Elections
Basanti Sabar, 30, is a third-time voter. But this time round, as the eastern Indian state of Odisha goes to the polls in simultaneous general and assembly elections, the former migrant worker will make a crucial shift in the way she votes.
In patriarchal rural India, who the family vote for is usually decided by the men. On 13 May, however, Sabar and other women in Padampur village will for the first time vote for a candidate of their choice – a shift that is influencing the way state and national politicians speak to women in their manifestos.
Padampur, in the drought-stricken Kalahandi district of western Odisha, is one of India’s most impoverished villages, whose people have for decades been compelled to migrate to make a living. Today, the men still leave, but the women, who have discovered financial independence in Odisha’s successful self-help group (SHG) movement, which offers them loans and benefits from state schemes, now stay put.
This newfound independence is changing what men and women want from politicians. Padampur’s men have their hopes pinned on broad-based changes such as more jobs and better incomes, which they believe only a national party can deliver. However the women, bolstered by the income available to them through loans and self-help schemes, support the state government, run by a regional party.
The government’s Economic Survey 2022-23 mentions that India’s female-led SHGs were emerging as the world’s biggest microfinance project. According to the survey, the SHG-Bank Linkage Programme, which helps poorer Indians access microfinance through self-help groups and banks, covers 142 million families with saving deposits of Rs 470bn (£4.5bn).
Read here the full article published by The Guardian on 10 May 2024.
Image by The Guardian
.
In the final days of her election campaign, Cathy Nori considered giving up. The 57-year-old had been trekking up a mountain, near her home in Isabel province, Solomon Islands, when she was overcome with exhaustion.
“I couldn’t help but question my purpose, silently asking … why I was enduring such hardship,” Nori says in an interview with the Guardian.
Yet in that moment, the former businesswoman summoned her strength and sought comfort from her team.
“It was a pivotal moment, a fleeting temptation to surrender that I chose to overcome. It’s the first-hand experience of rural struggles that fuels my determination,” Nori says.
Nori turned to politics about a decade ago and, after two failed election bids, will this year join Solomon Islands’ parliament for the first time. She will represent part of Isabel province, which has a population of about 35,000 people and is beset by problems including poor roads and a lack of infrastructure.
She is one of just three women elected to the Pacific country’s 50-seat parliament in last month’s national election. Nori will be joined by Freda Rangirei Tuki, representing Temotu-Vatud in Temotu province, and Choilyn Yim Douglas for the Ngella constituency, Central Islands province.
Read here the full article published by the Guardian on 08 May 2024.
Image by The Guardian
The Chief Election Commissioner while kick-starting the festival of the world’s largest democracy celebrated the fact that India’s gender ratio of 948 to 1000 is a "very healthy sign” of women's political participation.
This should be read along with the President of India’s assent to the Nari Shakti Vandan Adhiniyam Bill paving the way for 33% of seats for women in the Lok Sabha, State Legislative Assemblies, and the National Capital Territory Delhi.
This will go down in history as an important turning point in India’s political landscape. The Bill which turned into an act is hailed as a step in the right direction towards achieving substantive democracy considering the country's appalling performance in the political empowerment indicator of the Gender Parity Index (127 out of 147 countries).
Can it really transform the fate of India’s procedural democracy into a truly participatory democracy? Exploring the development of women's political rights and their representation will provide further insight into the issue.
Read here the full article published by The Quint on 6 May 2024.
Image by The Quint
.
History was made on Monday, 29th April 2024 when Two Women were sworn-in as democratically elected Executive Chairpersons of local government councils in Gombe for the first time.
The Two Women who were declared winners of their various LGAs during the Council elections held last Saturday, 27th April 2024, are, Hon Fatima Binta Bello, Shongom LGC, and Egla Idris, Billiri LGC, all of them members of the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC).
Consequently, the State Governor, Muhammadu Inuwa Yahaya has been commended for his gender sensitivity and commitment to inclusive governance, where women are given a level playing field to contest and be voted for in elections.
Read here the full article published by the Nigerian Tribune on 30 April 2024.
Image by Nigerian Tribune
.
New Delhi: For this year’s general election, Karnataka has seen a 48 percent jump in the number of women candidates fielded by all political parties, with the number increasing to 40 from the previous 27 in 2019. However, historical data shows this might not be a winning strategy, with voters overwhelmingly preferring males.
In a state which has conventionally achieved a good sex ratio — currently 997 females per 1,000 males — women still have it tough when it comes to politics.
In the second phase held on 26 April, 14 of the state’s 28 seats went to polls. The remaining 14 are slated for voting in the third phase on 7 May.
ThePrint’s analysis of historical data for 33 years across Parliamentary as well as assembly elections sourced from the Election Commission of India (ECI) and Ashoka University’s Lok Dhaba shows that though the state has seen an increased number of female candidates through these years, these nominations have hardly converted into wins.
Click here to read the full article published by The Print India on 06 May 2024.
Image by The Print India
.
Abstract
Are women more likely to quit politics after losing their first race than men? Women’s first-time candidacies skyrocketed in the wake of the 2016 presidential election. Yet we have little sense of the long-term impact of this surge in women candidates on women’s representation writ large: Inexperienced candidates are more likely to lose, and women might be especially discouraged by a loss. This might make the benefits of such a surge in candidacies fleeting. Using a regression discontinuity design and data that feature 212,805 candidates across 22,473 jurisdictions between 1950 and 2018, we find that women who narrowly lose these elections are no more likely to quit politics than men who narrowly lose. Drawing on scholarship on women’s lower political ambition, we interpret these findings to mean that women’s decision-making differs from men’s at the point of entry into politics—not at the point of reentry.
Click here to access the paper.
Executive Summary
2020 marked the historic election of Vice President Kamala Harris as the first woman, first Black person, and first South Asian person to be vice president. But women’s political success in 2020 was not limited to the presidential level. After a record year for women in election 2018, the 2020 election marked continued progress for women in waging candidacies and winning elections at the congressional and state legislative levels. Unlike the historic victories for Democratic women in 2018, women’s legislative gains in 2020 were concentrated among Republicans. After a year of decline in representation across levels of office as a result of election 2018, Republican women rebounded in 2020 elections to reach new highs in legislative representation in 2021. Still, they continue to be the minority of women and of Republican legislators.
Measuring women’s electoral success means placing 2020 outcomes into historical and contemporary context. That is the work of this report. In addition to breaking down 2020 congressional and state legislative data by gender, race, and party and providing specific comparisons to the 2018 election, this report evaluates progress for women in electoral politics by looking beyond the numbers. The 2020 election reveals – via candidate paths to office and strategies for success – both maintenance and disruption of the gender and intersectional dynamics that have historically contributed to women’s political underrepresentation.
Click here to access the report published by the Center for American Women and Politics.
Elections in 2020 were profoundly marked by the COVID-19 pandemic, resulting in delays and cancellations, logistical challenges for candidates and election administrators and often low turnout. Women’s leadership was frequently in the spotlight during the pandemic. The pandemic raised complex and deeply gendered challenges for citizens and created obstacles for MPs to communicate and engage directly with their constituents. It changed the ways parliaments operate, introducing flexibility and new technologies. A substantial number of MPs across the globe were infected, many lost their lives.
Click here to access the report.
Source: IPU
Within the next two years, 38 states will hold gubernatorial elections, including two states - Virginia and New Jersey – who will hold gubernatorial elections in November 2021. These elections provide multiple opportunities for women. Nine women currently serve as governor and just 44 women have ever served in gubernatorial office in U.S. history. Candidates, including some potential women candidates, are already jockeying for the governors’ offices.
But running for office isn’t the only way women can participate in politics and wield power. Political donations provide critical resources that help candidates win elections and they signal that a candidate has support and the potential to be competitive. Furthermore, research finds that candidates and party leaders are more attentive to the interests of political donors. The 2018 and 2020 election cycles demonstrated that women are emerging as a significant force as political donors, and the 2021 and 2022 races present an opportunity for women to flex that power and make their mark in gubernatorial elections.
In The Money Hurdle in the Race for Governor, co-authors Kira Sanbonmatsu, Kathleen Rogers, and I note the dearth of women governors and the challenges women candidates face in seeking gubernatorial office. Our research also reveals that women’s giving in gubernatorial elections hasn’t reached its potential. Women make up a majority of the American electorate and vote at higher rates than men yet have lagged behind in terms of political giving. That tide may be turning.
Click here to read the full article published by the Center for American Women and Politics (CAWP) on 14 January 2021.
This study applied a conceptual framework that uses a comparative and gendered approach to estimate the cost of politics, using a set of pre-identified variables regularly incurred by both candidates seeking political office and elected representatives while in office. This consideration was in line with the notion that analysis of election delivery and management should not be looked at in the realm of an event but rather as a cycle. The conceptual framework enabled the research team to arrive at both statistical and qualitative evidence regarding the cost of politics in Uganda.
Click here to see the report.
This year marks the centennial of the ratification of the 19th Amendment to the United States Constitution, which guarantees women the right to vote. But the United States was hardly the first country to codify women’s suffrage, and barriers to vote persisted for some groups of U.S. women for decades. At least 20 nations preceded the U.S., according to a Pew Research Center analysis of women’s enfranchisement measures in 198 countries and self-administering territories. Today, none of these 198 countries and territories bar women from voting because of their sex; some countries do not hold national elections.
Here is a closer look at the history of women’s suffrage around the world. This analysis focuses on when women in each country won the right to vote in national elections, not regional or local elections.
Click here to read the full article published by the Pew Research Center on 5 October 2020.