Global study finds most people want gender-balanced government, even if quotas are needed
Source: Phys
Americans are deeply divided about the use of quotas in hiring and education, but quotas are used in many countries to assure a balance of power between men and women in legislative bodies. New research co-authored at UC Berkeley finds that when governments are gender-balanced, people believe the political process and policy outcomes are more fair and democratic.
In a major study that included 17,000 people in a dozen countries—in Europe, the Pacific and the Americas—researchers found overwhelming support for a balance of representation between men and women, even when quotas are needed to achieve it. The U.S. and the U.K. don't use such quotas for national office, but even so, respondents in the study saw strong benefit, said Berkeley political scientist Amanda Clayton, the lead author.
The most important finding "is that citizens in democracies around the world strongly prefer women's equality to women's exclusion, regardless of how the equality is achieved," Clayton said in an interview.
Full article published by Phys on 22 May 2025.
Image by Phys
Americans are deeply divided about the use of quotas in hiring and education, but quotas are used in many countries to assure a balance of power between men and women in legislative bodies. New research co-authored at UC Berkeley finds that when governments are gender-balanced, people believe the political process and policy outcomes are more fair and democratic.
In a major study that included 17,000 people in a dozen countries—in Europe, the Pacific and the Americas—researchers found overwhelming support for a balance of representation between men and women, even when quotas are needed to achieve it. The U.S. and the U.K. don't use such quotas for national office, but even so, respondents in the study saw strong benefit, said Berkeley political scientist Amanda Clayton, the lead author.
The most important finding "is that citizens in democracies around the world strongly prefer women's equality to women's exclusion, regardless of how the equality is achieved," Clayton said in an interview.
Full article published by Phys on 22 May 2025.
Image by Phys