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Women, Quotas and Politics
Contributor(s): Dahlerup, Drude (Editor)
ISBN: 0415375495     ISBN-13: 9780415375498
Publisher: Routledge
OUR PRICE:   $171.00  
Product Type: Hardcover - Other Formats
Published: December 2005
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Temporarily out of stock - Will ship within 2 to 5 weeks
Annotation:

Although highly controversial, electoral gender quotas have been introduced in more than fifty countries around the world to improve women's representation in national parliaments and political parties.
"Women, Quotas and Politics" offers the first global comparative analysis of the new trend to introduce gender quotas in public elections in order to achieve gender balance in political institutions. This book presents cutting-edge research about the discursive controversies and actual implementation processes in countries with quota provisions. Providing a quantitative and qualitative assessment of these quotas in a variety of political systems, from developing nations and new democracies to established democracies, the contributors evaluate how they have been implemented; where these quotas have succeeded and failed; and how they can contribute to the political empowerment of women.
Making an important contribution to our knowledge about gender politics worldwide, this book will be of interest to students and scholars of democracy, policy-making, comparative politics and gender studies.
Additional Information
BISAC Categories:
- Political Science | Comparative Politics
- Political Science | Political Process - General
- Social Science | Women's Studies
Dewey: 320.082
LCCN: 2005012587
Series: Routledge Research in Comparative Politics
Physical Information: 328 pages
Themes:
- Sex & Gender - Feminine
 
Descriptions, Reviews, Etc.
Publisher Description:

This is the first world-wide, comparative study of the controversial new trends of gender quotas now emerging in global politics, presenting a comprehensive overview of changes in women's parliamentary representation across the world.

This is important reading for all those working to increase women's influence in politics, because it scrutinizes under what circumstances gender quotas do increase women's representation - and why they sometimes fail.

These distinguished international scholars also show how gender balance in politics has become important to a nation's international image and why quotas are being introduced in many post-conflict countries. They present key case studies of Afghanistan, Iraq, Argentina, Sweden, South Africa, Belgium, covering almost all major regions of the world: Latin America, Africa, the Arab world, South Asia, the Balkans, The Nordic countries and Europe, New Zealand, Australia and the USA - and Rwanda, which in 2003 unexpectedly surpassed Sweden as the number one country in the world in terms of women's parliamentary representation.

Using a comparative perspective, this book contains analyses of the discursive controversies around quotas; it gives an overview over various types of quotas in use from candidate quotas to reserved seat systems, and it throws light over the troublesome implementation process. When do gender quotas lead to actual increase in the number of women parliament? When are quotas merely a symbolic gesture? What does it imply to be elected as a 'quota woman'? Tackling these and many more key questions, this is a major new contribution to the field.

Making an important contribution to our knowledge of gender politics worldwide, this book will be of interest to NGOs, students and scholars of democracy, policy-making, comparative politics and gender studies.