Women in politics : a cross-national demand and supply analysis

Abstract

It is striking that the sharp increase in the number of countries moving towards self-governance and democracy has not been accompanied by more equal political representation of women. What is equally puzzling is the contrast in the share of women in positions of political authority observed between countries, with many developed nations having fewer women legislators than a number of lesser-developed countries. Why are there so few women in most parliaments and why is there such variation across countries? To understand gender-based inequality in political authority, we look at the various stages of candidacy and identify potential bottlenecks to women participation and election into public office. There are three stages which one must pass through successfully to become a legislator. The first is becoming eligible and a part of the pool from which politicians are drawn, then being selected as a candidate and finally being elected to office. Potential barriers to entry for women in the legislative process may exist at any or all of these three stages. Each of these candidacy stages is discussed through a cross-national analysis and a case study of India. The cross-national data is for 175 countries at three points in time: 1975, 1985 and 1995. The Indian case study looks at women in parliament from the first general elections in 1951-1952 and focuses most on the 1996 parliamentary data. We argue that the key factor limiting the recruitment of women into politics is women's sparse representation in the pool from which politicians are recruited. Just as in thecase of men, women are drawn from an elite pool based on their occupational achievements.

(cont.) Countries that have a greater share of women in their professional and managerial labor force are able to recruit more women into politics. Having women well represented in the eligibility pool for political candidates, broadly the elite professions is necessary to provide a conduit for women into politics. While female labor force participation has increased dramatically in the last three decades, the relative position of women in highly paid/high status professions has increased only marginally. So it is not a case of active discrimination against women in politics or a case of different gender preferences, with women having less interest in politics. It is fundamentally a case of women being less represented in the specific labor pool from which politicians are drawn. In a number of developing countries, secluded labor markets have provided access for women from elite families into top industry and professional leadership positions. This has led to a relatively larger proportion of women in the political eligibility pool and consequently to a higher level of female recruitment in politics than in countries in which women comprise a smaller part of the elite professional pool. However, in many countries, the process of industrialization has generated economic and social pressures that have imposed greater restrictions on women in the economic, and consequently, political sphere. This suggests that economic development, while it opens some opportunities for women, can also make achievement of higher leadership positions more difficult.