Judging gender quotas: predictions and results

Dahlerup, Drude; Freidenvall, Lenita

doi:10.1332/030557310x521080

Cited by 70 publications

(70 citation statements)

References 23 publications

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“…As shown in gender research, when women are represented in greater numbers, it is often the result of formal or informal quotas (Krook 2009;Dahlerup and Freidenvall 2010). We note that this approach qualifies descriptive representation with the argument that a few women in politics will not make a real difference.…”

Section: Why Should We Expect a Link Between Women Gender And Lower mentioning

confidence: 94%

The (In)Visibility of Gender in Scandinavian Climate Policy-Making

Magnusdottir

Kronsell²

2014

International Feminist Journal of Politics

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This article explores the link between gender representation and climate policy-making in Scandinavia. We ask to what extent equal descriptive representation (critical mass) results in substantive representation (critical acts). Our study shows that women and men are equally represented in administrative and political units involved in climate policymaking, and in some units women are in the majority. However, a text analysis of the outcomes, that is, the Scandinavian climate strategies, reveals a silence regarding gender, further confirmed through interviews. Accordingly, a critical mass of women does not automatically result in gender-sensitive climate policy-making, recognizing established gender differences in material conditions and in attitudes toward climate issues. In interviews, we also note that policy-makers are largely unaware of gender differences on climate issues in the Scandinavian context. We discuss why a critical mass of women in climate policy-making has not led to critical acts and offer alternative explanations informed by feminist IR theory. For example, poststructural feminism claims that masculine norms are deeply institutionalized in climate institutions; hence, policy-makers adapt their actions to the masculinized institutional environment. Thus, substantive representation should be understood in relation to gendered institutional processes.--

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Section: Why Should We Expect a Link Between Women Gender And Lower mentioning

confidence: 94%

The (In)Visibility of Gender in Scandinavian Climate Policy-Making

Magnusdottir

Kronsell²

2014

International Feminist Journal of Politics

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“…8 Though all women in politics are vulnerable to stigmatization, this threat may be especially acute for female politicians elected via quota policies (Dahlerup and Freidenvall 2010, 42). Central to the debates surrounding quotas is the assumption that they promote undeserving female candidates at the expense of more meritorious male politicians (Dahlerup and Freidenvall 2010). Women who enter an organization with the help of affirmative action policies are frequently ascribed negative attributes, including accusations that they have not "earned" their post or are less competent than their non-quota counterparts (Murray 2010).…”

Section: Trade-off Effects: Quotas Hindering Women's Access To Powermentioning

confidence: 99%

Gender Quotas and Women's Political Leadership

O’Brien

Rickne

2014

SSRN Journal

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Standard-Nutzungsbedingungen:Die Dokumente auf EconStor dürfen zu eigenen wissenschaftlichen Zwecken und zum Privatgebrauch gespeichert und kopiert werden.Sie dürfen die Dokumente nicht für öffentliche oder kommerzielle Zwecke vervielfältigen, öffentlich ausstellen, öffentlich zugänglich machen, vertreiben oder anderweitig nutzen.Sofern die Verfasser die Dokumente unter Open-Content-Lizenzen (insbesondere CC-Lizenzen) zur Verfügung gestellt haben sollten, gelten abweichend von diesen Nutzungsbedingungen die in der dort genannten Lizenz gewährten Nutzungsrechte. Terms of use: Documents in EconStor may AbstractThough more than 100 countries have adopted gender quotas, the impacts of these reforms on women's political leadership remain largely unknown. We exploit a quasi-experiment-a zipper quota imposed by the Swedish Social Democratic national party on municipal party groups-to examine quotas' effect on women's selection and survival as leaders within their parties. We find that those municipalities where the quota had a larger impact became more likely to appoint female leaders, but not more likely to support the reelection of women to the post. Extending this analysis, we show that the quota increased the number of qualified female candidates without increasing the diversity among women within the group. These results lend support to the notion that quotas may have an acceleration effect on women's representation in leadership posts and help dispel the myth that quotas trade short-term gains in women's descriptive representation for long-term exclusion from political power.Keywords: gender quotas; political leadership; party leaders; political careers; electoral reforms; women and politics; subnational politics JEL Codes: G34, G38, J48, J20 The widespread adoption of gender quotas is one of the most important political developments of the modern era. As these reforms have spread around the world, there is increasing interest in their broader impacts (Franceschet, Krook, and Piscopo 2012). Despite our growing understanding of quotas' broader impacts, their effect on women's appointment to higher political office remains unknown. In particular, no study has yet considered whether quotas help or hinder women's selection to, and survival in, leadership posts within political organizations. This is a surprising oversight, both because of the potential significance of women's position in the political hierarchy for their descriptive, substantive, and symbolic representation and the conflicting expectations generated by the literature. On the one hand, quotas may increase the supply of women eligible for leadership posts and give them more opportunities to join forces to support other women for top office. This means that quotas could have a positive "acceleration effect" on women's access to top political posts. On the other hand, both scholars and activists have linked increases in "quota women" to stigmatization and backlash effects, which means that quotas could produce a trade-off effect in which immediate gains...

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“…Because they often owe their selection to their political party or family ties, in particular to their fathers or husbands, female office holders are said to be politically less independent to act on behalf of women. As in other development contexts, gender quotas are regarded as a mechanism serving patronage politics and legitimising authoritarian regimes (Burnet 2011;Dahlerup and Freidenvall 2010;David 2012;Franceshet and Piscopo 2008;Krook 2013b).…”

Section: Gender Quotas In Moroccomentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Numerous studies have contributed to our understanding of the successful adoption of quota policies around the world, sometimes in countries exhibiting a long patriarchal tradition (Bush 2011;Krook 2013b). More recently, scholars have taken up the task to evaluate their impact across different dimensions (Dahlerup and Freidenvall 2010).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Moreover, the effect of gender quotas on women's symbolic representation has long been overlooked. Thus, it is still unclear whether these policies contribute to democratising candidates' selection procedures within parties (Bjarnegård and Zetterberg 2011; Dahlerup and Freidenvall 2010). This gap in the literature is surprising given the fact that parties are often considered as the missing link in understanding women's under-representation in politics (Ballington 2012;Caul 1999).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Gender Quotas in Morocco: Lessons for Women's Descriptive and Symbolic Representation

Lloren¹

2014

Representation

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More than 100 countries have adopted gender quota policies worldwide and a growing literature attempts to evaluate their impact. This article focuses on the Moroccan experience and investigates the effect of quotas on women's descriptive and symbolic representation at the party level. More precisely, I examine whether the Moroccan social-democratic party underwent changes since the 2002 introduction of reserved seats for women in parliament. The findings draw on the perceptions of members of the women's section of the Socialist Union of Popular Forces (SUPF) and show that written rules expanding women's rights do not automatically lead to more gender equality in practice. The article discusses these findings in the light of international experience of gender quotas and points towards conditions that are important for ensuring different dimensions of women's political representation.

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Judging gender quotas: predictions and results

Cited by 70 publications

References 23 publications

The (In)Visibility of Gender in Scandinavian Climate Policy-Making

The (In)Visibility of Gender in Scandinavian Climate Policy-Making

Gender Quotas and Women's Political Leadership

Gender Quotas in Morocco: Lessons for Women's Descriptive and Symbolic Representation

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