1st Edition

Women, Quotas and Politics

Edited By Drude Dahlerup Copyright 2006
    328 Pages
    by Routledge

    328 Pages
    by Routledge

    This is the first world-wide, comparative study of the controversial new trends of gender quotas now emerging in global politics, presenting a comprehensive overview of changes in women’s parliamentary representation across the world.

    This is important reading for all those working to increase women’s influence in politics, because it scrutinizes under what circumstances gender quotas do increase women’s representation – and why they sometimes fail.

    These distinguished international scholars also show how gender balance in politics has become important to a nation’s international image and why quotas are being introduced in many post-conflict countries. They present key case studies of Afghanistan, Iraq, Argentina, Sweden, South Africa, Belgium, covering almost all major regions of the world: Latin America, Africa, the Arab world, South Asia, the Balkans, The Nordic countries and Europe, New Zealand, Australia and the USA - and Rwanda, which in 2003 unexpectedly surpassed Sweden as the number one country in the world in terms of women’s parliamentary representation.

    Using a comparative perspective, this book contains analyses of the discursive controversies around quotas; it gives an overview over various types of quotas in use from candidate quotas to reserved seat systems, and it throws light over the troublesome implementation process. When do gender quotas lead to actual increase in the number of women parliament? When are quotas merely a symbolic gesture? What does it imply to be elected as a ‘quota woman’? Tackling these and many more key questions, this is a major new contribution to the field.

    Making an important contribution to our knowledge of gender politics worldwide, this book will be of interest to NGOs, students and scholars of democracy, policy-making, comparative politics and gender studies.

    Part I. Introductory chapters

    1. Introduction

    Drude Dahlerup

    2. Arguing for and against quotas: theoretical issues

    Carol Bacchi

     

    Part II. Regional chapters

    3. The Nordic Countries: An incremental model

    Lenita Freidenvall, Drude Dahlerup and Hege Skjeie

    4. Latin America: The experience and the impact of quotas in Latin America

    Clara Araújo and Ana Isabel García

    5. Sub-Saharan Africa: On the Fast Track to Women’s Political Representation

    Aili Tripp, Dior Konate and Colleen Lowe-Morna

    6. The Balkans: From total rejection to gradual acceptance of gender quotas

    Milica G. Antic and Sonja Lokar

    7. The Arab Region: Women's Access to the Decision-Making Process Across the Arab Nation

    Gihan Abou-Zeid with the assistance of Dina Obied

    8. Western Europe, North America, Australia and New Zealand: Gender Quotas in the Context of Citizenship Models

    Mona Lena Krook, Joni Lovenduski and Judith Squires

    9. South Asia: Gender Quotas and the Politics of Empowerment : A comparative study

    Shirin M. Rai, Farzana Bari, Nazmunnessa Mahtab and Bidyut Mohanty

     

    Part III. Short case studies

    10. Gender Quotas in Post-Conflict States: East Timor, Afghanistan and Iraq

    Julie Ballington and Drude Dahlerup

    11. Indonesia: The struggle for gender quotas in the world’s largest Muslim country

    Cecilia Bylesjö and Francisia SSE Seda

    12. Affirmative action at the IPU

    Kareen Jabre

     

    Part IV. Concluding chapters

    13. Electoral Quotas: Frequency and Effectiveness

    Richard E. Matland

    14. Conclusion

    Drude Dahlerup

    Biography

    Drude Dahlerup