Gender Parity in Cabinets: Towards the Mediatization of a Public Problem in Canada?

Carol-Ann Rouillard; Mireille Lalancette

doi:10.22151/politikon.49.1

Authors

Carol-Ann Rouillard Université du Québec à Trois-Rivières
Mireille Lalancette Université du Québec à Trois-Rivières

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.22151/politikon.49.1

Keywords:

Argumentative Discourse Analysis, Cabinets, Canada, , Gender Parity, Political Representation, , Women and Politics

Abstract

This article focuses on the media coverage of gender parity in cabinets in Canada and three of its provinces. It paints a portrait of the Canadian discourse on women's political representation issues and reveals the way in which the arguments put forward focus both on the ideal of parity and on the rules for its implementation, gender quotas. The study is based on an argumentative analysis of the media discourse (Amossy, 2018) of ten cabinets. Our results show that media coverage is generally favorable, although counterarguments are more numerous when the novelty of parity has faded. Analysis of the results at the premium of media coverage provides a better understanding of how media coverage could influence political parties and their leaders to appoint more women to cabinet.

Author Biographies

Carol-Ann Rouillard, Université du Québec à Trois-Rivières

Carol-Ann Rouillard is a doctoral student in social communication at the Université du Québec à Trois-Rivières (UQTR). She is interested in the circulation of complex issues in the public space, such as the political representation of women and the social acceptability of environmental projects. In this perspective, she studies the mediatization strategies of media and interest groups as well as the use of socio-digital media. She is a member of the Groupe de recherche en communication politique (GRCP) and the Réseau québécois en études féministes (RéQEF).

Mireille Lalancette, Université du Québec à Trois-Rivières

Mireille Lalancette is currently a full professor in political communication at the Université du Québec à Trois-Rivières. She has published on the construction of the mediatized image of politicians, gender, and representation and has studied the use and impact of social media by citizens, grassroots organizations, and Canadian political actors. Researcher for the Groupe de recherche en communication politique (GRCP), she authored, with Marie-Josée Drolet and Marie-Ève Caty, ABC de l’argumentation pour les professionnels de la santé ou toute autre personne qui souhaite convaincre (PUQ). She also edited What’s #Trending in Canadian Politics? Understanding Transformations in Power, Media, and the Public Sphere with Vincent Raynauld and Erin Crandall (UBC Press, 2019). Her work has been published in Canadian and international research publications in French and in English. She is the principal investigator in a SSRCH project about digital media, controversies, and social acceptability.

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