Evidence from Belgium shows that gender quotas do not necessarily eliminate voter bias against women candidates

To what extent do electoral gender quotas change voters’ preference for male or female political candidates? Silvia Erzeel and Didier Caluwaerts examine the electoral evidence from Belgium, a country that has progressively adopted gender quota laws since the mid-1990s. They show that although the largest group of Belgian voters now vote for both male and female candidates there is still a voter bias in favour of male candidates. In particular they find that men and voters low in political sophistication still have a higher propensity to vote for men only

The feminisation of Belgian local politics

This article investigates the feminisation of local politics. Starting from the obser‐vation that the representation of women in local electoral politics lags behind theregional and federal level, and taking into account the relevance of local partybranches in the recruitment and selection of candidates for elections, we examinethe extent to which there is an ‘internal’ feminisation of local party branches andhow this links to the ‘external’ feminisation of local electoral politics. Based on sur‐veys among local party chairs, the article maps patterns of feminisation over timeand across parties, investigates problems local branches encounter in the recruit‐ment of candidates for local elections, and analyses the (attitudes towards the)measures taken to further the integration of women in local electoral politics. Weconclude that internal and external feminisation do not always go hand in handand that local politics continues to be a male-dominated political biotope

Gender and politics research in Europe: towards a consolidation of a fourishing political science subfeld?

Over the past twenty years, the feld of “gender and politics” has fourished in European political science. An example of this is the growing number of “gender and politics” scholars and the increased attention paid to gender perspectives in the study of the political. Against this backdrop, we take stock of how the “gender and politics” feld has developed over the years. We argue that the feld has now entered a stage of “consolidation”, which is refected in the growth, diversifcation and professionalization of the subfeld, as well as in the increased disciplinary recognition from major gatekeepers in political science. But while consolidation comes with specifc opportunities, it also presents some key challenges. We identify fve such challenges: (1) the potential fragmentation of the feld; (2) persisting hierarchies in knowledge production; (3) the continued marginalization of feminist political analysis in “mainstream” political science; (4) the changing link between academia and society; and (5) growing opposition to gender studies in parts of Europe and beyond. We argue that both the “gender and politics” feld and political science in general should address these challenges in order to become a truly inclusive discipline

In het vizier: mannen in de bres voor vrouwenbelangen

Mannen die de belangen van vrouwen vertegenwoordigen? Feministische theorievorming hield tot nu toe weinig rekening met deze optie. Toch mag de rol van mannen niet worden onderschat. Mannen springen wel degelijk in de bres voor vrouwen, en verdienen als gevolg daarvan een meer centrale plaats in onderzoek naar de vertegenwoordiging van vrouwen