women representation
two conceptions of representation
descriptive representation
representative institution should be a microcosmos of the socieities
composition of parliaments and other political offices should reflect that of the broader societies
i.e. if half of the societies are women, then half of parliament ought to consist of women as well
substantive representation
interest of different social groups needs to have a substantive impact in decision making
descriptively representative institutions could be unrepresentative for a variety of reasons
- minority being marginalised by the majority? - are minority representatives genuinely representing minority interests?
unrepresentative institutions - gender
women consist of less than half of MPs in almost all democracies
the percentage of women MPs in the lower house of parliaments across selected countries in 2021
reasons for underrepresentation
why aren’t women running for office?
women’s participation in the workforce (Iversen & Rosenbluth 2008)
increase women participation in the economy provide resources available for women to run for office as well as gaining the professional experience necessary
increase the pool of potential women candidates
compatibility of career in politics and domestic responsibilities of women (Norris and Lovenduski 1995)
cited by prospective candidate as their major concern when deciding to run for office
lack of support from parliament/party could deter women from running
perceived prejudice against women by party gatekeepers and voters (Norris and Lovenduski 1995)
lack of role model deter women from entering politics < vicious cycle of underrepresentation
role of party gatekeeper
cultural attitudes towards gender equality (Norris & Inglehart 2001)
greater tolerance of female politicians
party gatekeepers aren’t hostile toward women candidate (Norris and Lovenduski 1995)
concern with potential clash between professional and domestic responsibilities
worried about acceptability among voters
do voters discriminate against women?
short answer: maybe, and it depends
Eyméoud and Vertier (2022) natural experiment in France
electoral reform:
local election
2 seats districts, winner-takes-all
mandated gender balance (1M, 1F)
candidate list alphabetically
do lists where women are put on top to win less votes?
electoral systems and women representation
women more likely to be elected under PR (party lists) than FPTP
parties have incentives to nominate men as sole candidate under PR to widen their appeal
closed list vs open list/STV
open lists/STV allows voters to choose men over women
gender quota (Tripp and Kang 2008)
gender quota and its impact
gender quota in practice
candidate quota
parties are mandated to nominated certain proportion of women candidates on partylist
zipped list
winner quota (i.e. Taiwan)
half of elected MPs from party list have to be women
reserved seats (i.e. Rwanda, Pakistan)
a number of seats in parliament reserved for women, guaranteed in their representation
voluntary quota (at party level)
labour’s ‘All-women shortlist’
the global impact of quotas Tripp & Kang (2008)
controlled for other societal factor (culture & economic), gender qouta has a significant positive impact on the proportion of women representatives in national legislature
but, are there any downsides to gender quota?
what are the limitations to descriptive representation?
arguments against gender quota
quotas are discriminatory against men
why just have quotas for women?
other policies might be more effective (i.e. family friendly practice in parliament)
gender quota is anti-democratic, it restricts choices of voter in democracy
gender quota lead to tokenism - men elected “on merit”, women elected by quotas
do quotas reduce the quality of MPs? Besley et al (2017)
2 plausible effect of gender quota on quality of MPs:
quotas could lead to lowering the quality of politicians, as meritocratic rules are replaced by other criteria for recruiting candidates
quotas could lead to the replacement of mediocre male politicians with the most qualified new female politicians - i.e. if male leaders are forced to recruit women, they will remove their least qualified male colleagues first, replaced with most qualified women they could find
case study → introduction of gender quotas by the Swedish SD’s in 1993, on the “quality” of their candidates for 285 local councils
measure “quality” by the education level and prior earning of candidates
obstacles for the substantive representation of women
does descriptive representation translate into substantive representation?
to what extent does descriptive representation of women translate into substantive representation and more women friendly policy outcome?
on one hand:
women MPs are indeed more likely to speak in debated related to ‘feminine’ issues (Wängnerud 2006, Bailer et al 2022)
increase in women representation also lead to policy changes that benefit women
does women’s representation in elected office lead to women-friendly policy? Caiazza (2002)
increase representation of women as state level is associated with women friendly policy such as child care, maternity leave and reproductive right
women representation and day-care coverage - Bratton and Ray (2002)
higher proportion of women elected to municipal council is associated with faster growth of childcare coverage between 70s and 90s
does descriptive representation translate into substantive representation?
reasons to be sceptical:
cultural and institutional obstacle for women in politics to function effectively
women MPs are more likely to be interrupted and harassed during parliamentary debate
practices that are un-family-friendly
women only become party leader when parties are least likely to enter government (O’Brien 2015)
women MPs tends to be more educated and wealthy than the average women in the society
‘acceptably different’ (Norris and Lovenduski 1995)
to what extent can they represent women?
struggle of women MPs
traditional gender roles means women are more likely to bear domestic or caring responsibilities
some parliamentary practices that made it difficult to balance caring and parliamentary responsibilities → i.e. most parliamentary voters are scheduled in the evening
double bind for women:
voters, party gate keeper prefer candidates that fits traditional gender role
‘childless cat lady’
but, traditional gender role of women may prevent them from doing their job effectively
women MPs during the pandemic (Ting 2024)
disruption of essential services such as school, nursery and care homes affected women more than men
remote working and virtual parliament enhances the voice of women
when the use of virtual parliament was restricted in autumn 2020, women MPs spoke less in parliamentary proceedings
increase COVID deaths in the community is associated with women MPs speaking less (but not for men)
how parliamentary businesses are organised may affect representation of the interest of women
rising to the top - O’Brien 2015
research question: when would party select a female leader?
minor party
opposition party
in a losing streak
in other words → female party leaders are less likely to hold actual governing power
female party leader are also judged differently than male leaders → they are more likely to step-down from leadership when their party lose elections
conclusion → having a lot of female party leaders - they can use those position to advance the interest of women
conclusion
descriptive representation v substantive representation
women are in general underrepresented in democracies
variation in representation of women can be explained by supply and demand for women candidates and institutional factors
gender quota has become increasingly prevalent among democracies
increase representation of women in indeed associated with improve policy outcome for women