Political Parties
Malta leads the EU in disagreeing that measures such as the gender quota system can solve the underrepresentation of women in politics, despite having a gender quota system itself.
This emerged from a Eurobarometer survey on gender stereotypes, which asked if “temporary measures (eg quotas) are necessary to overcome the existing underrepresentation of women in politics”.
At 62 per cent, Maltese respondents registered the highest disagreement with the statement, significantly above the EU average of 36 per cent.
Just over a third of Maltese respondents agreed with this statement, below the EU average of 55 per cent.
Malta is one of 13 countries in the EU with systems to try to ensure gender balance within national elections. The results of the study could suggest Maltese citizens are unsatisfied with its system, which has been in place since 2021.
Read here the full article published by the Times of Malta on 18 December 2024.
Image by the Times of Malta
In a dramatic shift in India’s electoral landscape, political leaders are increasingly vying for women’s votes through financial aid and empowerment schemes, sidelining the caste and religious agendas that typically dominate campaigns in an effort to woo a growing voter bloc seen as crucial for election success.
On Thursday, Arvind Kejriwal, embattled leader of the Aam Aadmi Party (Common Man’s Party) which governs Delhi state, became the latest to join the trend by announcing a Mahila Samman Yojana (Respect for Women Programme) that would give 1,000 Indian rupees (US$12) each month to all women over 18. He has also promised to double this amount if reelected.
Observers view this initiative as a strategic effort to counter Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), which has not governed Delhi since 1998.
Kejriwal’s new initiative seems to borrow from the BJP’s own playbook, that contributed to their unexpected electoral success last month in Maharashtra, the state that houses Mumbai, India’s financial capital. The BJP’s approach included a programme that promised monthly payments of 1,500 rupees to women from families earning less than 250,000 rupees a year.
Read here the full article published by the South China Morning Post on 13 December 2024.
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How do you boost women’s representation in government, ask Jay Euijung Lee and Martina Zanella? Simple gender quotas risk being gamed, for instance by parties fielding women in unwinnable constituencies. The key, they suggest, involves distinguishing between two different kinds of discrimination faced by women in political careers.
In the pursuit of women’s representation in government, gender quotas of various kinds have been adopted by over 130 countries. However, simply implementing quotas is not enough to guarantee meaningful change. Political parties and voters may resist quotas, especially when biases against women’s competence in politics are deeply entrenched. Our recent study shows that even in such settings, however, quotas can gradually reduce these biases if they are designed appropriately.
Our case study is municipal council elections in South Korea. Since their inception in the 1990s, these councils have been overwhelmingly male-dominated, with women making up a mere 2% of elected officials. On top of this, 60% of Korean respondents in the World Values Survey of 2005 agreed that men make better political leaders than women. To combat this gender imbalance, a quota was introduced in 2006 along with wider reforms to the electoral rules for these elections…
Read here the full article published by LSE Inequalities on 27 November 2024.
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Malawi’s political landscape continues to be marked by a stark gender imbalance in its leadership structures, with men still occupying the majority of top positions across the country’s major political parties. Despite the growing calls for gender equality and the promises of progressive policies, women remain woefully underrepresented in political decision-making roles, with men dominating the ranks of party executives, national governing councils, and key leadership positions ahead of the 2025 general elections.
A recent analysis of political party conventions and executive committee compositions reveals a stagnant gender representation, with women holding only an average of 27 percent of seats in the National Executive Committees (NECs) of Malawi’s largest political parties. This troubling statistic underscores a persistent patriarchal hold over political power and raises serious concerns about the country’s commitment to achieving gender equality in the political sphere.
Read here the full article published by the Nyasa Times on 24 November 2024.
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Newly inaugurated President Prabowo Subianto unveiled Indonesia's new and enlarged Cabinet last month, naming ministers, deputy ministers and heads of various national agencies.
In total, he appointed 109 members, including a mix of professional and political appointees, with some ministers remaining on the job after serving for Prabowo's predecessor, Joko Widodo.
But only 14 of the appointees are women, and in the 48-member Cabinet, there are only five female ministers.
The low figure has drawn criticism from gender equality campaigners, who have expressed concerns over inadequate representation of women at the top of government.
Widodo, for his part, began his 10-year presidency with nine women in the Cabinet and ended it with four.
According to critics, this imbalance between male and female leaders shows the long road ahead to achieve gender equality in the world's biggest Muslim-majority country.
Read here the full article published by DW News on 17 November 2024.
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WOMEN and youths are an integral part of political parties and must be supported in the country, says political parties registrar Emmanuel Pok.
“In the awareness programmes, emphasis must be given to women, youth and people with disabilities as they can get more information out to people who must know the importance of political parties, their roles and functions in a democracy, why it is important to vote for endorsed candidates and to vote for policies of political parties,” he said.
In the launch of its third cooperate plan, the Integrity of Political Parties and Candidates Commission (IPPCC), through the Registry of Political Parties and Candidates aims to continue on the work of strengthening and promoting political parties.
“The key is to identify relevant and practical forms of awareness and the main message is that women are capable as men to encourage and support women in politics,” Pok said.
“They will also be encouraged to be financial members of political parties to allow them to be active members.”
Read here the full article published by The National on 31 October 2024.
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This publication explains gender equality in political life in terms of access, voice and transformation and provides guidance on how to conduct a national assessment of gender equality in political life and on how to develop a national action plan based on the findings of the assessment.
The Gender-responsive Governance Toolkit is a series of targeted tools, each with a distinct practical and thematic focus. They introduce or advance institutional and policy solutions and practices for gender-responsive governance. The toolkit is aimed at participating States’ political parties, other democratic institutions and civil society organizations, and complements ODIHR’s existing gender-equality publications.
Read here the full publication posted by the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe on 12 September 2024.
Image credits: Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe
This publication, intended for gender equality and party development experts from political parties across the OSCE region and beyond, complements ODIHR's online gender audit tool and provides practical guidance on how to conduct gender audits and implement gender action plans.
The Gender-responsive Governance Toolkit is a series of targeted tools, each with a distinct practical and thematic focus. They introduce or advance institutional and policy solutions and practices for gender-responsive governance. The toolkit is aimed at participating States’ political parties, other democratic institutions and civil society organizations, and complements ODIHR’s existing gender-equality publications.
Read here the full article published by the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe on 8 August 2024.
Image credits: Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe
As we navigate the complexities of the 21st century, women’s political participation and representation remain pivotal to building robust democracies and inclusive decision-making processes. In 2024, a historic milestone will be reached as 1.3 billion women across more than 60 countries exercise their right to vote. This unprecedented participation underscores the critical importance of addressing the barriers that still hinder women's full engagement in political life.
A pressing issue in the development space, particularly in women's development, is the often-missing dialogue between scholars and practitioners. Farida Jalalzai, PhD, in her role at Virginia Tech, has frequently highlighted this gap, emphasizing the need for a more integrated approach. Similarly, Farhat Haq, PhD, in her role at Lahore University of Management Sciences (LUMS) continues to emphasize the need for further inquiry and data in contextualizing women’s role in public spaces. As someone who straddles both worlds, I have witnessed firsthand the challenges and opportunities that arise when theory meets practice.
My career has afforded me unique insights into these dynamics. I have served as one of the youngest women in an executive cabinet in St. Louis County, been a board member for national organizations, and participated in local decision-making as an advisory committee member. These roles have exposed me to the systemic barriers, power dynamics, and patriarchal structures that women must navigate. As we rebuild from the failures of old systems, it is imperative to reimagine "inclusion"—not merely as a buzzword but as a fundamental principle guiding leadership, engagement, and participation.
Read here the full article published by The Friday Times on 30 July 2024.
Image by The Friday Times
Why do women continue to be under-represented in politics? The causes of this democratic deficit are well-studied, with women’s under-representation (and men’s over-representation) a combination of who comes forward for office and what obstacles are placed in their path.
Much popular and academic discussion around why women might not come forward has centred on political ambition—their interest in running for, and holding, elected office.
Click here to read the full article published by Social Europe on 27 October 2023.
Preventing Violence Against Women in Politics – Benchmarks for Political Parties (2022) is a joint paper by democracy organisations working with political parties, which presents interventions for political parties on how to prevent and address any form of violence against women in politics (VAWIP) in order to strengthen women’s participation and representation in politics and political decision-making.
The paper is produced by Demo Finland, International IDEA, The Oslo Center and The National Democratic Institute (NDI) as part of the Political Party Peer Network (PPPeer).
Click here to access the report.
Racial/ethnic minorities and women continue to be underrepresented in public office in the United States. Here, we evaluate the role of general election political party support for women and minorities in structuring these inequalities, as a key part of general election success is support from party networks. With detailed data on party support and the demographics of congressional candidates, we use two difference-in-differences strategies to leverage within-district and candidate-constant change over time. Thus, we are able to separate the effect of race/ethnicity and gender from other factors we demonstrate to be associated with party support. We find that, all else equal, Democratic and Republican minority nominees do not receive less support than their white counterparts. We also find that white women receive more party support from Democrats than Democratic men or minority women in the general election and that this support is more responsive to changes in electoral competitiveness. These findings suggest that party elites may provide additional support to candidates from underrepresented groups in the general election to broaden their appeal to voters.
Click here to download the paper published by Sage Journals on 23 April 2022.