Quotas and contemporary politics  An academic topic – subject of investigation  Also a current political issue – writing on this topic frequently has an overt political agenda  Pro quota groups (including some academics) promote the use of quotas as a way of advancing women - focus on the positive aspect of quotas  Has been a topic of international discourse and the goal of gender equality in political representation widely accepted, also positive discrimination  In developed democratic states linked to discussion on nature of democracy – status of parliaments and politicians  Topic enmeshed in North/South power relations – idea of quotas has the support of external actors in reconstructed states

Quotas World Wide  Information from  89 Countries have some sort of quota  41 – nearly half, have voluntary party quotas – a quota for the % of women candidates a party puts forward for election  13 have voluntary party quotas plus a legislative quotas  19 have a legislative quota system only  16 operate a reserve seat system, mainly in Africa, also Pakistan and Afghanistan

 Five countries with over 30% women are not in the data base  Cuba; Finland; Denmark; New Zealand; Belarus  Denmark has 38% women in Parliament, Socialist party introduced 40% quota in 1977 abandoned in 1996  Denmark, Finland and New Zealand – early integration of women in public sphere  Belarus – Democracy does not work – parliament does not matter. 10% in 2000, up to 29% in 2005 – why?  Cuba – pattern in socialist states

 38 countries listed with some form of quota have less than 20% women in parliament  Type of political system and electoral system can facilitate quotas – list systems easiest.  Ireland current impact of electoral system 25% 5 seat – 7% in 3 seat (approx – will give accurate figures)  Attitudes to gender – hidden barriers to women engaging in politics also significant  Scandinavian model – gradualist. Overcoming social and cultural barriers  Fast tract – increase numbers first change follows  Do quotas empower women?

Aim of Quotas  Quota systems aim at ensuring that women constitute at least a "critical minority" of 30 or 40 percent  Quotas for women - women must constitute a certain number or percentage of the members of a body, whether it is a candidate list, a parliamentary assembly, a committee, or a government.  The quota system places the burden of recruitment not on the individual woman, but on those who control the recruitment process  Quotas assume equality of representation is the goal is there a problem with this – are men more interested in politics?

Arguments against Quotas  Quotas are against the principle of equal opportunity for all, since women are given preference over men.  Quotas are undemocratic, because voters should be able to decide who is elected.  Quotas imply that politicians are elected because of their gender, not because of their qualifications and that more qualified candidates are not selected  Many women do not want to get elected just because they are women.  Introducing quotas creates significant conflicts within the party organization.  Quotas violate the principles of liberal democracy.

Arguments for Quotas  Quotas for women compensate for actual barriers that prevent women running for political office  Women have the right as citizens to equal representation.  Women's experiences are needed in political life.  Election is about representation, not other qualifications.  Women are just as qualified as men, but women's qualifications are downgraded and minimized in a male- dominated political system.  It is in fact the political parties that control the nominations, not primarily the voters who decide who gets elected; therefore quotas are not violations of voters' rights.

Two concepts of equality  The classic liberal notion of equality was a notion of "equal opportunity" or "competitive equality“  Equality of outcome - real equal opportunity does not exist just because formal barriers are removed. Direct discrimination and a complex pattern of hidden barriers prevent women from being selected as candidates  Compare the application of these concepts of equality to positive discrimination in other areas  Gender employment equality  Employment discrimination legislation in Northern Ireland  Positive discrimination in race legislation in the US

The quotas debate in Ireland  JOINT COMMITTEE ON JUSTICE, EQUALITY DEFENCE AND WOMEN’S RIGHTS, Second Report, Women’s Participation in Politics October 2009  Reasons for Increasing Women’s Political Representation  A more representative democracy  Advantages for Political Parties  Public Support  Increased Choice for Voters  International Obligations  Challenges for Women: the ‘Five C’s’  Childcare  Cash  Confidence  Culture  Candidate Selection Procedures

Female Politicians define the problems -  A legacy of conservative and traditional gender stereotypes  Women tend to lack confidence compared to their male counterparts  Women are more likely to lack the finance and the networks necessary to run an election campaign  The political culture in Ireland is male  The political culture is not family friendly and participation in political life can be particularly difficult for mothers of young children  Women are less likely than men to succeed in the political party candidate selection process

Committee’s proposal  The introduction of mandatory positive action measures through legislation  political parties would adopt gender targets or quotas in their candidate selection process.  Following the Belgium, Smet-Tobback law, a maximum limit is placed on candidates of each gender i.e. parties are penalised if more than two-thirds of their candidates are of one gender.  Enforceable penalties if target not reached, e.g. the French model of financial penalties.

Gender gap in political attitudes  Wangnerud, Annual Review of Political Science 2009  Inglehart and Norris, Rising Tide, 2003  Prior to 1990 – women more conservative, less likely to vote for a left wing party, less likely to be a member of TU  Post 1990 position changes – in terms of voting and public opinion- women moving to become move left wing than men – more likely to support new policy areas e.g. environmental politics  But women still less likely to join political parties and trade unions and more likely to belong to NGOs, civic or community groups

Gender gap in Ireland – party support, voting intentions  Irish Political Studies, 1999  FFmale 49 female 43  FGmale 17 female 18  Labmale 10 female 11  SFmale 2 female 2  Green male 2female 4  Irish Political Studies, Data year book 2009  FFmale 31 female 32  FGmale 33 female 31  Labmale 11 female 15  SFmale 10 female 7  Green male 4 female 5  Irish Times survey % of women not interested in politics

How do we explain the relatively small number of women that support Sinn Fein  As an example of a radical group  Women as likely to vote as men  Is the history of association with violence more problematic for women?  Has the history of the party produced a more macho organisational and political culture?  Does support for SF require a stronger political commitment that support for larger more mainstream parties?  Why by comparison do more women support the greens?

Substantive Representation  Descriptive representation refers to just the number of women in parliament  Substantive Representation is the representation of ‘women’s interests by women parliamentarians  In 1998 only Sweden had reached 30% women in parliament now 26 counties have done so (  Too short a period to see evidence of substantive representation  Little evidence of substantive representation – problem of defining ‘women’s issues’ and ‘women’s interests

Women’s interests?  Child bearing  exposure to sexual harassment and violence  unequal position in division of paid and unpaid labour  exclusion from economic and political power  (Phillips, 1995, 2007)  Has also been defined as a more general interest in social policy (Wangnerud,2006) including  Family policy  Care of the elderly  Health care  In Sweden a narrowing gap over time between 1985 and 2002

Problems with ‘women’s interests’!  ‘Traditional’ women’s interests have been reflected in the assignment of ministerial portfolios and places on parliamentary committees – is this a reflection of ‘women’s interests’ or ‘women’s role’  Issues with a gender dimension – can follow other political divisions  Women are not a homogeneous group  Individual women politicians usually belong to political parties and have a range of political priorities and are subject to party disapline  There needs to be an opportunity structure for advancing new policies