Scaglia is a research associate at RepresentWomen, a think tank and action hub dedicated to strengthening our democracy through achieving gender balanced governance. Her areas of expertise include ranked choice voting and proportional representation.
Women’s representation in governance is crucial, not just as a means of achieving descriptive representation but also for creating better policy outcomes driven by an elected body that represents its constituents. Women politicians are more likely than men to introduce and sponsor bills that relate to “women’s issues,” such as healthcare, childcare, education, housing, crime, and social welfare. Women also reach across party lines more often than men, contributing to inclusive lawmaking.
In the 2021 city council elections, New York City made history. Women went from holding under one-fourth (24%) of the 51 seats to women of color holding a majority (61%). Research conducted by RepresentWomen shows that four factors unique to New York City led to this election result
1. Term limits meant 35 of the 51 council seats were open.
2. NYC’s matching funds programs amplified small donations allowing women, who tend to benefit more from small donors, to boost their campaign funds.
3. Ranked choice voting was used for the primary elections.
4. Candidate-focused organizations such as The New Majority NYC uplifted women candidates through endorsements, training, and mentorship.
New York City’s women majority council provides a high-profile example of how impactful women’s representation is. Having a city council with members who have shared lived experiences with their constituents allows for all voters, especially those who are often marginalized, to have a voice.
“We know that legislators legislate based on their lived experience, and now thanks to RepresentWomen's research we can point to the tangible impact that the women-majority New York City Council has had on policy.
– Liuba Grechen Shirley, CEO and Founder of Vote Mama
In New York City, a woman majority has had a significant impact on the areas of reproductive health, maternal health and mortality, childcare, pay equity, menstrual equity, and supporting survivors of domestic violence. This council has also expanded COLA by $100 million for nonprofit workers and expanded Promise NYC, a service that provides childcare services to undocumented families, by $16 million.
The woman majority council is also led by a woman: Speaker Adrienne Adams. Her leadership has allowed many of the councilwomen to take on committee leadership roles, reducing bias across the council. This council’s Women’s Caucus shows the positive effects of women’s leadership. With a built-in majority (28 women are currently in the caucus), women don’t have to explain why addressing certain issues, such as maternal health, is essential to building a better New York.
“More women in power means more progress for New Yorkers. When our government looks like our city, then the issues that matter get addressed. This report gives us the reason to keep going, and proof that the women-majority is not just about hitting a number, but about creating a positive impact on the City.”
– Jessica Haller, Executive Director of The New Majority NYC
Nonetheless, RepresentWomen’s research also found that structural barriers persist. Several of New York City’s buildings are dated, lack proper lactation facilities, and impede nursing mothers and pregnant women from coming to work. A woman majority’s impact is clear, but one record-breaking win does not suffice to fix centuries of men-dominated governance.
New York City reinforces that increasing women’s representation at all levels of government is essential. Not only do women deserve a seat at the table, but all people benefit from them having that seat. If we are to achieve gender balance within our lifetimes, cities ought to adopt both systems- and candidate-based strategies– what RepresentWomen calls the “ twin-track approach.”
The impact of systems strategies such as ranked choice voting and public funding of elections is amplified by the presence and support of candidate groups such as The New Majority NYC, and vice versa. To accelerate the rate of progress for women's representation in politics at all levels of government and maintain existing progress in New York City, we must continue to invest in systems strategies and candidate strategies.
Below are the takeaways from our Impact Analysis, which you can read here.
1. Women in leadership positions create a ripple effect, enabling women to uplift one another and reducing bias across the council.
2. Diversity on the council leads to a shift in priorities; Since the majority woman of color council better mirrors the demographics of the city, this allows for a wider variety of issues to be brought to the table.
3. A larger Women’s Caucus has become more legislatively efficient, particularly regarding reproductive rights and maternal healthcare. With a built-in majority, the women don’t have to fight to explain why these issues are essential.
4. Structural barriers persist, impacting the women council members' day-to-day work. With dated buildings and protocols, women face unique barriers that men do not face.
All New Yorkers benefit from a diverse council. The council’s shared lived experiences with their constituents, different legislative perspectives, and representation of their communities make its members more likely to collaborate, understand one another, and support each other, leading to more effective policy making.
A golden tray sits on the Resolute Desk as President Donald Trump speaks during an announcement on American nuclear innovation in the Oval Office at the White House on July 24, 2026, in Washington, D.C. Trump is signing multiple executive orders targeting the nuclear energy sector and easing rules for new reactors and nuclear fuel supply chains.
Trump’s hubris rivals the fallen heroes of ancient Greek mythology
In January, the New York Times asked President Donald Trump if there were any limits on his global powers.
“Yeah,” the president responded, “there is one thing. My own morality. My own mind. It’s the only thing that can stop me.”
That was eight months ago, but fortunately Christopher Nolan’s blockbuster adaptation of “The Odyssey” has made ancient Greek literature newly relevant. Before that window closes, I’d like to talk about hubris.
Today, the term mostly means excessive pride or arrogance. That’s part of what the Greeks meant by it too, but the meaning was a bit richer and more specific. Hubris was an insolent or outrageous act that offended the gods, often because the transgressor was claiming abilities or authorities that solely belonged to supreme beings.
Nolan renamed and slightly modified the concept of xenia for the film, calling it “Zeus’ law.” In the director’s telling, mortals should follow the rules laid out by the gods, specifically the requirement to treat strangers with respect lest they be gods in disguise.
In a sense, hubris is the opposite, or at least the rejection, of xenia. The hubris of the suitors, and at times Odysseus himself, invites punishment by the gods and their mortal instruments.
Which brings me back to Donald Trump. His claim that there are no constraints on his personal power to dictate events on the global stage was one of the greatest expressions of hubris ever uttered by a political leader.
Trump’s claim was obviously false when he made it.
He vowed that he could end the Russia-Ukraine war in 24 hours. He’s proved powerless to make that happen. If he had divine powers to work his will, why would he have balked at implementing his tariffs so often that Wall Street adopted the “TACO trade” term for his deals? “TACO” stands for “Trump always chickens out.”
And why would Trump have made so many embarrassing concessions to China — from rescinding tariffs on Chinese goods to allowing them to buy crucial and incredibly valuable computer chips?
But Trump saw his success at capturing Venezuelan strongman Nicolas Maduro as proof of his ability to launch missiles to the same effect as Zeus’ lightning bolts. Trump believed he was the most powerful man who ever lived.
This is no exaggeration. In March, when the Iran invasion seemed successful, Trump gave a document penned by“Presidential Historian David King” to New York Times reporters Maggie Haberman and Jonathan Swan purporting to prove that Trump was “the most powerful person to have EVER walked this planet.” King was, in fact, a businessman and occasional caddy for legendary golfer Gary Player.
King compared Trump favorably to many of history’s most powerful, and often heinous, figures: Alexander the Great, Attila the Hun, William the Conqueror, Napoleon Bonaparte, Joseph Stalin, Genghis Khan, Mao Tse Tung, Adolf Hitler and Vladimir Lenin. Many of these men thought they were the most powerful person in the world, too. And many were defeated precisely because they believed it.
At least Napoleon and Hitler had a string of truly impressive victories before they learned the folly of hubris. The limits on Trump’s power have been exposed by far less august forces than the combined might of the allies in World War II or the fearsome Russian winter.
Iran is a comparatively middling power. But the regime’s ability to absorb punishment while imposing its will on the Strait of Hormuz has proved to be a greater constraint on Trump’s power than his morality or mind. We should note that, at least rhetorically, his morality has not proved much of a constraint. He has repeatedly promised to destroy Iranian “civilization” if the regime refuses to capitulate.
But they haven’t — and won’t anytime soon — because the regime’s tolerance for pain far outstrips Trump’s. The combined fear of skyrocketing oil prices, outrage of Gulf state potentates, diminishing weapon supplies and domestic unpopularity is doing the work that international law, congressional oversight and the collective opinion of foreign policy experts can’t or won’t do.
If I considered Trump more heroic than reason and facts could allow, I would say his Sisyphean predicament has the whiff of Greek tragedy to it. Trump is vexed by the fact that the Iranians won’t honor deals or ratify his countless premature claims of victory — giving new meaning to his vow that his presidency would make people tired of winning. It’s almost like they’re out-Trumping Trump.
Things might have gone better if he’d heeded that great Greek tragedian Sophocles: “For Zeus utterly abhors the boasts of a proud tongue.”
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Jonah Goldberg is editor-in-chief of The Dispatch and the host of The Remnant podcast. His Twitter handle is @JonahDispatch.