Electoral Systems and Laws

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Choosing the type of electoral system is one of the most important institutional decisions for any democracy. Electoral systems can be classified into groups based on the processes by which they translate votes into seats. The three main groups are plurality/majority systems, mixed systems and proportional systems, as well as others that do not fit easily into these categories.

Different electoral systems and laws can result in different outcomes in terms of the representation of women. The type of electoral system is, therefore, a key variable in accounting for why some countries have higher levels of female representation than others do. This Web site contains documents explaining the advantages and disadvantages of different electoral systems and how they can be used in combination with quotas to increase the representation of women and facilitate their participation.

From the Library

E-learning Courses: Anti Corruption

The Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Denmark - Competence Centre has recently launched the E-learning Portal, which is a new edition of our web platform for distribution of e-learning courses and related online activities. This notice informs external users about the changes while more general information about the launch can be found in a separate notice on the e-learning portal. External users in this regard are defined as everybody, who are not registered as MFA staff.

The access to the E-learning Portal and the new design might be the first noticeable change for external users. External websites like the Train4Dev website now links directly to the new E-learning Portal and you can use your existing username and password to access your e-learning courses.

Please click on the URL below to access information about the ecourses and the process of signing up.

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eLearning Course on Effective Electoral Assistance

The European Commission (EC), United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) and International Institute of Democracy and Electoral Assistance (International IDEA) are pleased to announce the arrival of the pioneer eLearning Course on Effective Electoral Assistance. The Course has been developed within the Train4Dev initiative and in collaboration with International Organization for Migration (IOM), Canadian International Development Agency (CIDA), Organization for American States (OAS) and the Spanish Ministry of Foreign Affiars.

The overarching objective of the eLearning Course on Effective Electoral Assistance is to make the electoral assistance community to deliver more effective assistance in line with the main principles informing the Paris Declaration (2005) and the Accra Agenda for Action (2008) regards ownership, alignment, harmonization, results and accountability. Development of the capacities of electoral assistance providers (multilateral and bilateral agencies and international organizations) as well those receiving assistance (national electoral management bodies and other electoral stakeholders) is vital in improving assistance effectiveness.

The eLearning Course is developed on the basis of the face-to-face Joint EC-UNDP-IDEA Joint Training on Effective Electoral Assistance. The first training of this type was organized in September 2006 in Brussels and since then the training has developed tremendously in terms of the audience, the experts contributing and the curriculum.

To find further details please visit E-Learning Portal.

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India:DMK to train women cadres in governance

Submitted by iKNOW Politics on Mon, 2010-03-15 15:06
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As the bill reserving one-third of seats in the Lok Sabha and state assemblies awaits to be passed by parliament, Tamil Nadu's ruling DMK party is planning to hold camps across the state to empower its women cadres in governance.

"We plan to train DMK party women in various aspects of governance. We want to groom our party women so that they are ready as and when the 33 percent reservation for women comes into effect," Kanimozhi, party Rajya Sabha member and daughter of Tamil Nadu Chief Minister M.Karunanidhi, said.

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To read the complete news story please visit Sify News.


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Iraq: Foreign Policy: Iraq's Forgotten Women

Submitted by iKNOW Politics on Mon, 2010-03-15 14:07
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Economically, women are vastly underrepresented in the work force as employment is still limited to mostly the army and the police. The Women's Ministry barely has any budget allocations, which has led to the resignation of ministers (most notably, Nawal al-Samaraie, minister for women's affairs, tendered her resignation in February 2009). Girls have a high rate of illiteracy and often drop out of schools due to economic and security reasons. Domestic violence is increasing, as is trafficking in women, and the Iraqi government estimates there are up to 3 million widows in Iraq today.

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To read the complete news story please visit NPR.


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Myanmar: Amid Threats, Women Dissidents Stick to Political Beliefs

Submitted by iKNOW Politics on Thu, 2010-03-11 22:08
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While Aung San Suu Kyi remains the most widely-known woman suppressed for her political views in Burma, the jails in that military-ruled country continue to be filled by lesser-known women dissidents being held on a range of questionable charges.

Mid-February saw the latest group of female political activists thrown into jail with a two-year prison term, including hard labour, for a "crime" they committed four months ago – donating religious literature to a Buddhist monastery, an act that the junta deemed as "disturbing the peace."

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To read the complete story please visit IPS News.


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China: Chinese Women Lag Only in Politics

Submitted by iKNOW Politics on Tue, 2010-03-09 20:40
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Despite remarkable progress in improving the status of women in social and economic terms, China lags the rest of Asia in empowering women politically, a United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) study has found.

But some six decades after Mao Zedong famously declared “women hold up half the sky”, women in China fare far better overall than their counterparts in India and the rest of the Asia-Pacific on almost every economic indicator, according to the report.

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To read the complete news piece please visit
The Hindu.


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Angola: Percentage of women in Angolan parliament meets international standard

Submitted by iKNOW Politics on Fri, 2010-03-05 09:23
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The number of women in the Angolan National Assembly repre sents 39 per cent of the total number of parliamentarians in the country and the figure meets the world's established quota, according to a report from the Angolan News Agency (ANGOP).

The was revealed Thursday in New York, US, by the Angolan MP, Faustina Fernandes Inglês de Almeida Alves, while addressing the 1-12 March Inter-Parliamentary Union (IPU) meeting, as part of the 54th session of the UN Commission on the Status of Women which began Monday at UN headquarters.

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To read the complete news story please visit Afrique En Ligne.


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Cambodia: Crusader Rowing Upstream in Cambodia

Submitted by iKNOW Politics on Wed, 2010-03-03 12:24
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Ms. Mu Sochua is a member of a new generation of women who are working their way into the political systems of countries across Asia and elsewhere, from local councils to national assemblies and cabinet positions.

A former minister of women’s affairs, she did as much as anyone to put women’s issues on the agenda of Cambodia as it emerged in the 1990s from decades of war and mass killings. But she lost her public platform in 2004 when she broke with the government, and she is now finding it as difficult to promote her ideas as it is to simply gain attention as a candidate.

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To read the complete story please visit NY Times.


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MENA: Gap Lingers Between Women's Political and Legal Rights

Submitted by iKNOW Politics on Wed, 2010-03-03 11:58
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The 591-page study released by Freedom House on Wednesday, supported through grants by the U.N. Development Fund for Women (UNIFEM) and the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID), contends that while women in the region suffer from greater inequality than women elsewhere, they now enjoy greater economic opportunities, access to education, and increased participation in the political process than in years before.
"There are more women entrepreneurs, more women doctors, more women PhDs, and more women in universities, than ever before," said Jennifer Windsor, executive director of Freedom House. "However, substantial roadblocks remain for women pursuing careers. These findings remind us of the complexities of women's status in the Middle East."

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To read the complete news story please visit IPS News.


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Chile: First Woman President Scores Points on Gender Front

Submitted by iKNOW Politics on Tue, 2010-03-02 08:36
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At the end of her term on Mar. 11, Michelle Bachelet will be stepping down with a tremendous level of popularity: 83 percent, a record in her country, and almost unheard of in the rest of the world.

The inauguration of rightwing President-elect Sebastián Piñera that day will close a chapter in the history of this South American country of 17 million people, governed by the centre-left coalition Concertación de Partidos por la Democracia since the return to democracy in 1990.

As a result of the gender equity policies implemented by the Bachelet administration, Chile will be the Latin American country with the most gains to show at the Mar. 1-12 meeting of the United Nations Commission on the Status of Women, in which governments will gather in New York for the 15-year review of the implementation of the Beijing Declaration and Platform of Action adopted in 1995 at the Fourth World Conference on Women, held in the Chinese capital.

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To read the complete story please visit IPS News.


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