Quotas -- a Key to Equality?
An International Comparison of the Use of Electoral Quotas to obtain Equal Political Citizenship for Women.
A research project led by professor Drude Dahlerup, Department of Political Science, Stockholm University and supported by the Swedish Research Council.
The Aim of the Project
The aim of this project is to conduct the first international comparative analysis on the discursive controversies concerning quotas and of how actual electoral gender quotas work in different political systems.
Quotas are very controversial, yet several countries around the world,
including such diverse countries as
This project intends to contribute to the theoretical discussions, which are in focus internationally right now, namely theories about democratic representation and feminist theory concerning the political meaning of gender.
For the empirical analysis, a comparative research design has been chosen, focusing on differences in context. The project will establish an international network of researchers, who have made single country studies on quotas. A selected number of countries from all regions in the world will be included, based on the expertise of this network, see names and countries later. Spill-over effects to or from quotas for other groups or minorities will also be studied.
One PhD project will analyse the recruitment and nomination processes in the Swedish national and local elections. The second PhD project will study the influence of international bodies, and the ability of Women's Movements' to use the increased interaction between the national and the international level when introducing quota systems.
In political life quotas have often raised vehement debates. Research on quotas so far has tended to concentrate on these debates and on the actual decisions-making process. These discursive controversies are also an essential part of the present research project, but in addition, an emphasis is being placed on the too often neglected aspect of the troublesome implementation of quotas and on the consequences of introducing quotas. From studies of single countries, we know that a decision to introduce for instance a requirement of a minimum of 30% of each gender on the electoral lists does not automatically lead to women getting 30% of the seats. Thus by comparing the use of quotas in many similar, as well as different political systems, the project will illuminate whether and under what conditions quotas can be considered an equal policy measure, that does contribute to the stated goal, equal political citizenship of women.
Previous Research in the Field
The present quota-project builds on the extensive Nordic and international empirical research on women's political representation, as well as on the more recent research on equality policies (jämställdhetspolitik), which includes quotas. The present theoretical discussions about democratic representation and about 'women as a group' are also highly relevant.
Research on gender and political representation. Today, we see a world-wide increase in women´s representation, but the regional differences are immense (world average 14%, IPU 2001). The international research community has taken a strong interest in the results of Nordic research, because since 1970´s the representation here has been extraordinary high by international standards. This has sometimes been attributed to the introduction of quotas (Phillips 1995). However, this is not accurate, since quotas in the Nordic countries were introduced after women's representation had taken off in the 1970s, and not all Nordic political parties use quotas, mostly parties to the centre and the left. Furthermore, the few Danish parties with quotas abolished the system after just a few years. The Swedish principle of "every second a women" is not even considered a quota system by the general public, even if it is in fact a radical one, demanding, and in many cases leading to, 50% of each sex as the result.
The present study is relevant because of the need for more international comparative studies (see Rule 1987, Karam 1998). The last two decades´ many empirical single country studies and anthologies of women in politics (see e.g. Dahlerup 1986, Lovenduski & Norris 1993,1998, Nelson & Chowdhury 1994) have paved the way for new, cross-national comparison research projcts, like the present and the RNGS-project on gender politics and the state.
Research on gender and politics has tried to answer the two most frequently asked, yet from a research perspective rather complicated questions: Firstly, how did this increase in women's representation come about? (Bergqvist,ed. 1999, in English 2000, Dahlerup 1989, Eduards 1977, Haavio-Mannila, Eduards, Dahlerup et al 1983, in English 1985; Karvonen & Selle 1995, Lovenduski 1986, Sainsbury 1993,) and secondly, what difference does having many women in politics make? (Freidenvall 1999, Hedlund 1996, Skjeie 1992, Walby 1999, Wängerud 1998). The interaction between the elected women and women's organizations have been seen as important for the performance of female politicians and visa versa (Dahlerup 1998a, 2000a, Gustafsson 1997). One conclusion is especially relevant for the present project: that in almost all political systems, no matter what electoral regime, it is the political parties, not the voters, that constitute the real gatekeepers into elected offices. Consequently, the party nomination practices should be kept in focus (Dahlerup 1989, Lovenduski & Norris 1996).
Research on equality policies has developed rapidly during the last decade, with the world-wide expansion of the new "state feminism" and with the increasing number of recommendations and rules for equality from international organizations (Bacchi 1996, Lang 1989, Stetson & Mazur 1995). Surprisingly, little attention, however, has been given to research on the implementation of, and consequences of, various forms of equal opportunity and affirmative action policies. The present project intends to fill this gap concerning electoral quotas. On the importance of the GEP-project, see under preliminary results.
Theoretical discussions. A new trend is also the growing interest in theoretical questions within gender studies, including the study of gender and politics. The concept of citizenship has been central to many feminist research projects in recent years, focusing on welfare state development and on the historical connection between political, social and civic citizenship (Lister 1997, Sainsbury 1999, Siim 2000). The concept of citizenship guides our attention to comparisons between the political exclusion and inclusion of women and that of other groupings or categories. The new philosophical discussion of Women as a contested category is also highly relevant for studies of gender and politics, and will be examined later.
Description of the Research Project: "Quotas - a Key to Equality?
Quotas in politics, at the labour market and in universities may been seen as an expression of a growing impatience among the supporters of equal political and social citizenship for women, since quotas can lead to a quantitative jump - if implemented. Whether quotas per se lead to a qualitative change, that is to actual empowerment of women, or may even cause a certain stigmatisation is an open question which needs further investigation.
The use of quotas is increasingly influenced by international recommendations and from cross-country inspiration. The international idea of quotas, however, meets very different contexts in individual countries. This meeting is the core of the project. Consequently, quotas are being introduced in countries that do not have the long history of mobilisation of women and of women's integration into the labour market and political life as the background for introducing quotas, as was the case in the Nordic countries (Bergqvist 1999). There is not one, but several models of the empowerment of women, usually defined as the ability to act and to prevent action, while citizenship refers to rights and to capacities for collective action.
The theoretical discussion
In the discussion of quotas, several important discussions about principles merges. Quotas represent a change in public equality policy, from "equal opportunities" to "equality of results". But quotas also touch upon fundamental questions in democratic theory and in feminist theory, and this project intends to contribute to these theoretical discussions (Fraser 1997, Phillips 1995, Young 1990).
In her classic text, Hanna Pitkin argues, that there is no common understanding about the nature of representation and about what fair representation is (Pitkin 1967). In the distinction between representation of ideas versus social representation (Esaiasson & Holmberg 1996, Holmberg 1999, Phillips 1995), quotas for women represent the second. Opponents of quota systems often argue from the first position. Concepts of universal versus differentiated citizenship are under discussion here. At play are also different concepts of the role of the politician: the delegate with a closed mandate versus the true representative (Bäck 2000) or the public servant versus the group representative (Squires 1996).
Anne Phillips advocates gender quotas in a system that combines a politics of ideas with a politics of presence. Even if she sees the many arguments against quotas, Anne Phillip asks why everybody agrees on the demand for the equal participation of women, but not for equal representation? The fact, that women all over the world have been excluded from representation, must be taken as the starting point, not the abstract principles of representation (Phillips 1995).
Even if quotas are often met with suspicion, all electoral systems include some kind of quotas, for instance geographical based quotas, where more densely populated areas are given a disproportional number of seats in parliament. The relation between gender quotas and quotas for other social groupings is complicated, since there are women in all (other) social groups.
Quotas touch upon the discussion of why women's representation is important? Three arguments can be found today as well as in the campaigns for suffrage: 1)Women represent half the population and have the right to half the seats (the justice argument). 2) Women have different experiences (biological or socially constructed) that ought to be represented (the experience argument) and 3) women and men have partly conflicting interests and thus men cannot represent women (the interest group argument) (Dahlerup 1978, Phillips 1995). A fourth argument deals with the importance of women politicians as role models, who may pave the way for other women.
In her book Gender and Citizenship Birte Siim (2000) distinguishes
between three models of citizenship: the liberal (
Quotas also touch upon the present philosophical dilemma within feminist theory about 'the category women' and point to the old problem, so well-known by the feminist movement, that not all women identify with the group 'women.' Women as a group is both the Achille's heal of the feminist movement and its raison d'etre. "The proletariat say "We", Negroes also. Regarding themselves as subjects, they transform the bourgois, the whites, into 'others'. But women do not say 'We'….Men say 'women', and women use the same word in referring to themselves" (Beauvoir 1949/1964,p.11). The present critique within feminist theory is partly a critique of Western ethnocentrism, stressing the principle of multiple identities, partly a poststructuralist critique, that feminism tends to construct the very category, it wants to dissolve (Benhabib et al 1995). But instead of labelling with static concepts of 'essentialism', the dilemmas and strategic choices of women in various contexts should be explored empirically (Dahlerup 2001). The present project will consequently analyse what concepts of representation and which understanding of women as a group are at play in the world-wide discussions of quotas for women.
The project consists of three inter-linked empirical projects,
1) the international comparative study (Drude Dahlerup),
2) the Ph.D. project about processes of recruitment and nomination in Sweden (Lenita Freidenvall), and
3) the Ph.D. project about the interplay between the international and the national level in introducing quotas (NN)
1. An International Comparison of Electoral Gender Quotas
The comparative research design allows for analysis of how quotas are introduced and work in different contexts (structures as well as actors). A selected number of countries from all regions in the world will be included, based on the expertise of the international research network, created for this project. It will be necessary to supplement previous single country studies to fill gaps. The project will result in articles for scientific journals and a larger book on quotas, which will include single country studies by the internationally well-reputed scholars, in addition to chapters dealing with the comparative aspects. Furthermore, a handbook for a general audience is planned in co-operation with IDEA, Stockholm. The international project will deal with the following four aspects of quotas as a policy measure (a-d):
a. The discourse
The project will study the debate on quotas, which seems to be particular to each country, as it is connected to other recent debates and to the general discourse on the meaning of gender and about democratic representation, see above. Even if discourses are increasingly international, the actual debates still takes place predominantly within national or regional linguistic boundaries. Thus Htun & Jones argue, that the principles of gender equality in Latin America have been gradually incorporated into the prevailing understanding of democracy and modernity, which gives quotas a symbolic value (n.y.). Notions of difference versus sameness are at play in these debates: whether quotas are seen as a temporary or permanent means can be used as a test of the ontological understanding of gender differences (Dahlerup 2001). Further, if quotas are the answer, what then is the understanding of the problem and how is it constructed in the public debate? (Bacchi 1999).
b. The decisions-making process.
The project will compare the decisions-making process in the included countries. Here the institutional setting, the party structure and the influence of the women's movement become crucial. Who were the main actors behind introducing quotas? Some countries have introduced quotas through amending their constitution or by law. In these cases, the state intervenes in order to secure equal representation. In the Nordic countries, gender quotas have only been decided by law in the case of appointed representation on public committees and boards (Dahlerup 1989, Bergqvist 1994). In public elections in the Nordic countries, quotas are exclusively based on the political parties' own decisions, as in the case of the Swedish "zipper-system". Consequently, it is easy to remove quotas again, as the Danish case reveals.
c. The Implementation of different kinds of quotas
The project will scrutinise the implementation process, an usually neglected aspect of quotas - by researchers as well as by policy-makers. This study deals only with quotas that are applied in processes of selection potential or actual candidates for public elections. The issue of internal party quotas is thus omitted as are quotas for public commission and boards. National elections are in focus, but regional and local public elections are included providing the data is available.
Even if constitutional amendments and new electoral laws may seem more
commanding, it is not at all evident, that this method is more efficient
when it comes to implementation than party decisions. It all depends
on the actual rules and possible sanctions for non-compliance. A distinction
must be made between 1) the pool of potential candidates 2) the actual
nominees 3) the elected. There are examples of quota requirements on
all three levels, but most quota systems concern the second level. Here
the crucial question is, where e.g. the 40% required women are placed
on the lists or in the districts with real chances of election. The
partly unsuccessful "women's short lists" in
This comparative study can contribute to a much more solid understanding of how different types of quotas work, seen in relation to different electoral and nomination systems (e.g. primaries or not, the degree of centralisation of the party organisations, closed versus open lists). It is a preliminary finding that quotas are less likely to be applied and to succeed in electoral systems based on single member constituencies, where each party only presents one candidate - contrary to proportional representation systems. But even in a PR-system, small parties and parties in small constituencies have difficulties implementing quotas without controversial central interference in the usual prerogatives of the local party organisation to select their own candidates (Matland 1995, Dahlerup 1989). Thus conflicts with other principles might hinder implementation. The legitimacy of the quota system is crucial. It is one of the hypothesis of this project that the character of the debate leading to the introduction of quotas is just as important for the result as the electoral system.
d. Consequences of quotas
The result of introducing quotas will be studied in quantitative as well as in qualitative terms. Electoral statistics can tell the number of women elected. Unfortunately, the official electoral statistics in many countries do not have sufficient data on those nominated by sex, which must be provided through other channels, e.g. through the parties. The consequences of quotas should also be studied in qualitative terms, looking into the intended as well as the unintended consequences (e.g. stigmatisation, glass ceilings preventing the percentage of women to raise above the quota requirement - or unintended splits between different groups of women, see Larsson 1999).
The preliminary hypothesis of this project is, that quotas that rest on a previous mobilisation and integration of women into all parts of society, have better chances to succeed than those without this precondition, to lead to permanent empowerment of women into equal political citizenship. Since quotas in themselves do not remove all the other barriers for women's full citizenship, the crucial question is, whether quotas imposed because of international inspiration without mobilisation among larger groups of women themselves can achieve the goal. Does a critical mass of women count in itself? (Dahlerup 1988).
2. The Ph.D. project "Arguments and agency"
The Ph.D. project with the title "Arguments and agency – a study on the construction of gender in the recruitment and nomination processes of the Parliamentary and local council elections in Sweden 2002" aims at studying how the Swedish political parties argue and act in questions concerning women's political representation. It implies 1, on what arguments is the discussion of women's representation based, 2, what strategies are worked out for the promotion of women's political participation and how are they implemented, and 3, what do the parties' rhetorics and practices on women's representation mean in terms of gender and gender equality. Thus, this Ph.D. project will focus both on the political discourse and practice. Of particularly scientific interest is to what extent the political parties' arguments and agency are influenced by the high women's representation in Swedish politics, and vice versa, a factor which has not been studied previously.
The central question of the project will be operationalised through a study of the recruitment and nomination processes in relation to the elections to the national and the local councils in 2002. The constituencies of Stockholm and Kronoberg have been selected for the study, as well as three political parties: the Conservative Party, the Center party and the Social Democratic Party. Data will consist partly of written material by the individual parties, such as party programs, debate articles, and motions to the party congresses respectively, partly of a postal questionnaire and interviews with political representatives, such as party leaders and chairmen of the nomination committees. The analysis will be based on Carol Lee Bacchi's "What's the problem approach."
3. The Ph.D. project: The Interplay between the National and the International level
This project will study the influence of the many international bodies, who increasingly issue recommendations, and even rules, in the field of equality policy. Quotas have been recommended by UN, IPU, EU and OSCE, e.g. in the United Nations' CEDAW convention and the Beijing Platform for Action, both 1995. Many international organisations have worked on this question: IDEA, OSCE, The Interparliamentary Union (IPU) and the European Union, who all have projects on women and decision-making. No doubt, these international recommendations have given legitimacy to the use of quotas.
The Ph.D. project will study the interplay between the international level and the national level in the case of using quotas. To what extent and under which circumstances has it been possible for actors like the women's movement to use the international recommendations and the cross-national co-operation between organisations to promote their case at home. The theoretical framework for this study is the present discussion as to, whether social movements in general get more opportunities by internationalisation and by globalisation, or are in fact disempowered by these developments, unless they give up their very character as democratic grass roots movements and become professional NGO's (Dahlerup 2000b).
Project capacities
Research into women's political representation and the political meaning
of gender is an expanding research area today, in contrast to the neglect
of the gender dimension, which characterised the periods prior to the
start of Women's Studies, now Gender Research in the 1960s and 1970s.
The leader of this proposed project has herself contributed substantially
to the development and consolidation of this new research community
in the Nordic countries, in Europe (through ECPR) and internationally
(through IPSA), and has written extensively on these issues, see Drude
Dahlerup's C.V. and list of publications. Drude Dahlerup has been invited
by the OSCE to
This study is conducted at the Department of Political Science, Stockholm University, a consolidated research milieu on gender research with three professors specialized in gender research (Maud Eduards, Daine Sainsbury, and Drude Dahlerup). Manys student have written their essays within gender studies, and today a number of master students and doctoral students are attached to the department's seminar on Gender & Politics.
Network of international scholars for this project:
Milica Antic, Univ. of Ljubljana (CEE-countries), Carol Bacchi, Univ. of Adelaide, Julie Ballington, Univ. of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg (on South Africa, Tanzania), Alice Brown, Univ. of Edinburgh, Manisha Desai, Hobart and William Smith College, New York (on India), Richard E. Matland, Univ. of Houston (Eastern Europe, Norway), Bérengère Marques-Pereira, Univ. Libre de Bruxelles, Mariette Sineau, Fondation Nationale des Science Politiques, Judith Squires, Univ. of Bristol, Qi Wang, Univ. of Aarhus (on China).
Preliminary Results
The findings of the GEP-project has been important for the present research proposal and the interest in a closer study of how quotas actually work, when the heated debates are over. GEP, (Gender, empowerment and politics) is a larger research project funded by the Social Science Research Council in Denmark on the changing meaning of gender in modern Denmark. The project runs from 1996-2001. Six researchers, Birte Siim, Ann-Dorte Christensen, Annette Borchorst, John Andersen, Jørgen Elm Larsen and Drude Dahlerup have been involved. Part of the GEP-project is a study of Danish equality policies – concepts, discourses and policies, which also looks at the debate and use of quotas in Denmark - at the universities, in the political parties and when hiring people for higher positions in public administration (Borchorst & Dahlerup, forthcoming).
Some key findings can be mentioned: Introductions of quotas are always highly controversial and yet the debates are often confused and only understandable if the hidden assumptions about women and women's position are scrutinised. This makes it possible to see why quotas for some are seen as discrimination and violation of the principle of fairness, while others consider them a compensation for structural barriers, that prevent fair competition. The idea of quotas is often in conflict with other notions like the prevailing discourse of fairness and competence, and the idea of individualism. On the other hand, quotas are seen as an efficient measure to reach "real" equality, that is equality of results.
An unclear debate and lack of legitimacy of the claim often leads to
problems at the stage of implementation. Closer studies reveal, that
rules are surprisingly often not implemented. The study of quotas in
the city of Aarhus in
In an earlier survey to the political parties in the Nordic countries and among women's organisations in the same parties about quotas, the Norwegian Labour party told, that it takes three elections to implement a quota system. Why? Because the party does not throw out a male incumbant MP in order to include a women (Dahlerup 1989).
The results of previous single country studies are quite disperse: From the partial failure of the attempt to introduce women's short lists in a single majority electoral system like England, which nevertheless showed some positive results (Squires 1996), over the often "minimalistic" compliance by the political parties of the rules, which has resulted in small and uneven gains in women's representation in Latin America (Htun & Jones n.y) to the somewhat stigmatising consequences of reserved seats for women in Uganda (Christensen 1999).
The Importance of the Project
This project will contribute to the theoretical discussion of notions of equality, of representative democracy and of understandings of gender in politics. Through the international comparison on the use of quotas, new knowledge is produced, especially about previously neglected aspect: the implementation of quotas and the consequenses and results of introducing quotas under various conditions. The results will be relevant for research into equality policies and affirmative actions in other fields, e.g. in the labor market.
This knowledge will also be useful to policy-makers, working with equality policies and affirmative action. Under what conditions do quotas contribute to the empowerment of women in politics? When do quotas lead to stigmatisation? Today, decisions to use quotas are often based on insufficient discussion of the principles and a lack of knowledge of whether specific forms of quotas do lead to the stated goal. The publishing a global handbook on the implementation of quotas together with IDEA, will make the research results available to a larger audience. In general terms, this project will contribute to our understanding of the interaction between discourse, institutional setting and actor strategies in promoting policy chance and new policy outcomes.
References:
Bacchi, Carol Lee, 1999, Women, Politics and Policy, London, Sage Publications
Ibid., 1996, Politics of Affirmative Actions – Women, Equality and Category Politics, London, Sage Publications
Bergqvist, Christina, ed., 1999, Likestilte Demokratier? Kjönn og politikk i Norden, Universitetsforlaget, Oslo and Nordiska Ministerrådet, København. In English 2000.
Bäck, Henry, 2000, Kommunpolitiker i den stora nyordningens tid, Stockholm, Liber
Christensen, Trine Grønborg, "A Woman's Place is in the House – State House!," Speciale, Dept. of Political Science, University of Aarhus, 1999
Dahlerup, Drude, 2001, "Ambivalenser och strategiska val. Om problem i kvinnorörelsen och i feministisk teori kring särart och jämlikhetsbegreppen," Kvinnovetenskaplig Tidskrift, forthcoming
Ibid., 2000a, "Sociala rörelsers strategier och möjligheter, "pp. 89-122 in Neergaard, Anders and Stubbergaard, Ylva, eds. Politiskt inflytande, Lund, Studentlitteratur
Ibid., 2000b, "The Women's Movement and Internationalization. Disempowerment or New Opportunities?" Text no 1-2000, GEP
Ibid., 1998a, Rødstrømperne. Den danske Rødstrømpebevægelses udvikling, nytænkning og gennemslag 1970-85. Bd. 1-2, København, Gyldendal
Ibid., 1998b, "Using Quotas to Increase Women's Political Representation, " Karam, Azza, ed. 1998, Women in Parliament: Beyond Numbers, Stockholm, International IDEA
Esaiasson, Peter and Holmberg, Sören, 1996, Representation from Above – Members of Parliament and Representative Democracy in Sweden, Aldershot, Dartmouth
Freidenvall, Lenita, 1999, "Betydelsen av kön i kommunalpolitiken ur ett generationsperspektiv," MA thesis, Department of Political Science, Stockholm University
Fraser, Nancy, 1997, Justice Interruptus. Critical Reflections on the 'Postsocialist' Condition, Routledge
GEP: www.i4.auc.dk/GEP
Gustavsson, Gunnel, et al, 1997, Towards a New Democratic Order? Women's Organizing in Sweden in the 1990s, Stockholm, Publica
Hedlund, Gun, 1996, Det handlar om prioriteringar – Kvinnors villkor och intressen i lokal politik, Örebro Studies 14, Högskolan i Örebro
Holmberg, Sören, 1999, Representativ demokrati, Stockholm, Fakta
Htun, Mala and Jones, Mark P, n.y, "Engendering the Right to Participate in Decision Making: Electoral Quotas and Women's Leadership in Latin America," paper, New School of Social Research/Michigan State University
Karam, Azza, ed. 1998, Women in Parliament: Beyond Numbers, Stockh., International IDEA
Larsson, Shadi, 1999, "Vänsterpartiet och utrikesfödda kvinnor. En undersökning om betydelsen av kön och utländsk bakgrund för den politiska representationen," essay, Dept of Political Science, Stockholm University
Lister, Ruth, 1997, Citizenship: Feminist Perspectives, New York, New York Univ. Press
Lovenduski, Joni and Norris, Pippa, eds. 1996, Women in Politics, Oxford Univ. Press
Marques-Pereira, Bérengère, 2000, "Political Representation in Belgium. Women's Citizenship, Change and Contribution in Parliamentary Debates ", Text no 3-2000, GEP
Sainsbury, Diane, ed.1999, Gender and Welfare State Regimes, Oxford Univ. Press
Siim, Birthe, 2000, Gender and Citizenship. Politics and Agency in France, Britain and Denmark, Cambridge, Cambridge University Press
Squires, Judith, 1996, "Quotas for Women: Fair Representation?" in Lovenduski, Joni and Pippa Norris, eds. 1996, op.cit.
Walby, Sylvia, ed. 1999, New Agendas for Women? Basingstoke, Macmillan
Wängnerud, Lena, 1998, Politikens andra sida – om kvinnorepresentation i Sveriges riksdag. Göteborg, Göteborg Studies in Politics 53