1 WOMEN & POLITICAL INSTITUTIONS
Beijing Declaration => global agreement that aims to promote gender equality and empower women worldwide.
Proportional vs majoritarian
= woman fare better in PR systems but WHY?
- District magnitude = is the number of seats per district (= fixed number)
- Party magnitude = is the number of seats a party wins in a district (≠ fixed, depends on vote share in district)
1) Higher district & Party magnitudes
More seats per district = more opportunities for women candidates (this diversifies the candidates)
2) Party strategy and balance
- Parties consider gender balance to attract different voter groups
- Women candidates can be nominated without ‘sidelining’ men
o In systems with more seats per district, parties can nominate women in addition to men rather than instead of
men—so women’s inclusion doesn’t require men’s exclusion. This reduces political resistance to gender
equality measures.
Not all PR systems are created equally
- District magnitude differs
o Higher magnitude -> bigger party magnitude
- Electoral threshold differs
o Higher threshold -> bigger party magnitude (if you have a low threshold, small parties can win, but these
parties are mostly created by man so more men in the politics)
- Type of electoral list
o Closed or open
Women more favored by closed list because then it depends on the party (and its ranking tactics +
quota’s) whether they get elected or not. In open list it depends more on the voters, and they tend to
favor men over women, even if women are higher on the list.
Highly dependent upon the country and its gender equality perceptions (≠ the same everywhere)
Understand the representational outcomes of electoral institutions
- Electoral systems create incentives for political parties in candidate selection
- PR is better than majoritarian, because the district magnitude is higher which increases party magnitude
- Other relevant electoral features: electoral threshold, preferential voting
1.1 GENDER QUOTA’S
1.1.1 3 DIFFERENT TYPES OF QUOTA’S
1) Voluntary party quota = Political parties voluntary set a target for # women candidates
2) Legislated candidate quota = there is a target for # women candidates, set by the law
- Especially effective in closed lists
- Effectiveness depends on:
o Rank order rules (don’t put all the women on the bottom)
o Control
o Sanctions
=> the effectiveness of the quota also relies really hard on the way its integrated and the rules around it. Higher quota does not
mean higher representation of women
Beijing Declaration => global agreement that aims to promote gender equality and empower women worldwide.
Proportional vs majoritarian
= woman fare better in PR systems but WHY?
- District magnitude = is the number of seats per district (= fixed number)
- Party magnitude = is the number of seats a party wins in a district (≠ fixed, depends on vote share in district)
1) Higher district & Party magnitudes
More seats per district = more opportunities for women candidates (this diversifies the candidates)
2) Party strategy and balance
- Parties consider gender balance to attract different voter groups
- Women candidates can be nominated without ‘sidelining’ men
o In systems with more seats per district, parties can nominate women in addition to men rather than instead of
men—so women’s inclusion doesn’t require men’s exclusion. This reduces political resistance to gender
equality measures.
Not all PR systems are created equally
- District magnitude differs
o Higher magnitude -> bigger party magnitude
- Electoral threshold differs
o Higher threshold -> bigger party magnitude (if you have a low threshold, small parties can win, but these
parties are mostly created by man so more men in the politics)
- Type of electoral list
o Closed or open
Women more favored by closed list because then it depends on the party (and its ranking tactics +
quota’s) whether they get elected or not. In open list it depends more on the voters, and they tend to
favor men over women, even if women are higher on the list.
Highly dependent upon the country and its gender equality perceptions (≠ the same everywhere)
Understand the representational outcomes of electoral institutions
- Electoral systems create incentives for political parties in candidate selection
- PR is better than majoritarian, because the district magnitude is higher which increases party magnitude
- Other relevant electoral features: electoral threshold, preferential voting
1.1 GENDER QUOTA’S
1.1.1 3 DIFFERENT TYPES OF QUOTA’S
1) Voluntary party quota = Political parties voluntary set a target for # women candidates
2) Legislated candidate quota = there is a target for # women candidates, set by the law
- Especially effective in closed lists
- Effectiveness depends on:
o Rank order rules (don’t put all the women on the bottom)
o Control
o Sanctions
=> the effectiveness of the quota also relies really hard on the way its integrated and the rules around it. Higher quota does not
mean higher representation of women
