How do women are represented in the European legislative assemblies: comparative analysis of the left and populist political parties’ practices
Research Article
How to Cite
Velikaya N.M., Berezkina E.Y. How do women are represented in the European legislative assemblies: comparative analysis of the left and populist political parties’ practices. Science. Culture. Society. 2022. Vol. 28. No. 2S. P. 8-23. DOI: https://doi.org/10.19181/nko.2022.28.2S.1 (in Russ.).
Abstract
The article is devoted to the problem of gender equality in politics and the representation of women in legislative bodies in Europe. The authors draw attention to the fact that the role of women in the European political landscape is increasing against the background of the crisis of traditional political parties. There is a relationship between the percentage of women involved in the work of legislative bodies and the political orientation of the parties that nominated them. As a hypothesis, the idea is accepted that the countries with the highest gender equality index and strong positions of social democratic parties are main donors for women in politics. Populist parties are mainly supporters of classical European traditionalism, therefore, in countries with strong right-wing populist parties’ women are less represented and there is an uneven distribution of legislative seats in favor of men.
By analysing the empirical base (electoral statistics and discourse analysis), the authors come to the conclusion that gender parity has not been achieved in the most European countries. The most effective way to enforce women representation in the European legislative bodies is to implement quotas at the level of national legislation, as well as to use of voluntary party quotas. However, the artificial nomination of weak female candidates who do not find support among voters and thus ensure guaranteed electability for strong male candidates. This is especially true for right-wing populist political parties, furthermore this trend is typical for most European countries. In addition to quotas, the European countries use special educational and social policies to minimise the pressure of gender stereotypes and expand the practice of women's political participation at all levels of government, which has yielded positive results; in today's convocation of the European Parliament, women are represented more than in previous convocations.
Keywords:
political parties, gender equality, women in politics, left parties, populist parties, gender quotas, feminism
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6. Kantola, J., Lombardo, E. (2019) Populism and feminist politics: The cases of Finland and Spain. European Journal of Political Research. Vol. 58. Issue 4. Pp. 1108-1128. DOI 10.1111/1475-6765.12333 (in Eng.).
7. Mir, M. A., Bhat, J. A. (2022) The politics of inclusion and equality in India: A gender perspective. Journal of Positive School Psychology. Vol. 6. No. 3. Pp. 10045-10050 (in Eng.).
8. Schwindt-Bayer, L. A. (ed.) (2018) Gender and representation in Latin America. New York, Oxford University Press. 350 p. ISBN 978-0190851224 (in Eng.).
9. Biroli, F. (2018) Violence against women and reactions to gender equality in politics. Politics & Gender. Vol. 14. Issue 4. Pp. 681-685. DOI 10.1017/S1743923X18000600 (in Eng.).
10. Kantola, J., Verloo, M. (2018) Revisiting gender equality at times of recession: a discussion of the strategies of gender and politics scholarship for dealing with equality. European Journal of Politics and Gender. Vol. 1. Issue 1-2. Pp. 205–222. DOI 10.1332/251510818X15272520831139 (in Eng.).
11. Engeli, I., Mazur, A. (2018) Taking implementation seriously in assessing success: the politics of gender equality policy. European Journal of Politics and Gender. Vol. 1. Issue 1-2. Pp. 111–129. DOI 10.1332/251510818X15282097548558 (in Eng.).
12. Rawłuszko, M. (2019) And if the opponents of gender ideology are right? Gender politics, europeanization, and the democratic deficit. Politics & Gender. Vol. 17. Issue 2. Pp. 301-323. DOI 10.1017/S1743923X19000576 (in Eng.).
13. Voronina, O. V. (2019) Gender equality in Russia: the role of women movement, gender society and a state. Gender relations in the modern world: management, economy, social policy. Proc. of the intern. scientific conf. Moscow-Ivanovo-Ples, Ivanovo State University. Pp. 11-18 (in Russ.).
14. Khonkeldiyeva, К., Farokhildinova, Z. (2020) Gender equality as a value of law. Science today: facts, trends, forecasts. Proc. of the intern. scientific and practical conf. Vologda, Marker Ltd. Pp. 61-62 (in Russ.).
15. Kalabikhina, I. E. (2021) How do we know whether gender equality has arrived? Woman in Russian society. No. 2. Pp. 3-16. DOI 10.21064/WinRS.2021.2.1 (in Russ.).
16. Tojiboeva, G. R., Bekirova, A. R. (2020) Actualization of gender equality in modern society. Academic research in educational sciences. Vol. 1. Issue 1. Pp. 389-395 (in Russ.).
17. Aslanyan, S. G. (2019) Ensuring gender equality through criminal law. An abstract from the PhD thesis. Krasnodar. 27 p. (in Russ.).
18. Berezkina, E. Y. (2021). Gender related topics in the European parliament election campaigns of the Italian populist parties in 2019: ideas reflection in the media and social networks. Science. Culture. Society. Vol. 27. № 1. Pp. 58-68. DOI 10.19181/nko.2021.27.1.5 (in Russ.).
19. Guseletov, B. P. (2020) The results of the European elections 2019: new alignment of forces in the European Parliament and European Commission, including gender aspect. History and Modern Perspectives. Vol. 2. No. 4. Pp. 10-16. DOI 10.33693/2658-4654-2020-2-4-10-16 (in Russ.).
20. Sundstrom, A., Stockemer, D. (2022) Political party characteristics and women representation: the case of the European Parliament. Representation. Vol. 58. Issue 1. Pp. 119-137. DOI 10.1080/00344893.2021.1898458 (in Eng.).
21. Velikaya, N. M. (2021) Realization of women's rights in political representation at the local level: social analysis. Human rights: forms of implementation and methods of protection in historical retrospective (Russian and foreign experience) [Prava cheloveka: formy realizacii i sposoby zashchity v istoricheskoj retrospektive (rossijskij i zarubezhnyj opyt)]. Proc. of the All-Russian scientific-practical conf. within the Saratov intern. legal forum. Saratov, Saratov State Law Academy. Pp. 13-19 (in Russ.).
22. Nikitin, A. K. (2021) What are socialists fighting for today? Мoscow, Klych-C Publ. 128 p. ISBN 978-5-6046085-4-8 (in Russ.).
23. Santana, A., Rama, J. (2018) Electoral Support for Left Wing Populist Parties in Europe: Addressing the Globalization Cleavage. European Politics and Society. Vol. 19. Issue 5. Pp. 558-576. DOI 10.1080/23745118.2018.1482848 (in Eng.).
24. Wauters, B., Maddens, B., Put, G.-J. (2014) It takes time: the long-term effects of gender quota. Representation. Vol. 50. Issue 2. Pp. 143-159. DOI 10.1080/00344893.2013.860911 (in Eng.).
Article
Received: 23.07.2022
Accepted: 05.09.2022
Citation Formats
Other cite formats:
APA
Velikaya, N. M., & Berezkina, E. Y. (2022). How do women are represented in the European legislative assemblies: comparative analysis of the left and populist political parties’ practices. Science. Culture. Society, 28(2S), 8-23. https://doi.org/10.19181/nko.2022.28.2S.1
Section
Gender relations
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