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gender quotas

December 3, 2024

♟️Autocracies are giving more women political power, but that isn't necessarily good news for democracy

Eda Keremoglu International observers generally praise the rise in female politicians in autocracies, but the inclusion of women in politics can also be a means by which autocrats polish their image without real reform. Janina Beiser-McGrath and Eda Keremoğlu caution that authoritarian states do not necessarily become more democratic, even if women gain real power in their cabinets. Read more

November 4, 2024

Women’s leadership in the European Parliament’s external delegations

Cherry Miller In the European Parliament, ‘delegations’ are formal groupings of Members who maintain inter-parliamentary relationships. At recently held constitutive delegation meetings, the gendered allocations of leadership positions revealed a complex picture. Cherry Miller and Lorenzo Santini find that, despite initiatives to improve gender representation, there has been a decline in the number of ‘head’ women delegation […] Read more

March 7, 2024

♀️ Ensuring the effectiveness of gender quotas in Ireland

Fiona Buckley Legislative gender quotas are effecting change in Irish politics. However, argue Fiona Buckley and Mack Mariani, without strong party leadership and political will, advances in women’s political representation can only go so far. To maintain progress, party leaders must prioritise women’s recruitment, nomination, and financial support as well as retain incumbent women Read more

March 5, 2024

♀️ Why a gender-balanced parliament is no guarantee of equality

Ragnhild Louise Muriaas Women have made great strides towards equal representation in parliaments across the world. Their short parliamentary careers, however, still stop them from representing their constituents as effectively as men colleagues, write Ragnhild L. Muriaas and Torill Stavenes, guest editors of The Loop’s blog series to mark International Women’s Day on Friday 8 March Read more

April 19, 2023

🦋 Inclusive democracy: a second-generation design

Karen Celis Fixing numbers is not enough. In their second-generation design for inclusive democracy, Karen Celis and Sarah Childs refashion representation processes to incentivise elected representatives to care more for diverse citizens. The designed-for effects? Experiencing better representation ‘in the round’, the most marginalised feeling recognised by and connected with democratic politics Read more

April 18, 2023

🌈 Genderwashing or genderbashing? Reconciling the different faces of modern autocrats

Elin Bjarnegård Gender and authoritarianism are interconnected – but in different and unexpected ways. Elin Bjarnegård and Pär Zetterberg think the relationship between them deserves more attention in political science. Here, they expose the relationship in terms of two autocrat strategies: genderwashing and genderbashing Read more

April 13, 2023

Feminist governance – here to stay, or gone tomorrow?

Marian Sawer Since 1975, feminists have helped establish new international frameworks requiring national governments to promote gender equality. Success at this level, writes Marian Sawer, inadvertently sowed the seeds of populist campaigns against foreign interference with national values Read more

August 31, 2022

Chile's draft Constitution is for women, too

Julieta Suárez-Cao The draft of a new Magna Carta in Chile proves that a constitution of and for women is possible, writes Julieta Suárez-Cao. But uncertainty lies ahead: polls regarding the constitutional vote on September 4th indicate it could be rejected Read more

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