scholarly journals Breaking the glass ceiling: the role of the UN and the EU in promoting women in politics

2021 ◽  
Vol 58 (2) ◽  
pp. 33-63
Author(s):  
Ružica Jakešević ◽  
Đana Luša
Keyword(s):  
Gender Gap ◽  
Historical Development ◽  
Male Dominance ◽  
Political Life ◽  
Women In Politics ◽  
Substantive Representation ◽  
Representation Of Women ◽  
Participation Of Women ◽  
The Eu

Politics has traditionally been reserved for men, meaning it has been very difficult‎ for women to enter at the highest level. The progress in gender equality‎ in politics has been uneven so far and significant differences exist among‎ states and regions. The male dominance in state politics has translated into the‎ international realm in international entities and multilateral political platforms‎ as well. Although these entities gradually introduced the principles of gender‎ equality and promoted an increased participation of women in political life in‎ their constituent states through key documents, they face the same problem –‎ how to ensure at least a formal and descriptive representation of women at the‎ highest level and how to translate stated or symbolic gender equality from key‎ documents into practice (symbolic to substantive representation). The aim of‎ this paper is to give an overview of the historical development of the international‎ framework for the equal participation of women in politics. Particularly,‎ this paper analyses how two international entities – the UN and the EU – contribute‎ to overcoming the gender-gap in politics, and whether their activities‎ have influenced an increased participation of women in politics (descriptive‎ representation).‎

The Gender Gap in Brazilian Politics and the Role of the Electoral Court

2019 ◽  
Vol 16 (2) ◽  
pp. 409-437
Author(s):  
Luciana de Oliveira Ramos ◽  
Virgílio Afonso da Silva
Keyword(s):  
Gender Gap ◽  
Electoral System ◽  
High Impact ◽  
Women In Politics ◽  
Gender Quotas ◽  
Women's Participation ◽  
Participation Of Women ◽  
Gender Quota ◽  
Difficult Cases

AbstractLike many other countries, Brazil has adopted gender quotas in elections for legislatures at all levels of the federation. However, Brazilian gender quotas have been ineffective at increasing women's participation in politics. Authors usually point to reasons related to the electoral system and party structure. This article analyzes a variable that is rarely considered: the role of the Electoral Court. We argue that the quality and intensity of the control exercised by an electoral court, when called upon to decide on the enforcement of the gender quota law, can influence the efficacy of this policy. We show that, in general, the Brazilian Superior Electoral Court tends to foster the participation of women in politics. However, based on two divides—between easy and difficult cases and between cases with low and high impact—we argue that in the realm of gender quotas, this court takes a rather restrained stance in those cases considered both difficult and with high impact.

What Drives Women’s Substantive Representation in Muslim-Majority Countries? Lessons from Turkey

2020 ◽  
pp. 106591292094813
Author(s):  
Alper T. Bulut
Keyword(s):  
Labor Force Participation ◽  
Critical Mass ◽  
Gender And Politics ◽  
Substantive Representation ◽  
Data Set ◽  
Representation Of Women ◽  
Muslim Majority ◽  
Role Of Religion ◽  
The Relationship

Although a voluminous literature has studied the substantive representation of women, these studies have largely been confined to advanced democracies. Similarly, studies that focus on the relationship between Islam and women’s rights largely ignored the substantive representation of women in Muslim-majority countries. As one of the first studies of its kind, this article investigates the role of religion in the substantive representation of women by focusing on a Muslim-majority country: Turkey. Using a novel data set of 4,700 content coded private members’ bills (PMBs) drafted in the Turkish parliament between 2002 and 2015, this article synthesizes competing explanations of women’s representation in the Middle East and rigorously tests the implications of religion, ideology, critical mass, and labor force participation accounts. The results have significant implications for the study of gender and politics in Muslim-majority countries.

Manterrupting in the German Bundestag: Gendered Opposition to Female Members of Parliament?

2019 ◽  
Vol 16 (2) ◽  
pp. 388-408
Author(s):  
Malliga Och
Keyword(s):  
Social Psychology ◽  
Women In Politics ◽  
Substantive Representation ◽  
Traditional Media ◽  
Parliamentary Debates ◽  
Representation Of Women ◽  
Members Of Parliament ◽  
Superior Knowledge ◽  
Major Attention ◽  
German Bundestag

AbstractThe problem of manterrupting, i.e. men interrupting women to take control of a conversation, claiming superior knowledge, or discrediting women's arguments, has garnered major attention in social and traditional media. Yet scholarly accounts of gendered speech interruption patterns in parliamentary debates are less common. In this article, I argue that manterrupting can be considered a form of resistance against women in politics and, in its worst iteration, prevent female representatives from representing women's interests. This article will analyze the problem of ‘manterrupting’ regarding parliamentary debates in Germany by investigating the nature and extent of male interruptions during parliamentary debates in the 17th legislative period. Drawing on insights from social psychology and masculinity studies, this article finds that in the case of Germany, manterruptions are neither systemic and frequent enough to constitute a form of resistance against women in politics nor do they prevent female representatives from engaging in the substantive representation of women.

scholarly journals Gender and societies: a grassroots approach to women in science

2019 ◽  
Vol 6 (9) ◽  
pp. 190633 ◽  
Author(s):  
Alex James ◽  
Rose Chisnall ◽  
Michael J. Plank
Keyword(s):  
Mathematical Model ◽  
Gender Bias ◽  
Gender Gap ◽  
Women In Science ◽  
Male Dominance ◽  
Simple Mathematical Model ◽  
Lower Status ◽  
The Status ◽  
Analyse Data

Women are under-represented in science. We show that the extent of the gender gap varies depending on the status of the position in question and there are simple steps that can be taken to improve diversity. We analyse data on the activities of over 30 science societies spanning four countries and five distinct discipline areas. Our results show that women tend to be equally represented in lower status roles and awards, e.g. student prizes and editorships, but under-represented in higher status roles, e.g. late-career awards and chief editorships. We develop a simple mathematical model to explore the role of homophily in decision making and quantify the effect of simple steps that can be taken to improve diversity. We conclude that, when the stakes are low, efforts to tackle historic gender bias towards men have been at least partially successful, but when the stakes are higher male dominance is often still the norm.

scholarly journals Gender, Class and Ideology: The Social Function of Virgin Sacrifice in Euripides' Children of Herakles

2007 ◽  
Vol 26 (1) ◽  
pp. 81-169 ◽  
Author(s):  
David Kawalko Roselli
Keyword(s):  
Social Status ◽  
Political Action ◽  
Social Groups ◽  
Class Struggle ◽  
Lower Class ◽  
Political Life ◽  
Representation Of Women ◽  
Marginal Groups ◽  
The Social

Abstract This paper explores how gender can operate as a disguise for class in an examination of the self-sacrifice of the Maiden in Euripides' Children of Herakles. In Part I, I discuss the role of human sacrifice in terms of its radical potential to transform society and the role of class struggle in Athens. In Part II, I argue that the representation of women was intimately connected with the social and political life of the polis. In a discussion of iconography, the theater industry and audience I argue that female characters became one of the means by which different groups promoted partisan interests based on class and social status. In Part III, I show how the Maiden solicits the competing interests of the theater audience. After discussing the centrality (as a heroine from an aristocratic family) and marginality (as a woman and associated with other marginal social groups) of the Maiden's character, I draw upon the funeral oration as a comparative model with which to understand the quite different role of self-sacrifice in tragedy. In addition to representing and mystifying the interests of elite, lower class and marginal groups, the play glorifies a subordinate character whose contradictory social status (both subordinate and elite) embodies the social position of other ““marginal”” members of Athenian society. The play stages a model for taking political action to transform the social system and for commemorating the tragic costs of such undertakings.

scholarly journals Representative Bureaucracy and the Role of Expertise in Politics

2015 ◽  
Vol 3 (1) ◽  
pp. 26-36 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jarle Trondal ◽  
Zuzana Murdoch ◽  
Benny Geys
Keyword(s):  
European Commission ◽  
Demographic Characteristics ◽  
Political Life ◽  
Representative Bureaucracy ◽  
Role Perception ◽  
Policy Decisions ◽  
Bureaucratic Representation ◽  
The Eu ◽  
Organizational Affiliation

The vast majority of existing studies on bureaucratic representation focus on bureaucracies’ permanent and internal staff. Yet, the rising sophistication of modern democracies and the technocratization of political life are gradually inducing an increased reliance on external experts to assist in the development and implementation of policy decisions. This trend, we argue, raises the need to extend studies of bureaucratic representation to such external and non-permanent experts in governmental affairs. In this article, we take a first step in this direction using seconded national experts (SNEs) in the European Commission as our empirical laboratory. Our results highlight that Commission SNEs do not appear representative of their constituent population (i.e., the EU-27 population) along a number of socio-demographic dimensions. Moreover, we find that the role perception of “experts” is primarily explained by organizational affiliation, and only secondarily by demographic characteristics (except, of course, education).

The Role of Royal Women in the Establishment of Adil Shahi Sultanate of Bijapur (1489-1534)

2020 ◽  
Vol 4 (2) ◽  
pp. 58-64
Author(s):  
Kiran Jadhav ◽  
Radhika Seshan
Keyword(s):  
Political Life ◽  
Women In Politics ◽  
Area Of Interest ◽  
Role Of Women ◽  
Made In ◽  
Royal Women

The role of women in politics has remained an area of interest, but there is still a dearth of research the documents of such participation. Given the dominance of patriarchal values, it has generally been accepted that there was little scope for women to participate in public/political life. However, history does throw up a few names of queens like Raziya Sultana, Nur Jahan, Chand Bibi, Jijabai, Tarabai, and Ahilyabai Holkar, who must, however, be seen as rather exceptional cases. This does not mean that there were no women in politics other than these. An attempt is made in this paper to throw light on the role of women in the establishment of the Adil Shahi dynasty of Bijapur. The establishment period (1489-1534) was the period of the first three sultans. During these 45 years the mother of the founder Sultan Yusuf Adil Shah, his foster sister Dilshad Agha and Queen Bubuji Khanum played an important role, which helped to establish the Sultanate on a firm foundation.

Same Place, Divergent Destinies

2008 ◽  
Author(s):  
Harm De Blij
Keyword(s):  
Los Angeles ◽  
Gender Gap ◽  
Political Influence ◽  
Transnational Migration ◽  
Economic Reforms ◽  
Male Dominance ◽  
Rural Villages ◽  
Playing Field ◽  
Northern European

Dramatic media pictures of desperate would-be mobals clinging to overcrowded boats, climbing over border fences, or running across unguarded wasteland confirm statistical data: males are in the vanguard of unregulated as well as legal transnational migration. Less graphic photography of the average business-class section of a 747 flying from Los Angeles to Hong Kong would reveal that most of the comfortable globals en route are male as well. But scrutinize a daytime picture of an African or Asian village, and you are likely to notice that among the locals, women outnumber men, whether working in the fields, carrying water or firewood, preparing food, or tending children. If the Earth seems flat, this is far more so for males than for females. Even in the same village, in the same house, the destinies of boys and girls diverge startlingly, and not only in rural villages in the global periphery. Equality of the sexes in employment, income, political influence, and other circumstances is an elusive goal even in the richest countries of the global core. Northern European countries are often cited as having progressed furthest in this respect, but even there, the playing field (for example, in religious hierarchies) is not completely level. Nor does growing wealth guarantee progress in closing the gender gap. Male dominance is a deeply embedded tradition that has a way of trumping fairness: in modern Japan, where women have made significant strides by many measures, the Minister of Health and Welfare in July 2007 publicly referred to the role of women as being “birth-giving machines” (Economist, 2007d). When China in the late 1970s embarked on its economic reforms, one key to success was deemed to lie in bringing its population spiral under control. China’s “one child only” policy had the desired result, but in effect it frequently meant one male child only as tens of millions of pregnancies were aborted to ensure a male heir. Millions more female infants were and are abandoned, giving rise to an international adoption industry that is almost exclusively female. Today, economically booming China has a demographic surplus of some 20 million males, with troubling implications for the future.

scholarly journals Peninjauan Partisipasi Politik Bagi Perempuan Pada Pemilu 2019 di Kecamatan Meureubo

2020 ◽  
Vol 1 (1) ◽  
pp. 182
Author(s):  
Rahma Hidayati ◽  
Fiandy Mauliansyah
Keyword(s):  
Democratic Party ◽  
Women In Politics ◽  
Women Candidates ◽  
Women's Representation ◽  
Representation Of Women ◽  
Lecture Method ◽  
Participation Of Women ◽  
Women’S Representation

This article wants to see how the participation of women in Meureubo sub-district in welcoming the democratic party during the election of legislative candidates in April 2019. As is known, the involvement of women in politics is still very low. The method used is the Lecture method and then discusses with women representatives from several villages in the Meureubo sub-district. The results show that some of them chose women legislative candidates due to various reasons, namely only women who understood about women so that there was a need for women's representation in parliament, women rarely tripped over corruption cases, women were not equal to men. But for those who do not vote for women legislative candidates due to reasons, namely women are not fit to be leaders, the election of women candidates is only for fulfillment of the quota so that party choices are less than optimal, women are less capable of politics. However, in the end they only hoped that the representation of women or men in the legislature could help empower other women, especially from Meurebo sub-district.

scholarly journals Gender Sensitivity among Political Parties in Indonesia and India

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Vina Salviana Darvina Soedarwo ◽  
Gautam Kumar Jha ◽  
Gonda Yumitro ◽  
Nurul Zuriah
Keyword(s):  
Political Parties ◽  
Social Roles ◽  
Gender Ideology ◽  
Women In Politics ◽  
Cultural Patterns ◽  
Quota System ◽  
Political Class ◽  
Men And Women ◽  
Representation Of Women ◽  
Participation Of Women

In Indonesia and India the participation of women in politics is influenced by their traditional social roles. This implies that gender ideology, cultural patterns, and previously determined conceptions of suitable social roles dictate the roles of men and women. Although there is a quota system for ensuring that the representation of women in democratic representation reaches the ‘critical minimum of 30%, it is a sad fact that gender sensitivity towards women as a political class is still severely lacking among the political parties both in Indonesia and in India. This is caused by the patriarchal gender bias against women that is inherent in political parties itself and also due to the lack of political education in gender sensitivity for both men and women. In Indonesia and India, the gender sensitivity of secular political parties is almost same but for the Muslim political parties, Indonesia has better condition than in India. Keywords: gender sensitivity, political parties, India, Indonesia

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