The Need of Local Identity in Politics. The Case of Women Mayors in the North-East Region of Romania

Women’s involvement in politics is a complex and multidimensional phenomenon in Romania, following very contradictory and sinuous trends: starting from a high rate of female participation in the political life during the Communism (only as representatives, but not as decision-makers), to an abrupt drop in the 1990s, when politics was male-dominated, to, finally, a rise of female presence in this field, especially when Romania joined EU. Given these premises, the study aims to offer an overview on women’s representation in politics at local level, for the 2016 elections, and to understand if there is a connection between the local identity of a future female candidate within the community and her success during the electoral campaign; we have tried to identify the key elements, if any, for a greater presence of women in the politics and if any gender stereotypes are manifested in the studied rural communities; estimating the Romania’s probability to have, in the more or less distant future, a greater presence of women in political life, both in urban and rural areas.