A Discursive Struggle—The Swedish National Federation of Social Democratic Women and Gender Quotas

Gender Quotas and Ethnic Minority Representation: Swedish Evidence from a Longitudinal Mixed Methods Study

“…In other words, a gender quota provision that forces parties to recognize that gender is a characteristic that matters for representation can become an enabling condition for the salience and subsequent inclusion of other groups (Araoù jo and Garcia 2006;Baldez 2006). This process is clearly illustrated in the Swedish case where the National Federation of the Social Democratic women referred to the categories of class and geography in its argumentation for the zipper system, which is the quota studied in this paper, a quota provision that made gender the core organizing principle for the party's candidate lists (Freidenvall 2006). …”

“…In this particular local organization, it was decided that the electoral ballot for the parliamentary election consists of three candidates with minority backgrounds in the top 20 positions, thus reflecting the proportion of minorities in the constituency. The Kronoberg County Social Democratic Party, as another example, decided in its Prioritized Guidelines for List Composition that the electoral ballot for the parliamentary election in 2002 should include 10% of the minority candidates to reflect the population in that locality (Freidenvall 2006). The importance of social representation was one of several motives for these new practices that were stressed by both party organizations.…”

“…Most Swedish parties have adopted voluntary guidelines to raise their share of female decision makers at local, regional, and national levels of government (Freidenvall 2006). Within the Social Democratic Party, the question of women's representation was carried forth by the party's national women's federation (Kvinnofö rbundet/S-kvinnor), an organ formed in 1920 when 120 women's clubs joined forces.…”

“…Earlier research has noted that this was also the case in practice. For example, the Stockholm County Social Democratic Party agreed in 2002 on a set of Principles for List Composition, according to which minority background was one of several key points of departure (Freidenvall 2006). In this particular local organization, it was decided that the electoral ballot for the parliamentary election consists of three candidates with minority backgrounds in the top 20 positions, thus reflecting the proportion of minorities in the constituency.…”

Removing Quotas, Maintaining Representation: Overcoming Gender Inequalities in Political Party Recruitment

“…Also, by using separate lists for men and women, they have avoided direct confrontation and power challenges between male and female candidates (Freidenvall, 2005).…”