100 Years of Suffrage and Girls Still Struggle to Find their “Fit” in Politics

2020 ◽  
Vol 53 (3) ◽  
pp. 474-478
Author(s):  
Angela L. Bos ◽  
Mirya R. Holman ◽  
Jill S. Greenlee ◽  
Zoe M. Oxley ◽  
J. Celeste Lay
Keyword(s):  
Survey Data ◽  
Political Life ◽  
Political Interest ◽  
Adult Women ◽  
Gender Gaps ◽  
Women's Representation ◽  
Children's Perceptions ◽  
Women’S Representation ◽  
Political Office ◽  
Right To Vote

When women gained the national right to vote 100 years ago, remarkable possibilities for their voice and presence in politics opened. However, despite gains in women’s representation, numerous gaps continue to exist in which adult women engage less in politics than men. In identifying and explaining adult gender gaps, little attention has been given to whether gaps emerge among children. This is a pressing issue because children’s perceptions are likely to influence their participation as adults. This article explores whether and how girls and boys differently view politics and their role in it. We report survey data from more than 1,600 children ages 6 to 12 to explore basic gender gaps in political interest and ambition. We argue that these results may reveal the roots of a larger problem: 100 years after women gained suffrage, girls still express less interest and enthusiasm than boys for political life and political office.

Seeing Women, Strengthening Democracy

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Magda Hinojosa ◽  
Miki Caul Kittilson
Keyword(s):  
Latin American ◽  
Political Institutions ◽  
Political Engagement ◽  
Political Support ◽  
Democratic Process ◽  
Gender Gaps ◽  
Women's Representation ◽  
Representation Of Women ◽  
Women’S Representation ◽  
The Impact

How does the more equitable representation of women in positions of power affect male and female citizens? We argue that the election of women to political office—particularly where women’s presence is highly visible to the public—strengthens the connections between women and the democratic process. For women, seeing more “people like me” in politics changes attitudes and orientations toward the democratic process. Substantial variation persists across Latin America in gender gaps in political engagement and political support. To assess the effects that women’s officeholding has on these, we pair comparative survey data from Latin American countries with case study evidence from Uruguay. The Uruguayan case offers a unique laboratory for testing the impact of women’s representation in elected positions of power on political engagement and support. Our panel survey of Uruguayan citizens reveals that the expected gender gaps in political knowledge, political interest, and other forms of political engagement were alive and well six weeks before the elections. Yet, just six weeks following the election—after the use of a gender quota had led to a doubling of women’s representation in the Senate—those gender gaps had largely disappeared or had significantly waned. Our findings indicate that far-reaching gender gaps can be overcome by more equitable representation in our political institutions.

The effect of women’s representation on the Global Gender Gap Index

2017 ◽  
Vol 30 (3) ◽  
pp. 241-254 ◽  
Author(s):  
Sharon Mastracci
Keyword(s):  
Public Sector ◽  
Gender Gap ◽  
Economic Outcomes ◽  
World Health ◽  
Gender Gaps ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Women's Representation ◽  
Public Sector Management ◽  
Women’S Representation ◽  
Global Gender Gap Index

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to find the most important factors to the Index that explains gender gaps in education, health, politics, and economic outcomes worldwide. Design/methodology/approach World Economic Forum (WEF) data are analyzed using hedonic regression analysis to estimate which factors affect a country’s Global Gender Gap Index. Standardized β coefficients reveal the top five factors influencing the Index, just as key components of the US Consumer Price Index are teased out using this method. Findings Women in public sector management, administration, and politics explain a substantial portion of gender inequality. Policies to increase women’s representation in parliaments, as heads of state, in ministerial positions, and in public sector management mitigate inequality as gauged by the Gender Gap Index. Economic indicators are also among the leading components of the Gender Gap Index. Research limitations/implications Although comprehensive and drawn from several sources including the World Health Organization, the International Labour Organization, and the United Nations Development Programme, WEF data do not capture the full experience of women worldwide. Subsequent qualitative research is recommended. Practical implications This analysis reveals policy recommendations for advocates working to close gender gaps, particularly in politics and economic outcomes. Increasing proportions of women in public sector management can mitigate inequality. This supports electoral quotas and human resource management initiatives to diversify management ranks. Social implications Increasing women’s share of public sector managerial positions fosters gender equity, as does increasing women’s share of elected and appointed positions. Originality/value This study provides quantitative evidence of the important role of women’s representation to guide subsequent fieldwork. This evidence supports efforts to increase women in elective office and public sector management.

Electoral Systems and Women’s Representation

2017 ◽  
pp. 174-192 ◽  
Author(s):  
Mona Lena Krook
Keyword(s):  
Comparative Research ◽  
Electoral Systems ◽  
Political Representation ◽  
Important Variable ◽  
Political Life ◽  
Women's Representation ◽  
Women’S Representation ◽  
Cross National

Comparative research highlights electoral systems as an important variable explaining cross-national variations in women’s political representation worldwide. This chapter summarizes key patterns in women’s representation globally. It maps existing research on gender and electoral systems, focusing on the role of electoral formulas, district and party magnitude, and ballot structure in shaping women’s opportunities to be elected. It then identifies three areas within the gender literature that have foregrounded elements of electoral systems to generate new insights into central dynamics of political life. The chapter concludes with a discussion of emerging areas of research related to gender, electoral systems, and political representation.

Introduction

2019 ◽  
pp. 1-17
Author(s):  
Melody E. Valdini
Keyword(s):  
Political Behavior ◽  
Political Party ◽  
Political Representation ◽  
The Self ◽  
Descriptive Representation ◽  
Women's Representation ◽  
Women’S Representation ◽  
Political Office ◽  
New Perspective

Chapter 1 provides a brief overview of the central theory of this book: women’s political representation depends in part on whether men in power see a benefit to associating their political party or government with women. It begins with a brief discussion of the existing literature on women’s representation to establish the foundations of what is already known about women’s path to political office. It then engages the literature on the rational incentives that drive political behavior and goes on to suggest that the self-interested motivations of gate-keepers should be considered in any analysis of women’s descriptive representation. Finally, it presents a synopsis of the following chapters of the book and briefly describes the theoretical contributions and empirical examinations presented to culminate in a new perspective on women’s descriptive representation.

O sister, where art thou? Theory and evidence on female participation at citizen assemblies

2019 ◽  
Vol 2 (2) ◽  
pp. 173-195 ◽  
Author(s):  
Marlène Gerber ◽  
Hans-Peter Schaub ◽  
Sean Mueller
Keyword(s):  
Gender Differences ◽  
Survey Data ◽  
Gender Gap ◽  
Political Engagement ◽  
Political Interest ◽  
Gender Gaps ◽  
Female Participation ◽  
Original Survey

This article investigates gender differences in participation at the citizen assembly of Glarus, Switzerland. We use original survey data collected among 800 citizens. We find significant gender gaps both for attending and holding a speech at the assembly. Lower female attendance is particularly pronounced among older cohorts and can largely be explained by gender differences in political interest, knowledge and efficacy. In contrast, the gender gap in speaking is substantial regardless of age and cannot be reduced to factors that typically shape participation. Hence, gender differences are disappearing in voting but persist in more public, interactive forms of political engagement.

scholarly journals Personalism or party platform? Gender quotas and women’s representation under different electoral system orientations

PLoS ONE ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 16 (9) ◽  
pp. e0257665
Author(s):  
Aliza Forman-Rabinovici ◽  
Lilach Nir
Keyword(s):  
Electoral Systems ◽  
Electoral System ◽  
Substantial Contribution ◽  
Gender Quotas ◽  
Electoral Rules ◽  
Social Scientists ◽  
Gender Gaps ◽  
Women's Representation ◽  
Women’S Representation ◽  
Underrepresentation Of Women

Underrepresentation of women in politics is a matter of great concern to social scientists, citizens, and policymakers alike. Despite effort over the past decade to ameliorate it with gender quotas of different types, scientific research provides a mixed picture on the extent to which quotas can close these gender gaps under different conditions. We approach this puzzle by focusing on the orientation of electoral systems—candidate-centered vs. platform-centered—as a context that conditions the effect of quotas on representation. Our analyses of 76 countries’ electoral rules and legislatures show that contrary to expectations, it is in candidate-oriented systems that quotas facilitate stronger effect on women’s representation. Even after considering proportional representation, district magnitude, human development, or labor-force participation as alternative explanations, we show that quotas foster greater increases in gender representation in candidate-oriented systems. The broader implications are that in electoral systems that tend to have larger gender gaps, quotas have a substantial contribution to equal representation.

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