Quotas

Quotas, a formal mechanism that enhances women’s participation and representation, are being increasingly implemented. Gender quotas ensure that women constitute a specific number or percentage of the members of a body, be it a candidate list, a parliamentary assembly, a committee or the government. Another benefit is that quotas help reduce the gap between the numbers of women and men represented in the political arena.

There are different types of quotas, with the main distinction being between legislative and constitutional quotas on the one hand and voluntary political party quotas on the other. Legislative and constitutional quotas are based on legal provisions, officially mandating that all political entities participating in elections apply them equally. Voluntary political party quotas are set by the political parties themselves, in order to guarantee the nomination of a certain number or proportion of women.

Quotas can be applied in the nomination process or be results-based, such as quotas that depend on how many seats a party is given. In order to gain a better understanding of the types of quotas that work most effectively, their use should be examined in the context of the electoral system. In this section, you will find information and publications about different types of quotas, materials concerning the effective application of quotas and an overview of the countries using them (see the Quota Project).

From the Library

Women in Politics: Opinion Research Paper

This research paper aims to determine how the Turkish society perceives the participation of women in politics. Among other issues, the research was conducted to analyze people's attitude towards women's participation in political decision-making process, gender quotas in political parties, and the role of political parties in the advancement of women in politics.

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Indian Experience of Women’s Quota in Local Government: Implications for Future Strategies

This paper highlights Indian experiences with introducing and using gender quotas in politics at local and national levels. It also describes different types of potential candidates and the impact of various players, such as media and women's organizations, on women's political participation.

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Explaining Women’s Representation: The Role of Legislative Recruitment & Electoral Systems

This paper examines the principal steps involved in the process of recruiting individuals to countries’ legislatures. It also looks at the effect of development, culture, and a country’s electoral system on women’s representation.

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Conditions determining the level of representation of women: The experience of quota system in Latin America

This report provides a general view of the position of women in the legislative powers in three periods: between the 1970s and the 1980s, around 1995 and in 2004. It also describes an increasing trend in the participation of women in Latin American parliaments that is independent of the quotas.

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Gender, Women and Electoral Politics in Zimbabwe

This paper analyzes electoral processes, national legislative framework, and the impact of international and regional agreements on Zimbabwe's elections. It also describes specific problems faced by women as candidates such as hostility from men, insufficient funding, and resistance to quotas.

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Women Participation in Party Politics during the Multiparty Era in Africa: The Case of Tanzania

This report assesses women's membership of political parties in Tanzania, and women's historical and current participation in party politics. It also describes the processes for nomination of presidential and parliamentary candidates in Tanzania, the impact of quotas for women in parliament in Selected African countries, and recommendations for addressing the existing gender imbalances.

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