The Four Anchors Model – Women Political Participation

Abstract This paper examines the causes of the increase in the number of women candidates in local Israeli government elections during October 2013. To do so, it develops a new model called the four anchors model based on (1) authentic leadership, (2) organizations with gender awareness, (3) practices that provide organized training for women only and (4) networking for women. Establishment of each one of the anchors with synergy among all four of them will encourage more women to be active in political life at the local level. The research combines mixed research methods based on seven different information sources such as questionnaires, interviews, content analysis of newsletters from the Local Councilwomen’s Union, observations and informal talks with women council members.