Where Have the Women Gone? An Exploratory Study of the Women's Legal Education and Action Fund's Shifting Advocacy
Bibliographic Data
| ID | 6239543 |
|---|---|
| Authors | Danielle Mcnabb (0000-0001-9417-1799), Shauna Hughey (0000-0001-9447-858X) |
| Year | 2025 |
| Volume | 58 |
| Issue | 2 |
| Pages | 408-425 |
| Publication date | 2025-06-01 |
| Peer Reviewed | Yes |
| Open Access | Yes |
| Type | ARTICLE |
| Venue | Canadian Journal of Political Science (JOURNAL) |
| Journal identifiers | ISSN: 0008-4239 • E-ISSN: 1744-9324 |
| Publisher | Cambridge University Press (CUP) (PUBLISHER) |
| DOI | 10.1017/s0008423924000854 |
| OpenAlex | W4410332258 |
| Language | EN |
| References cited | 26 |
The Women's Legal Education and Action Fund (LEAF) is a civil society organization that was created in 1985 to advance women's substantive equality. Political science scholarship in the early 2000s focused significant attention on LEAF—unanimously characterizing the organization as among the most successful groups involved in legal mobilization in the post-Charter era. However, we know very little about the organization's advocacy outside of the courts. To address this limitation, we provide an analysis of all the advocacy-related activities undertaken by LEAF between 1985 and 2022. The findings illustrate that beginning approximately in 2006, LEAF diversified its “collective action repertoire” to undertake more political mobilization, while also dedicating greater attention to issue areas such as Indigenous rights. Our study challenges the judicial-centric approach adopted in previous studies of LEAF and underscores the importance of studying advocacy through a longitudinal lens and with approaches that account for the dynamism of civil society
Action (physics · Exploratory research · Legal action · Political science · Social science · Sociology · Gender Politics and Representation · Gender Studies · Law · Nonprofit Sector and Volunteering · Political Influence and Corporate Strategies · Public Administration
Theories of the Policy Process
The Rights Revolution
Repertoires and cycles of collective action
The Rise and Decline of Nations
From Normative Debates to Comparative Methodology
Voluntary Sector Organizations and the State
Law, Politics and the Judicial Process in Canada
The Charter Revolution and the Court Party
Incorporating Multiple Actors and Guidance Instruments into Models of Regulatory Policymaking
Comparing Policy Process Frameworks
An advocacy coalition framework of policy change and the role of policy-oriented learning therein
Lopsided lobbying? Regulatory opportunism and the Office of the Commissioner of Lobbying
Pluralism, Reformed Pluralism and Neopluralism
Diverse Lobbying Coalitions and Influence in Notice‐and‐Comment Rulemaking
Legislative Decision Making and Substantive Policy Information
Party Capability Theory and Appellate Success in the Supreme Court of Canada, 1949–1992
Who Intervenes in Supreme Court Cases in Canada
Interest Group Litigation and the Embedded State
Ghosts of the Judicial Committee of the Privy Council
Feminists and the Courts
Her Majesty's Justice Be Done
The Impact of Legal Mobilization and Judicial Decisions
Why the "Haves" Come Out Ahead
| Citation velocity | historical |
|---|---|
| Highly cited | No |