POLS2603 Lecture 7: POLS2603 Lecture 7
Lecture 7 - Women and Political Representation
•How are men/women positioned in parliament globally?
•World average percentage of women in parliament is 23.6%
•What are the consequences of this gender gap?
•Response 1: there are no salient consequences
◦classic lib response
▪issues of presence are discounted - it is about the message
◦reps elected to represent geographical areas, not genders, therefore it doesn’t
matter
•Response 2: there are negative consequences
•arguments for equal representation:
◦justice arguments
▪Women have right to participate in public life
▪failure of justice
◦Utility arguments
▪failure of resource utilisation
▪Increases electoral appeal sometimes
◦Symbolic arguments
▪normative/symbolic importance of equal representation
▪Presence of women increases respect
▪increases legitimacy of parliament
▪Presence of women de-naturalises traditional gender ideas
◦‘making a difference’ arguments
▪having women in parliament will change the political culture
▪women are more likely to represent women’s issues
•some resistance to this argument - interests don't map onto identity
•Essentialist
•What are the causes?
find more resources at oneclass.com
find more resources at oneclass.com
