scholarly journals Nonmainstream left parties and women’s representation in Western Europe

2016 ◽  
Vol 24 (4) ◽  
pp. 397-409 ◽  
Author(s):  
Daniel James Keith ◽  
Tània Verge
Keyword(s):  
Political Parties ◽  
Western Europe ◽  
Gender Quotas ◽  
Numerical Representation ◽  
Left Wing ◽  
Public Office ◽  
Women's Representation ◽  
Green Parties ◽  
Women’S Representation ◽  
Radical Left

Ideology is one of the most relevant variables in explaining the level of women’s representation attained by political parties. While left-wing parties are typically the best performers, extant research has tended to overlook the diversity of the left block and predominantly focused on mainstream left-wing political parties, namely the Social Democrats. Yet, the Left also includes both Green parties and radical left parties. This article analyzes the differences that exist within this largely heterogeneous group of parties across Western Europe. In particular, it explores how the diverse ideological background of radical left and Green parties leads to varied ways of engaging with feminism, diverse forms of organizing women within their ranks as well as dissimilar positions toward gender quotas. These shape different levels of women’s numerical representation in public office and in party decision-making positions. Generally, we find that ideology is a greater determinant of representation than geographical region. Our findings also show a significant convergence among distinct party subgroups in terms of their share of elected women in both party and public office.

Not much happened: The impact of gender quotas in Poland

2014 ◽  
Vol 47 (1) ◽  
pp. 1-11 ◽  
Author(s):  
Frances Millard
Keyword(s):  
Political Parties ◽  
Relative Size ◽  
Electoral System ◽  
Gender Quotas ◽  
Women Candidates ◽  
Women's Representation ◽  
Parliamentary Elections ◽  
Women’S Representation ◽  
Electoral Laws ◽  
The Impact

Poland maintained its open-list PR system but introduced gender quotas in the 2011 parliamentary elections in order to increase the number of women deputies. Yet this change had only a limited impact on women’s representation. The 2011 election confirms that ‘favorable’ electoral laws provide opportunities for women, but they cannot guarantee that women will be elected. In particular, the use of quotas alone is not sufficient to ensure high levels of women’s representation. The most important factors in explaining the Polish result were 1) the absence of a ‘zipper’, a list ordering that alternates men and women candidates, thus ensuring high list-places for women 2) the parties’ favoring of men in their list placement 3) the relative size of the political parties and 4) voters’ support for list leaders and incumbent deputies. Despite a disappointing outcome, quotas may be seen as beneficial in increasing women’s presence and the potential for further evolution of the electoral system.

Gender and Family Ties in Latin American Legislatures

2020 ◽  
pp. 1-25
Author(s):  
Leslie A. Schwindt-Bayer ◽  
Agustín Vallejo ◽  
Francisco Cantú
Keyword(s):  
Latin America ◽  
Empirical Analysis ◽  
Latin American ◽  
Conventional Wisdom ◽  
Gender Quotas ◽  
Women's Representation ◽  
Family Ties ◽  
The Past ◽  
Women’S Representation ◽  
Gender Similarities

Abstract Are women disproportionately more likely than men to have family ties in politics? We study this question in Latin America, where legacies have been historically common, and we focus specifically on legislatures, where women's representation has increased dramatically in many countries. We hypothesize that, counter to conventional wisdom, women should be no more likely than men to have ties to political families. However, this may vary across legislatures with and without gender quotas. Our empirical analysis uses data from the Parliamentary Elites of Latin America survey. We find more gender similarities than differences in legislators’ patterns of family ties both today and over the past 20 years. We also find that women are more likely to have family ties than men in legislatures without gender quotas, whereas this difference disappears in legislatures with quotas.

Flank attacks

2015 ◽  
Vol 23 (3) ◽  
pp. 193-204 ◽  
Author(s):  
Matthijs Rooduijn ◽  
Tjitske Akkerman
Keyword(s):  
Western Europe ◽  
The Political ◽  
General Category ◽  
Right Wing ◽  
Left Wing ◽  
Good People ◽  
Economic Elites ◽  
Political Spectrum ◽  
The Right ◽  
Radical Left

How is populism distributed over the political spectrum? Are right-wing parties more populist than left-wing parties? Based on the analysis of 32 parties in five Western European countries between 1989 and 2008, we show that radical parties on both the left and the right are inclined to employ a populist discourse. This is a striking finding, because populism in Western Europe has typically been associated with the radical right; only some particular radical left parties have been labeled populist as well. This article suggests that the contemporary radical left in Western Europe is generally populist. Our explanation is that many contemporary radical left parties are not traditionally communist or socialist (anymore). They do not focus on the ‘proletariat’, but glorify a more general category: the ‘good people’. Moreover, they do not reject the system of liberal democracy as such, but only criticize the political and/or economic elites within that system.

How right-wing versus cosmopolitan political actors mobilize and translate images of immigrants in transnational contexts

2017 ◽  
Vol 16 (3) ◽  
pp. 315-336 ◽  
Author(s):  
Nicole Doerr
Keyword(s):  
Political Parties ◽  
Western Europe ◽  
Contentious Politics ◽  
Right Wing ◽  
Left Wing ◽  
Political Issues ◽  
Political Actors ◽  
People's Party ◽  
The Right ◽  
Syrian Refugee Crisis

This article examines visual posters and symbols constructed and circulated transnationally by various political actors to mobilize contentious politics on the issues of immigration and citizenship. Following right-wing mobilizations focusing on the Syrian refugee crisis, immigration has become one of the most contentious political issues in Western Europe. Right-wing populist political parties have used provocative visual posters depicting immigrants or refugees as ‘criminal foreigners’ or a ‘threat to the nation’, in some countries and contexts conflating the image of the immigrant with that of the Islamist terrorist. This article explores the transnational dynamics of visual mobilization by comparing the translation of right-wing nationalist with left-wing, cosmopolitan visual campaigns on the issue of immigration in Western Europe. The author first traces the crosscultural translation and sharing of an anti-immigrant poster created by the Swiss People’s Party (SVP), a right-wing political party, inspiring different extremist as well as populist right-wing parties and grassroots activists in several other European countries. She then explores how left-libertarian social movements try to break racist stereotypes of immigrants. While right-wing political activists create a shared stereotypical image of immigrants as foes of an imaginary ethnonationalist citizenship, left-wing counter-images construct a more complex and nuanced imagery of citizenship and cultural diversity in Europe. The findings show the challenges of progressive activists’ attempts to translate cosmopolitan images of citizenship across different national and linguistic contexts in contrast to the right wing’s rapid and effective instrumentalizing and translating of denigrating images of minorities in different contexts.

scholarly journals Partai Politik dan Keterwakilan Perempuan (Analisis Problematika Partai Politik dalam Memenuhi Keterwakilan Perempuan di DPRD)

2019 ◽  
Vol 14 (1) ◽  
pp. 75-83
Author(s):  
Ana Sabhana Azmy ◽  
Isnaini Anis Farhah
Keyword(s):  
Qualitative Research ◽  
Data Collection ◽  
Political Parties ◽  
Political Party ◽  
Women's Representation ◽  
Psychological Barriers ◽  
Women’S Representation ◽  
Women In Parliament ◽  
Data Collection Technique

Abstract.This research investigates the problems of political parties in meeting the quota of women’s representation in Parliament of Lebak Regency for the period 2014-2019. The objectives of this research are to know the importance of women’s representation and to analyze the barriers that caused difficulties for political parties to fulfill women’s representation in Parliament of Lebak Regency for the period 2014-2019. Method that used in this research is qualitative research with documentation and interview as the data collection technique. Theories used in this research are political party theories by Larry Diamond and women's representation by Anne Phillips and Nadezhda Shvedova. The research found two findings. First,  women’s representation in Parliament of Lebak Regency is strongly important.  Due to the presence of women in Parliament of Lebak Regency can bring women’s interests in politics. Second, the importance of women’s representation in Parliament of Lebak Regency is not supported by a quota of women’s representation in Parliament of Lebak Regency at which only 14%. There are three barriers that caused difficulties for political parties to fulfill women’s representation quota in Parliament of Lebak Regency for the period 2014-2019, namely political barriers, socio-economics barriers, and ideological and psychological barriers.  Abstrak. Penelitian ini membahas tentang problematika partai politik dalam memenuhi kuota keterwakilan perempuan di DPRD Kabupaten Lebak periode 2014-2019. Tujuan penelitian ini adalah untuk mengetahui pentingnya representasi keterwakilan perempuan dan menganalisis kendala-kendala yang menyebabkan partai politik sulit memenuhi keterwakilan perempuan di DPRD Kabupaten Lebak periode 2014-2019. Metode yang digunakan dalam penelitian ini adalah metode penelitian kualitatif dengan teknik pengumpulan data yaitu studi dokumentasi dan wawancara. Teori yang digunakan adalah teori partai politik dari Larry Diamond dan teori keterwakilan perempuan dari Anne Philips dan Nadezhda Svedova. Hasil penelitian menunjukkan bahwa, pertama, representasi keterwakilan perempuan di DPRD Kabupaten Lebak sangat penting. Hal ini karena dengan hadirnya perempuan di DPRD Kabupaten Lebak dapat membawa kepentingan-kepentingan perempuan dalam politik. Kedua, pentingnya representasi perempuan di DPRD Kabupaten Lebak tidak didukung dengan kuota keterwakilan perempuan di DPRD Kabupaten Lebak yakni hanya 14%. Ada tiga kendala yang menyebabkan partai politik sulit untuk memenuhi kuota keterwakilan perempuan di DPRD Kabupaten Lebak periode 2014-2019 yaitu kendala politik, kendala sosio-ekonomi, serta kendala ideologis dan psikologis. 

Women and the 2015 General Election: Shattering the Political Glass Ceiling?

2015 ◽  
Vol 24 (4) ◽  
pp. 389-408 ◽  
Author(s):  
Meryl Kenny
Keyword(s):  
United Kingdom ◽  
Glass Ceiling ◽  
General Election ◽  
The Political ◽  
Election Campaign ◽  
Gender Quotas ◽  
House Of Commons ◽  
Women's Representation ◽  
The United Kingdom ◽  
Women’S Representation

While the 2015 General Election produced mixed electoral fortunes for the major parties, the results for women have been historic – 191 women were elected to the House of Commons on 7 May, including a record number of Scottish women MPs. This article reports on the 2015 GE from the perspective of women's representation, providing a gendered analysis of the election campaign and assessing the parties’ efforts to increase the number of women elected in Scotland and the rest of the United Kingdom. It argues that while the 2015 elections may have made some cracks in the political ‘glass ceiling’, further increases in women's representation are unlikely without greater commitment by all of the parties and without the use of strong equality measures, including legislative gender quotas.

Gendered path dependency: women’s representation in 20th-century Brazil

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Pedro A.G. dos Santos
Keyword(s):  
Political Parties ◽  
20Th Century ◽  
Political Institutions ◽  
Electoral System ◽  
Women's Movements ◽  
Historical Period ◽  
Legislative Politics ◽  
Legislative Elections ◽  
Women's Representation ◽  
Women’S Representation

This study investigates women’s under-representation in national legislative elections and the gendered legacies embedded in Brazil’s electoral system and party dynamics. Focusing on the historical period prior to the 1996 implementation of a quota law, this article applies a feminist historical institutionalist approach to identify institutions and actors influencing women’s representation. Brazil’s electoral rules for legislative elections, that is, an open-list proportional representation system, remained surprisingly stable throughout periods of regime change and institutional uncertainty in the 20th century. It was not until the return to democracy and the 1986 constituent election that women were able to carve some space in Brazil’s National Congress. This research argues that the relaxing of rules dictating the creation of political parties and the strengthening of women’s movements in the prior decade were influential in creating a propitious moment for increasing the presence of women in national legislative politics.<br /><br />Key messages<br /><ul><li>There is a historical legacy of political institutions that influences the evolution of women’s representation.</li><br /><li>Brazil’s dictatorships influenced the stunting of women’s representation in elected positions.</li><br /><li>Women’s movements and electoral uncertainties allowed women to gain political space in political parties prior to the 1986 constituent election.</li></ul>

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