Objective This comparative research project based on a case study concerns seven countries of the European Union - Belgium, France, Finland, Greece, Italy, Portugal, and Sweden. Its purpose is to locate the possibilities of change resulting from women's increased participation in local government. It intends to bring out the effects of the gendered composition of elected political bodies and women's dynamic contribution to the fate of the community. In order to do this it will examine:1) what is women's current place in decision making and the reasons for sex inequality in political representation;2) the impact of the informal political sphere (NGOs etc) on the decisions of elected representatives as well as women's role in this type of activity;3) the effects of shifts in the forms of government (weight of inter-communal bodies, interaction between local and EU level) and the way in which these influence gender relations. Fields of science social sciencespolitical sciencespolitical policiescivil societynongovernmental organizations Programme(s) FP5-HUMAN POTENTIAL - Programme for research, technological development and demonstration on "Improving the human research potential and the socio-economic knowledge base" (1998-2002) Topic(s) 1.4.1.-4. - Key action Socio-Economic Knowledge Base Call for proposal Data not available Funding Scheme CSC - Cost-sharing contracts Coordinator CENTRE NATIONAL DE LA RECHERCHE SCIENTIFIQUE EU contribution No data Address Rue Pouchet 59-61 75849 PARIS France See on map Total cost No data Participants (7) Sort alphabetically Sort by EU Contribution Expand all Collapse all ECOLE DES HAUTES ETUDES EN SCIENCES SOCIALES France EU contribution No data Address Boulevard Raspail 54 75006 PARIS See on map Total cost No data NATIONAL AND KAPODISTRIAN UNIVERSITY OF ATHENS Greece EU contribution No data Address Omirou 19 10672 ATHENS See on map Total cost No data UNIVERSIDADE ABERTA Portugal EU contribution No data Address 147,Rua da Escola Politecnica 147 1250 LISBOA See on map Total cost No data UNIVERSITA DEGLI STUDI DI PADOVA Italy EU contribution No data Address Via del Santo 28 35123 Padova See on map Total cost No data UNIVERSITE LIBRE DE BRUXELLES Belgium EU contribution No data Address 44,Avenue Jeanne 44 1050 BRUXELLES See on map Total cost No data UNIVERSITY COLLEGE OF SOUTH STOCKHOLM Sweden EU contribution No data Address 14104 HUDDINGE See on map Total cost No data UNIVERSITY OF HELSINKI Finland EU contribution No data Address Unioninkatu 38 00014 HELSINKI See on map Total cost No data