| Popis: |
This report was commissioned by the Remuneration Board of the National Assembly for Wales to look at barriers and incentives for people who have been deterred from standing to the National Assembly and to address the question of whether ‘a diverse range of persons with the appropriate skills and interest are in practice deterred from standing for election to the National Assembly by any aspect of the remuneration package (salary, pension, child care, and office and staffing allowances) and what may provide the incentives to do so’. The report sets out different forms of socialisation into politics from three different groups of people; those who are party politically active, local councillors, and newcomers to formal politics. Barriers for moving from being eligible to an aspirant candidate partly depended on the pathway, with those on a party-political pathway at a distinct advantage in terms of support, information, and knowledge of processes. The research, however, identifies structural, institutional, individual, political, and cultural barriers for candidates in all three pathways. It highlights structural barriers in terms of the cost, time, and accessibility to standing, which are particular deterrents for underrepresented groups. Cultural, structural, and political factors, in terms of candidate selection and the electoral system and process were also seen as barriers to diverse representation. Wider contemporary political and cultural factors including a climate of toxicity in politics and the lack of understanding of the value of diversity, were raised as societal barriers. |
