76 research outputs found
How radical right populist parties use the representation of women as an electoral tool
Although radical right populist parties in Europe are still predominantly led by and supported by men, there has been a marked increase in the number of women with high profile roles in these parties. Drawing on a new study, Ana Catalano Weeks, Bonnie M. Meguid, Miki Caul Kittilson and Hilde Coffé ask whether we should view this trend as a genuine step toward better representation for women
Who stands in the way of women? Open vs. closed lists and candidate gender in Estonia
The literature on women's descriptive representation has looked at the debate on open and closed lists as a choice between electoral systems. This article instead focuses on whether voters or the parties are biased against female candidates. Using data from six Estonian elections, the article finds that voters are not consistently biased against female candidates and open lists do not necessarily decrease women's representation. However, unknown and non-incumbent female candidates fare significantly worse than similar men. The analysis also shows that parties do not place women in electable positions on closed lists, and closed lists do not improve women's representation
Feminizing political parties: womenâs party member organizations within European parliamentary parties
Party member womenâs organizations were early features of party development. While some contemporary studies maintain these are important sites for the substantive representation of women, there is also a claim that they are in decline. Our primary purpose here is to establish the existence of party member womenâs organizations â as one test of the first dimension of party feminization: the inclusion of women. We draw on new survey data of 17 European countries provided by Scarrow, Poguntke and Webb. We establish that almost half have a party member womenâs organization. The new data also permits analysis of relationships between party member womenâs organization and gender quotas for the top party leadership body (National Executive Committee (NEC)), womenâs presence among the party leadership and candidate quota rules. Together we see these (i) as a means to establish whether women are marginalized within the party, thereby limiting descriptive representation and (ii) as surrogate measures for womenâs substantive representation. We importantly find that the presence of a party member womenâs organization does not come at the cost of womenâs presence on the NEC. In the final section, we turn our attention to building a new comparative research agenda that more fully addresses substantive representation
Disability and Political Representation: Analysing the Obstacles to Elected Office in the UK
Around 1 in 6 Europeans are disabled, yet there are few self-declared disabled politicians. Despite scholarly and political interest in the under-representation of various social groups, little attention has been paid to disabled people. This article identifies and analyses the barriers to elected office faced by disabled people by drawing upon interviews with 51 candidates and elected politicians in the UK. It reveals barriers which occur throughout the political recruitment process, from initial participation to selection and the election campaign. They broadly fall into (1) a lack of accessibility, including the built environment and documents; (2) a lack of resources to make events and activities accessible; and (3) ableism, including openly expressed prejudices but also a lack of awareness and willingness to make processes inclusive. While people with different impairments encounter some distinct barriers, all of them have similar experiences of obstacles and exclusion which go beyond those faced by people from other under-represented groups seeking elected office
Disability and Political Representation: Analysing the Obstacles to Elected Office in the UK
Around 1 in 6 Europeans are disabled, yet there are few self-declared disabled politicians. Despite scholarly and political interest in the under-representation of various social groups, little attention has been paid to disabled people. This article identifies and analyses the barriers to elected office faced by disabled people by drawing upon interviews with 51 candidates and elected politicians in the UK. It reveals barriers which occur throughout the political recruitment process, from initial participation to selection and the election campaign. They broadly fall into (1) a lack of accessibility, including the built environment and documents; (2) a lack of resources to make events and activities accessible; and (3) ableism, including openly expressed prejudices but also a lack of awareness and willingness to make processes inclusive. While people with different impairments encounter some distinct barriers, all of them have similar experiences of obstacles and exclusion which go beyond those faced by people from other under-represented groups seeking elected office
Zippinâ up my boots, goinâ back to my roots: Radical left parties in Southern Europe
Radical left parties actively encourage the participation of their members in internal decision-making and insist on promoting organised links to trade unions and social movements. As a party family, they deviate from what is considered to be the trend in which Western political parties have turned their backs on their social roots. Drawing on the experience of South European radical left parties from the fall of the Berlin Wall until the recent financial crisis, we argue that ideology, electoral incentives, party competition and external events explain the radical left's pronounced emphasis on linkage, while organisational trajectory explains variation within the party family in terms of the linkage strategies pursued
REMOVING QUOTAS, MAINTAINING REPRESENTATION: OVERCOMING GENDER INEQUALITIES IN POLITICAL PARTY RECRUITMENT
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