Framboð eða eftirspurn? Árangur kvenna í prófkjörum flokkanna

FræðigreinFátítt er að prófkjör séu notuð við uppsetningu framboðslista í löndum sem notast við hlutfallskosningakerfi eins og flestir stjórnmálaflokkar á Íslandi gera. Prófkjör eru hins vegar gagnleg til að skoða áhrif ýmissa einkenna frambjóðenda á árangur þeirra í stjórnmálum. Ólíkt almennum kosningum eru einstaklingum greidd atkvæði og vinsældir flokkanna og leiðtoga þeirra á landsvísu hafa minni áhrif á árangur einstakra frambjóðenda. Í þessari grein er fjallað um prófkjör á Íslandi 1970-2007. Sérstök áhersla er lögð á árangur kvenna en því hefur oft verið haldið fram að konur eigi erfiðara uppdráttar í prófkjörum en þegar farnar eru hefðbundnari leiðir við uppstillingu framboðslista. Því er mikilvægt að skoða hver árangur kvenna í íslenskum prófkjörum er og hvaða breytingar hafa orðið frá því að stjórnmálaflokkarnir tóku upp prófkjör. Í ljósi þess að konur standa höllum fæti er leitast við að svara því hvar orsökin liggur. Niðurstöðurnar gefa vísbendingar um að ekki sé um viðhorf kjósenda í prófkjörunum að sakast heldur sé skýringarinnar fremur að leita í því að færri konur bjóða sig fram og á það sérstaklega við um forystusæti framboðslistanna

Aggression and dominance in matched groups of subadult Icelandic horses (Equus caballus)

We studied sex differences in the nature of aggression and dominance behaviour in two newly formed groups of 1-year-old Icelandic horses. One herd contained nine geldings, the other nine mares. The groups were matched with regard to dominancedetermining traits such as age, weaning age, composition of native herd, social experience, genetic origin, body condition and maternal dominance status. Highranking individuals of both sexes were more aggressive, high-ranking males were older, and high-ranking females had a better body condition. Frequencies of aggressions were similar in both groups. The mares reacted significantly more by showing submission upon an aggression rather than by not responding or by escalating the aggression. For the geldings, this difference was not observed due to a lower tendency to submit. A linear dominance hierarchy was found in both groups. David’s scores provided additional information regarding cardinal rank distances and were used to calculate steepness of hierarchies. The female hierarchy was somewhat steeper compared to the male hierarchy, suggesting somewhat lower despotism among males. This was mainly a consequence of the lower unidirectionality in male submission. Male contests occurred predominantly between dyads at top and mid positions, suggesting a low degree of acceptance of the hierarchy

Differences in social behaviour between late pregnant, post-partum and barren mares in a herd of Icelandic horses

Group dynamics and the social behaviour of mares were investigated in the periods before and after foaling during two non-consecutive years, in a herd of Icelandic horses consisting of adult mares and geldings and juvenile fillies, geldings and colts. The horses were observed 24 h a day for 5–6 weeks; i.e. a total of 1483 h. There were significant changes in the social behaviour and interactions of mares after foaling, compared both to their own behaviour pre-partum and to that of barren control mares. While the frequency of allogrooming dropped during the study period in all mares, it dropped significantly more in foaling than in control barren mares. However, while the absolute allogrooming frequency was strongly correlated with reproductive state, it was still remarkably consistent within an individual adult mare between the study years. After foaling, mares with foals separated off into a distinct subgroup, whereas barren control mares increased interaction with the rest of the herd; it is presumed that separation served to keep the foals at a safe distance from the more boisterous geldings and sub-adults; alternatively, it could have been the result of mutual attraction between the foals. In general, the linear dominance order was correlated strongly with age, and the top-ranking mares were older mares that had not yet begun a senescent loss of physical condition which resulted in a later slight drop down the hierarchy. There was no consistent relationship between dominance rank and the pattern of preferred recipients of affiliative interactions, while familiarity was a more important determining factor than kinship in the selection of a preferred partner for affiliative interactions. The preferred partner for proximity was often the same individual as that for allogrooming, suggesting that proximity was a result of an active process rather than of passive acceptance. The presence of adult geldings in the herd did not seem to change the social behaviour of mares as compared to that described for feral horses, and did not appear to negatively affect behaviour during parturition, mare-foal bonding or subsequent maternal care. In short, maintenance of breeding mares in a herd of mixed age and sex did not interfere with normal species-specific behaviour or with the development of the stable, long-lasting mare–mare bonds that are central to maintaining a stable herd. It is concluded that such a system could be a welfare-friendly alternative to typical modern husbandry systems, as long as adequate space is available

Size-dependent alternative male mating tactics in the yellow dung fly, Scathophaga stercoraria

Whenever males can monopolize females and/or resources used by females, the opportunity for sexual selection will be great. The greater the variation among males in reproductive success, the greater the intensity of selection on less competitive males to gain matings through alternative tactics. In the yellow dung fly, Scathophaga stercoraria, males aggressively compete for access to receptive, gravid females on fresh dung. Larger males are better able to acquire mates and to complete copulation successfully and guard the female throughout oviposition. Here we demonstrate that when an alternative resource is present where females aggregate (i.e. apple pomace, where both sexes come to feed), smaller males will redirect their searching for females from dung to the new substrate. In addition, we identify a class of particularly small males on the alternative substrate that appears never to be present searching for females on or around dung. Smaller males were found to have a mating ‘advantage’ on pomace, in striking contrast to the pattern observed on dung, providing further support for the existence of an alternative male reproductive tactic in this species