Closing the Gap: Gender and Constituency Candidate Nomination in the 2013 Bundestag Election

2014 ◽  
Vol 32 (2) ◽  
pp. 86-105 ◽  
Author(s):  
Louise K. Davidson-Schmich
Keyword(s):  
Electoral System ◽  
Candidate Selection ◽  
Gender Quotas ◽  
Selection Rules ◽  
Bundestag Elections ◽  
Female Candidates ◽  
Closing The Gap

Since the adoption of candidate gender quotas, women have always fared better in the “second” or PR tier of Bundestag elections than in the “first” or plurality tier, where quotas do not apply. This gap, however, has been closing. In the 2009 Bundestag election, 27 percent of the major parties' direct mandate candidates were women compared to almost 30 percent in 2013. All parties experienced an increase in the percentage of women among their nominees for direct mandates between 2009 and 2013. Why have the numbers of female candidates for the 299 directly elected Bundestag constituencies been increasing? This increase is puzzling because gender quotas have not been extended to this tier of the electoral system and candidate selection rules have not changed. This article explores five potential mechanisms that may be driving the observed rise in women nominated as constituency candidates. I argue that the main reasons for these increases lie in the advantages female incumbents incur, the openings presented when male incumbents retire, and the diffusion of female candidates across parties and neighboring Wahlkreise after one woman manages to win a direct mandate. I develop these conclusions by comparing candidate nominations and direct mandate winners in the 2009 and 2013 Bundestag elections.

Candidate Selection Rules and Democratic Outcomes

2017 ◽  
Author(s):  
Scott Pruysers ◽  
William P. Cross ◽  
Anika Gauja ◽  
Gideon Rahat
Keyword(s):  
State Level ◽  
Candidate Selection ◽  
Gender Quotas ◽  
Selection Rules ◽  
Female Candidates ◽  
Internal Structures ◽  
Significant Difference ◽  
Using Data ◽  
The Impact ◽  
Positive Effect

Using data from the Political Party Database, this chapter analyses the impact of the internal structures and rules of political parties on women’s representation (conceptualized as the number of female candidates nominated). It examines the impact of candidate selection methods (inclusive/exclusive, centralized/decentralized), gender quotas, the presence of intra-party women’s organizations, reserved positions in party institutions, and candidacy requirements. The multivariate analysis reveals that state-level gender quotas have a significant positive effect on the number of women nominated, as does the presence of women in positions of authority, such as in parliament and on party executives. Interestingly, the authors find that the formal rules adopted by parties concerning candidate selection (including candidate selection rules) do not make a significant difference when considering representational outcomes.

scholarly journals The Consequences of Quotas: Assessing the Effect of Varied Gender Quotas on Legislator Experience in the European Parliament

2019 ◽  
pp. 1-30
Author(s):  
Andrea S. Aldrich ◽  
William T. Daniel
Keyword(s):  
Party System ◽  
Electoral System ◽  
European Parliament ◽  
Gender Quotas ◽  
Electoral Institutions ◽  
Female Representation ◽  
Playing Field ◽  
Female Candidates ◽  
Political Experience ◽  
Using Data

Abstract This article explores the consequences of quotas on the level of diversity observed in legislators’ professional and political experience. We examine how party system and electoral system features that are meant to favor female representation, such as gender quotas for candidate selection or placement mandates on electoral lists, affect the composition of legislatures by altering the mix of professional and political qualifications held by its members. Using data collected for all legislators initially seated to the current session of the European Parliament, one of the largest and most diverse democratically elected legislatures in the world, we find that quotas eliminate gendered differences in experience within the institution, particularly when used in conjunction with placement mandates that ensure female candidates are featured on electoral lists in viable positions. Electoral institutions can generally help to “level the playing field” between the backgrounds of men and women in elected office while increasing the presence of desirable qualities among European Parliament representatives of both genders.

Quotas and qualifications: the impact of gender quota laws on the qualifications of legislators in the Italian parliament

2014 ◽  
Vol 7 (1) ◽  
pp. 119-144 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ana Catalano Weeks ◽  
Lisa Baldez
Keyword(s):  
Institutional Design ◽  
Political Competition ◽  
Electoral System ◽  
Candidate Selection ◽  
Gender Quotas ◽  
Government Experience ◽  
And Performance ◽  
Mixed Electoral System ◽  
Gender Quota ◽  
The Impact

This article addresses concerns that candidates nominated because of gender quota laws will be less qualified for office. While questions of candidate quality have long been relevant to legislative behavior, quota laws requiring a certain percentage of candidates for national office to be women have generated renewed interest. Gender quotas are often perceived to reduce the scope of political competition. By putting gender identity center stage, they preclude the possibility that elections will be based on ‘ideas’ or ‘merit’ alone. Other electoral rules that restrict candidate selection, such as the centralization of candidate selection common in closed list PR systems, have been found to reduce the quality of candidates. Rules that open selection, such as primaries, result in higher quality candidates. We exploit the institutional design of Italy’s mixed electoral system in 1994, where quotas were applied only to the PR portion of the list, to compare the qualifications of men, women, and ‘quota women’. We estimate regressions on several measures of deputies’ qualifications for office and performance in office. We find that unlike other rules limiting candidate selection, quotas are not associated with lower quality on most measures of qualifications. In fact, quota women have more local government experience than other legislators and lower rates of absenteeism than their male counterparts. Contrary to critics, quota laws may have apositiveimpact on legislator quality. Once the quota law was rescinded, quota women were less likely to be re-elected than non-quota women or men, which suggests that discrimination – not qualification – limits women’s status as candidates.

scholarly journals Electoral Institutions and Women’s Representation

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Michael FitzGerald ◽  
Melody E. Valdini
Keyword(s):  
Electoral Systems ◽  
Electoral System ◽  
Candidate Selection ◽  
Descriptive Representation ◽  
Gender Quotas ◽  
Electoral Institutions ◽  
Women's Representation ◽  
Selection Processes ◽  
Women’S Representation ◽  
The Impact

While there are many factors that drive women’s descriptive representation (i.e., the percentage of women in the legislature) the electoral institutions generate some of the most powerful and consistent effects. In the first breaths of this literature, the focus was firmly on the impact of majoritarian electoral systems versus proportional representation (PR) systems on women’s descriptive representation. Since then, the literature has grown to engage broader ideas regarding the complicated nature of analyzing institutions in different cultural contexts and under different social conditions. Particularly in the later decades of the 20th century, scholars found that structural factors, such as economic disparities between men and women and the balance of women in careers that are typical paths to political office, were important to consider in concert with electoral rules. More recently, as more women gain access to the economic elite, the literature has focused more on cultural factors such as the historical legacies of Communism and the general societal reactions to women’s leadership. These non-institutional factors are now widely engaged as an important component of understanding why and to what extent we can expect an electoral system to generate a certain outcome. Beyond the impact of the electoral system itself, there is also relevant literature that engages how electoral institutions such as gender quotas and candidate selection processes affect women’s descriptive representation. There is wide variation in the design of gender quotas as well as candidate selection processes, just as there is in the design of electoral systems, and therefore a fuller understanding of the relationship between electoral institutions and women’s representation requires consideration of the interaction of candidate selection procedures, gender quotas, and electoral systems. For example, the presence of a placement mandate (i.e., a requirement stipulating where on the list women candidates must be positioned) or a decentralized candidate selection process each has a different effect on women’s representation in an electoral system that includes a preference vote. The sections below highlight some of the existing literature on electoral institutions and their impact on women’s descriptive representation. This is by no means an exhaustive list but does offer insight into the general themes and research areas that are common in this field of study.

Gender Quotas in Ireland

2021 ◽  
pp. 576-594
Author(s):  
Fiona Buckley ◽  
Mary Brennan
Keyword(s):  
Political Parties ◽  
Electoral System ◽  
Proportional Representation ◽  
General Election ◽  
Candidate Selection ◽  
Gender Quotas ◽  
Single Transferable Vote ◽  
Selection Processes ◽  
The Law ◽  
Gender Quota

This chapter considers the implementation and effect of legislative gender quotas in the 2016 general election, a first for Ireland and a first for the proportional representation by means of the single transferable vote electoral system (PR-STV). It focuses on political parties and examines how they integrated the formal gender quota law into their candidate selection processes. Particular attention is paid to whether the law changed existing candidate selection practices, many of which are guided by informal candidate selection norms, such as a preference for incumbents and those exhibiting localist traits. The chapter concludes that the gender quota law did engender change in the candidate recruitment, selection, and election of women, but, as scholars of feminist institutionalism would describe, the change was ‘nested’ and ‘bounded’ within existing practices surrounding candidate selection, thereby denting but not dismantling the gendered norms of this process.

Democratization and the Dynamics of Candidate Selection Rule Change in Mexico, 1991––2003

2006 ◽  
Vol 22 (1) ◽  
pp. 33-56 ◽  
Author(s):  
Steven T. Wuhs
Keyword(s):  
Selection Rule ◽  
Electoral System ◽  
Candidate Selection ◽  
Selection Rules ◽  
Party Leaders ◽  
Party Organizations ◽  
Rule Change ◽  
Party Activists ◽  
Mixed Electoral System

Party leaders in Mexico face the challenge of maintaining party unity while remaining competitive in a democratizing context. Candidate selection rules are central to achieving both objectives. I argue that leaders must decide between ““open”” rules that nominate electable candidates and ““closed”” rules that build strong party organizations, and suggest that strategic interests are the most powerful determinant of rule choice. Despite an evident trend toward greater openness, however, party leaders have taken advantage of Mexico's mixed electoral system to preserve their own influence and placate party activists, while reaping the benefits of open rules. Los lííderes de los partidos polííticos en Mééxico se enfrentan al reto de mantener la cohesióón de sus partidos mientras buscan seguir ganando las elecciones. Los procesos de seleccióón de los candidatos son cruciales para lograr los dos objetivos. Planteo que los lííderes deben elegir entre procesos ““abiertos”” que producen candidatos atractivos y procesos ““cerrados”” que fortalecen los partidos mismos, y que las metas estratéégicas de los partidos tienen la mayor influencia en la seleccióón de las reglas. A pesar de una tendencia hacia mayor apertura, los lííderes, por medio del sistema electoral ““mixto”” de Mééxico, han conservado su propia influencia, conciliando con los activistas, mientras se aprovechan de los beneficios electorales de los procesos abiertos.

scholarly journals The Impact of Candidate Selection Rules and Electoral Vulnerability on Legislative Behaviour in Comparative Perspective

2018 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jorge M. Fernandes ◽  
Lucas Geese ◽  
Carsten Schwemmer
Keyword(s):  
Electoral Systems ◽  
Systems Design ◽  
Electoral System ◽  
Candidate Selection ◽  
Selection Rules ◽  
Political Actors ◽  
Original Dataset ◽  
The Impact ◽  
Cross System ◽  
Mixed Systems

Legislators are political actors whose main goal is to get re-elected. They use their legislative repertoire to help them to cater to the interests of their principals. In this paper, we argue that we need to move beyond treating electoral systems as monolithic entities, as if all legislators operating under the same set of macro-rules shared the same set of incentives. Rather, we need to account for within-system variation, namely, candidate selection rules and individual electoral vulnerability. Using a most different systems design, we turn to Germany, Ireland, and Portugal to leverage both cross-system and within-system variation. We use an original dataset of 345.000 parliamentary questions. Findings show that candidate selection rules blur canonical electoral system boundaries. Electoral vulnerability has a similar effect in closed-list and mixed-systems, but not in preferential voting settings.

scholarly journals Polish, and Slovak, Women in the European Parliament: an Analysis of the Results of the Election Held in May 2019

2021 ◽  
Vol 26 (5) ◽  
pp. 119-140
Author(s):  
Dorota Lis-Staranowicz ◽  
Róbert Jáger
Keyword(s):  
Slovak Republic ◽  
Social Activity ◽  
Electoral System ◽  
European Parliament ◽  
Political Activity ◽  
Practical Implementation ◽  
Gender Quotas ◽  
Quota System ◽  
Electoral Success ◽  
Female Candidates

Abstract The objective of our paper is to analyse the political activity of Polish, and Slovak, women in EP elections; we aim to determine, among other things: whether gender quotas are a decisive factor for women’s electoral success, or do other factors result in an increase/decrease in the number of female candidates and the number of women MEPs? What are the particular characteristics of women representing Poland, and Slovakia, in the EP? What was their path to the EP? Which (conservative, liberal) parties are more willing to put women forward in EP elections? Poland introduced the so-called gender quotas into the electoral system, while Slovakia does not have such legal solutions in place. However, when comparing Slovakia to the situation in Poland, it can be stated that although there is a system of election quotas in Poland, its practical implementation may be purely theoretical. In percentage terms, the number of Slovak women elected to the European Parliament (except 2019) was significantly higher than in Poland, even though there is no quota system in the Slovak Republic. The success of Polish, and Slovak, women in the elections to the EP of the 9th term is the result of many factors, which include so-called electoral engineering (quotas, gender balance, first and second places on lists), electoral strategy of a party, but above all, political and social activity of the women themselves. We consider the last factor to be determinant in this respect.

Women in Political Parties

2018 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jana Morgan ◽  
Magda Hinojosa
Keyword(s):  
Political Parties ◽  
Gender Issues ◽  
State Funding ◽  
Candidate Selection ◽  
Descriptive Representation ◽  
Gender Quotas ◽  
Selection Procedures ◽  
Female Candidates ◽  
Selection Processes ◽  
Organizational Ties

Jana Morgan and Magda Hinojosa examine women’s representation within parties as leaders, candidates, and officeholders and find that these positions are increasingly accessible to women. They argue that candidate selection procedures are important for women’s presence within parties, while gender quotas and ideology matter less than we might expect. They also evaluate whether parties advocate for women’s issues or employ strategies to articulate women’s concerns. They find that even as descriptive representation has advanced, parties rarely offer substantive linkages for women. As a result, women are less likely to identify with parties than men. To improve women’s descriptive representation in parties, they argue for better candidate selection processes, candidate training programs, and increased state funding for female candidates. To advance substantive representation, they advocate for parties to craft policy and organizational ties with women and to align gender issues with existing partisan divides, thereby integrating rather than isolating gender issues.

scholarly journals The impact of gender quotas on voting behaviour in 2016

2018 ◽  
pp. 165-189
Author(s):  
Gail McElroy
Keyword(s):  
Electoral System ◽  
Gender Quotas ◽  
Women Candidates ◽  
Female Candidates ◽  
First Case ◽  
Women In It ◽  
Fianna Fail ◽  
Dramatic Rise ◽  
Irish Case ◽  
The Impact

In 2016 Ireland joined over fifty countries worldwide in the adoption of candidate gender quotas, and it became the first case of a country doing so under the single transferable vote electoral system. Its impact was evident from the dramatic rise in the number of women candidates fielded in this election – 163, as compared to 86 in 2011. This chapter builds on previous research of the Irish case to assess whether the use of gender quotas had any impact on voters’ attitudes towards women candidates. The analyses of INES data in previous elections found no evidence of voter prejudice against female candidates. There could be reason to expect that might change in the light of gender quotas. The introduction of the quota in 2016 was a significant ‘shock’ to the system: parties were forced to find a large number of women candidates very quickly, so the recruitment pool was likely to have more ‘average’ women in it. Given this context, the chapter tests for true bias amongst the Irish electorate. The analysis reveals little evidence of this on the whole, apart from the slight exception of Fianna Fáil, whose supporters revealed some male bias. Apart from that partial exception, the findings generally are consistent with previous studies: what matters most is how well the candidate is known, and therefore it is incumbency that is the main factor, not the sex of the candidate.

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