The Wilma Rule Award > Rexroad.com

This past weekend I was awarded the Wilma Rule Award by Californians for Electoral Reform.

I was not present at the ceremony in Davis but am honored they liked my blogging.

Here is the certificate.

Wilma Rule was an Adjunct Professor of Political Science at the University
of Nevada, Reno. She was the author or editor of at least four books:
Russian Women in Politics and Society, The U.S. House of
Representatives: Reform or Rebuild?, United States Electoral Systems:
Their Impact on Women and Minorities, and Electoral Systems in
Comparative Perspective: Their Impact on Women and Minorities, as well
as numerous articles, both scholarly and popular.

She was one of the earliest members, active on our Board I believe from
the very beginning, and active with the organization as long as her
health allowed. She died on January 15, 2004.

Wilma Rule was a longtime champion of women's representation. Her
research challenged conventional notions about the reasons for women's
lack of political representation in the United States, much lower than
in other countries. Many advocates for women's representation hold
the view that if more women simply ran for office, or if women
candidates had more campaign financing, then far more women would be
elected. But Professor Rule's research of electoral methods and women's
representation around the world demonstrates the deficiency of that
viewpoint. Her research and that of others showed unequivocally that
if you want more women elected to your legislatures, the single most
important change is to get rid of our 18th-century winner-take-all
electoral system in favor of more modern "full representation"
electoral methods.

As a strong believer in proportional representation, Wilma was
concerned that our growing interest in IRV would distract us from our
primary mission of PR. We owe it to her to not let that happen, and in
her memory we have created the Wilma Rule Memorial Award, awarded to
that person or persons who have done the most to advance the cause of
proportional representation in California during the preceding CfER
year.

--Steve Chessin
President, Californians for Electoral Reform

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