Political Parties

The Democratic Party is hoping 2014 will be a Year of the Woman—again.

As party operatives prepare for the midterm elections, Democratic women are being cast in starring roles, on the ballot and at the ballot box, as the party tries to take back politically important governor's mansions and keep its fragile majority in the Senate.

"The importance of women to the Democratic Party in 2014 cannot be overstated," said Jess McIntosh, a spokeswoman for EMILY's List, which recruits and supports Democratic women candidates.

The leader of Germany's Social Democrats on Sunday pledged a 50-50 male-female split of the party's cabinet posts in a planned new 'grand coalition' with Chancellor Angela Merkel's conservatives, according to a newspaper interview.

Sigmar Gabriel, 54, last week sealed a deal with Merkel to form a left-right government tie-up after five weeks of political wrangling following September elections, but the accord must still be endorsed by his party's membership.

A little while back a lawsuit was filed with the Supreme Court to disallow funding of political parties that do not include women in the party list.

I do not know what happened with that suit - I have not yet heard that it has been discussed or decided upon, so I assume it is still an open case.

Some lawmakers have decided not to wait for the Supreme Court decision, and are taking the same idea via a different route - legislation in the Knesset.

Hillary Clinton's near-tear on the eve of the 2008 New Hampshire primary was a political game-changer.

"I couldn't do it if I didn't just passionately believe it was the right thing to do," Clinton told a local resident. "I have so many opportunities from this country and I just don't want to see us fall backwards as a nation. This is very personal for me."

The Aam Aadmi Party in Delhi has only seven women candidates out of 62. AAP is struggling to find women candidates willing to join politics. CNN-IBN spoke to some of the women candidates, including Rakhi Birla, who is contesting from the Mangolpuri constituency, a seat reserved for Dalits. "I am happy to get this opportunity and will serve the people," she said. All of 26 years and a journalist till a few months ago, Rakhi Birla is the AAP's candidate for the Mangolpuri assembly constituency and seems undeterred by what she is up against.

Women aren't running for office because barriers to entry too high

Since the 1980s, more women have registered to vote than men. In the 2012 election, 7.8 million more women cast ballots than men. Women are more engaged in politics than their male counterparts in a lot of ways. But when it comes to actually making the laws, women are sitting on the sidelines, making up just 18 percent of Congress.