Women's political participation

Would increasing women participation in politics improve Philippine governance?

Some lawmakers and women's rights advocates believe it would.

In line with Women’s Month, lawmakers and women's rights advocate organized a Legislator’s forum last March 27 at the Sulo Riviera Hotel, addressing a bill that aims to promote women participation in governance.

Husbands of the women contesting the Lok Sabha elections from Bihar are going all out to support their wives.Take the case of Sailesh Kumar, husband of Misa Bharti and son-in-law of RJD chief Lalu Prasad. An IIM Lucknow alumnus, Kumar is managing his wife's poll campaign – besides taking care of the couple's two daughters.

When it comes to women in the White House, Sarah Palin takes the cake in Americans’ eyes, a new poll found.

The Economist/YouGov poll asked participants which female candidate — other than Hillary Clinton — they’d like to see run for the high office.

Mrs. Palin won 9 percent of the vote, Breitbart reported.

We invite you to read the full article published March 31, 2014

Prime Minister Portia Simpson Miller says not enough progress has been made to increase the number of women involved in parliamentary decision-making since adult suffrage in 1944, arguing that the pace at which they are being integrated leaves much to be desired.

"We cannot sit back and feel comfortable because a few women have been able to break through the barriers and create history," Simpson Miller said.

In the 70 years since adult suffrage, only 35 of the 362 persons elected to Parliament have been women.

Missouri Sen. Claire McCaskill shared her hard-earned advice and opinions about women in politics and leadership positions during a lecture on March 28, at Iowa State University.

McCaskill said she was aware of the polarized opinions regarding women in politics from a young age beginning with an eighth grade teacher she admired who tallied the aspiring politician’s faults.

We invite you to read the full article published March 31, 2014

The gaping underrepresentation of women of color on the political stage deeply undermines the American ideal of democratic representation.

That’s a conclusion reached by the Center for American Progress and detailed in an article titled, “Why We Need a Political Leadership Pipeline for Women of Color.”

The article, part of the Center’s Women in Leadership project, was unveiled during a panel event featuring prominent women of color scholars, organizers, and professionals.

Camellia Lubis, a 28-year-old dangdut singer popularly known as Camel Petir (Thunder), is one of 2,467 women legislative candidates vying for a seat in the House of Representatives.

The legislative candidate from the Indonesian Justice and Unity Party (PKPI), who will be standing for the second Jakarta electoral district, says she has been greatly underestimated due to her background as a singer with no political experience.

California boasts two female senators.

We are the only state to advance women's reproductive rights in the last few years.

The state is rapidly moving forward on the Affordable Health Care Act and there has been paid family leave in California since 2002, though it is underused.

But don't be misled. Even here we have a political gender gap that is actually widening, not closing.

A movie star, a beauty queen and a popular model are among candidates running in Sri Lankan's provincial elections on March 29, leading some Sri Lankans to accuse political parties of pushing "sex symbols" in the name of female political representation. 

The arrival of models and actresses onto the political stage, with their pictures splashed across newspapers, is beginning to make voters wonder about the political motivation behind such moves.