Publications

Municipal boards and commissions enable citizen participation in local government, provide expertise, foster community engagement, and contribute to effective governance. Researchers have long noted that women and racial minorities are underrepresented at all levels of government. However, there is a dearth of reliable data about how many boards and commissions exist, who serves on them, how representation on these boards and commissions breaks down by gender and race. We gathered data on boards and commissions for municipalities with a population of 1,000 or more in Missouri in spring 2023 and analyzed the data to determine levels of gender and racial parity. Our findings demonstrate that the membership of boards and commissions in Missouri does not reflect the racial, ethnic, and gender composition of the state. Women and people of color are underrepresented broadly on boards and commissions. In our sample, women comprise only 36.9% of members of boards and commissions, and white Missourians comprise 92.3% of members. While 11.7% of the state’s population is Black, we find that Black Missourians hold only 5.4% of the seats on boards and commissions.

The gender disparity is especially glaring on “power boards” that have enormous impacts on public policy and the allocation of financial resources. We find that women in Missouri have the highest proportion of seats on boards and commissions focused on the arts, community development, human rights, and libraries–stereotypically feminine areas. Conversely, men in Missouri (predominantly white men) have the highest proportion of seats on “power boards”–planning and zoning, transportation, budget and finance, adjustments and appeals, and public works. Furthermore, men are more likely than women to be appointed to leadership positions on municipal boards and commissions. The voices of women and people of color are diminished on influential boards that influence critical issues, including home prices, segregation, and environmental justice. We seek to provide critical data to help inform policymakers, elected leaders, advocacy groups, and potential members of boards and commissions in their decisions about how to form and populate local boards and commissions in an equitable and transparent manner.