User:J.camSP23/Political representation

Women's Political Representation

Vigdís Finnbogadóttir was the world's first woman to be democratically elected as president of a country in 1980.

In general, women are politically underrepresented across the globe, with their underrepresentation drastically increasing in senior-level positions (e.g., President and Prime Minister). When it comes to legislative bodies, they account for less than 25% of the total global legislators, winning disproportionally fewer seats than men. In terms of executive offices, 19 countries have women Heads of Government, and 17 countries have women Heads of State. Senior-level men officials lead all other countries.

It is important to note that although differences exist across states in relation to women's political representation, political gender inequality has been present in all regions of the world - including those where social and economic advancements are present.

Existing scholarly literature has mainly identified and assessed three conditions that may cause women's political underrepresentation: voters' bias, parties' bias, and women's lack of political ambition.

Voter Bias

Although research into the effects of voter bias on women's political representation is inconclusive, studies have produced data that researchers use to hypothesize a relationship between voter behavior and attitudes, and women's political underrepresentation.

For instance, in their 2019 publication, Barbanchon and Sauvagnat conducted an examination of votes cast for a single woman candidate across multiple electoral districts for a French parliamentary election. Their findings indicate that "votes for women are lower in municipalities with more traditional gender-role attitudes." They conclude that these results provide evidence for voters' discrimination against women, revealing that voters' bias fuels the under-representation of women in politics.

World map depicting the use of different gender quota policies in the single/lower legislative house level.

On the other hand, Bagues (2017), through a study of gender quota impacts on voters, finds no evidence of voters’ bias against women. This research project specifically assessed the introduction of gender quotas in the Spanish electoral system, concluding that voters express no negative behavior towards an electoral list that details a higher number of women candidates.

Public survey data may also measure the extent to which voters' bias against women can be said to exist. For example, the World Value Survey Wave 7 (2017-2021) indicates that, on average, less than 20% of survey respondents would agree with the statement: “men make better political leaders than women do." Notably, these responses are insufficient to affirm whether voters' bias against women exists in a country, nor can they predict voting behavior.

Party Bias

In most political systems around the globe, party leaders are responsible for electing which candidates to run for office under their party banner. This role also entails the promotion of said candidates during their electoral campaign. If said leaders are conscious of potential voters' bias against women, they are likely to endorse men candidates over women candidates in the hopes of maximizing the party's votes. Nonetheless, party leaders, in the absence of voters' bias, may also act to limit the political candidacy of women.

In their 2012 research project, Bagues and Esteve-Volart studied a series of Spanish elections to understand an "agency problem between voters and parties."Their findings highlight that no evidence exists to affirm women candidates as attracting fewer votes than their male counterparts. Instead, when electoral competition is heightened, women candidates generally outperform men in their elections. Despite this, parties tend to nominate women in lower offices, purposefully excluding them from senior-level elections.

Studies like the one above suggest that party institutions often negatively impact women's political representation, obstructing their achievement of equal political representation in systems that have been historically men-dominated.

Women's Political Ambition

Jennifer L. Lawless is often cited in news outlets during election season, with her work utilized to understand women's political ambition.

On average, women express less ambition than men to run and occupy a political office. According to Fox and Lawless (2004), two reasons explain this gender gap:

1. Compared to men, women are less likely to be encouraged to run for office by a political source (e.g., a party leader).
2. Compared to men, women are less likely to consider themselves qualified to run for office.

From an intersectional perspective, women of different racial/ethnic identities report varying levels of political ambition when faced with supply-side explanations (e.g., lack of self-confidence) and demand-side explanations (e.g., women are not meant to be in politics) for their political underrepresentation. For instance, Asian women and white women report higher levels of political ambition when presented with a demand-side explanation compared to a supply-side explanation. However, Black women report lower levels of political ambition when presented with a demand-side explanation compared to a supply-side explanation - although the difference is not statistically significant. Latina women report no difference in political ambition when presented with either type of explanation.

The notion of competition within the political arena may also deter women from electing to run for office. Preece and Stoddard's 2015 study finds that advising individuals about the competition experienced during political campaigns lowers women's interest in running for office. The same effect is not observed in men.

Additionally, women may also be discouraged from running for office due to family-related costs. An instance of such cost is examined by Folke and Rickne (2020), who researched Swedish women promoted to the office of mayor, which is the highest municipal office in Sweden. Once in office, they found that these women politicians experience higher levels of divorce than men in the same office. Thus, if women face increased familiar losses as they gain political achievements, they may be discouraged from continuing their work as a politician or altogether from initiating the political candidacy process.

Importantly, although evidence reveals an existing gender gap in political ambition, it is unclear how quantitatively relevant this evidence is in explaining women's political under-representation. In other words, the existing gender gap in political ambition does not represent a causal factor for women's lack of political power.