Party and State in Cuba: Gender Equality in Political Decision Making

Abstract

This article examines the Cuban record concerning gender equality in political decision making. I begin with a brief overview of Cuba's system of government. I then examine the gender composition of the country's legislative structures, discuss efforts to strengthen women's political participation, and compare the inclusion of women into key state and party decision-making bodies. The article is guided by three main arguments: First, in Cuba's legislative structures, women have a greater presence at the national than at the local level, contrary to the experience of the United States and Western Europe. Second, despite the official position denying the existence of gender quotas, Cuba does implement measures of positive discrimination in order to strengthen women's presence in politics. Finally, Cuban women face a glass ceiling as they move up to positions of greater decision-making power, a reality faced by women all over the world. The excellent gender composition of Cuba's parliament is an apparent exception that confirms the following rule: The state of gender equality in Cuba's decisionmaking structures reveals an inverse relationship between the actual decision-making power of a particular institution and the presence of women. That is, the higher we get in the institutional decision-making hierarchy, the fewer women we find. The evidence presented in this article demonstrates that Cuba has not made as much progress in achieving gender equality in political decision making as some of the official data would indicate, and that women continue to be largely excluded from the most important decision-making bodies.

Democracy and Gender Equality

“…As a result the state encouraged women's employment, built child care centers, outlawed domestic service and prostitution, provided universal access to divorce, contraception, and abortion, and even adopted a "Family Code" requiring men and women to share equally household and child-rearing duties (Smith and Padula 1996). Still, women were not well represented in political institutions, least of all in the political institutions that actually held power (Luciak 2005). And on some important women's issues such as rape and domestic violence, the regime remained silent (Smith and Padula 1996).…”

Poder e igualdade de gênero: Políticas de cotas para mulheres nos países da América Latina

“…Porém, há evidencias de que Cuba implementa, sim, medidas para fortalecer a presença de mulheres no âmbito político. (LUCIAK, 2013). Cuba, que foi o primeiro país a assinar a Convenção sobre a Eliminação de Todas as Formas de Discriminação Contra as Mulheres (1979), percebeu a necessidade de haver uma intervenção para que se pudesse estabelecer igualdade de gênero na arena política (LUCIAK, 2013).…”

“…(LUCIAK, 2013). Cuba, que foi o primeiro país a assinar a Convenção sobre a Eliminação de Todas as Formas de Discriminação Contra as Mulheres (1979), percebeu a necessidade de haver uma intervenção para que se pudesse estabelecer igualdade de gênero na arena política (LUCIAK, 2013). Dessa forma, apesar da posição oficial do governo, não se nega a possibilidade da existência de mecanismo (que podem parecer, até mesmo, um tanto quanto substantivos) para favorecer determinadas candidatas, como se pode perceber no trecho abaixo: [...]…”

Electoral Gender Quotas

“…2 A second strand, overlapping significantly with the parity case, relates to efforts by activists in various countries to devise alternative names for quota proposals tapping into already widely accepted political, cultural, and social norms. While some of these declarations reflect empty rhetoric, others influence candidate recruitment to an equal or greater degree than "hard quotas" (Freidenvall, 2006;Luciak, 2005). A third tactic is to use the language of "targets" and "recommendations"-what Krook et al (2009) label "soft quotas"-when more binding forms of positive action are rejected at either the party or national level.…”