Western Territory, Ohio, Marietta, emigrants, free states, eulogy, Senator George F. Hoar, Elijah B. Stoddard, Burton W. Potter, trustees, Massachusetts Society of the Sons of the Revolution, bronze tablet, includes addresses, town next to names including Quincy, Cambridge, Randolph, Andover, Fitchburg Location of the petition at the Massachusetts Archives of the Commonwealth: House Unpassed 1900, H 575 committee on harbors and public lands - leave to withdraw Acknowledgements: Supported by the National Endowment for the Humanities (PW-5105612), Massachusetts Archives of the Commonwealth, Radcliffe Institute for Advanced Study at Harvard University, Center for American Political Studies at Harvard University, Institutional Development Initiative at Harvard University, and Harvard University Library.

Petition subject: Mingo Cemetery Original: http://nrs.harvard.edu/urn-3:FHCL:25455223 Date of creation: (unknown) Petition location: Fall River Legislator, committee, or address that the petition was sent to: Isaac E. Willetts, Fall River; committee on cities Selected signatures:John T. Coughlin Actions taken on dates: 1909-01-25,1909-01-26 Legislative action: Received in the House on January 25, 1909 and referred to the committee on cities and sent for concurrence and received in the Senate on January 26, 1909 and concurred Total signatures: 1 Legislative action summary: Received, referred, sent, received, concurred Legal voter signatures (males not identified as non-legal): 1 Female only signatures: No Identifications of signatories: mayor of Fall River Prayer format was printed vs. manuscript: Printed Additional non-petition or unrelated documents available at archive: additional documents available Additional archivist notes: removal of remains, Pleasant Street, David Ouellette, Oak Grove Cemetery Location of the petition at the Massachusetts Archives of the Commonwealth: St. 1909, c.162, passed March 13, 1909 Acknowledgements: Supported by the National Endowment for the Humanities (PW-5105612), Massachusetts Archives of the Commonwealth, Radcliffe Institute for Advanced Study at Harvard University, Center for American Political Studies at Harvard University, Institutional Development Initiative at Harvard University, and Harvard University Library.