Political Representation for Women
Politics and governance involve all aspects of power: who has power, what power relations exist, how power is exercised, the institutions of power, how they operate, what laws and policies are churned out from these institutions and what impact those have on people. Through the patriarchal powers vested in them by society, men become the ‘directors’ of virtually all public life – the ‘face’ of politics and governance. (Lowe Morna, 2004: 25)
It is a statement of the obvious to note that women have been discriminated against in the political arena for centuries, enjoying little to no representation and playing no role in the governing of their countries. To effectively give credence to the arguments for women’s representation and to be able to evaluate the effectiveness of various ideologies, electoral systems and the use of quotas in offering women political equity, we must first understand how they have been politically marginalised.
To that end, this paper begins with an exploration of the concept of citizenship: what it means, how important is it in having access to rights and representation and how and why the notion is gender-biased. Arguments are then presented that highlight the imperative need for women to have a face in governments, indicating their right to be a part of the policy making process. Women’s representation is, however, not a cut and dried issue for many political theorists and there are a number of debates surrounding the issue including the matter of women’s interests being a part of policy making, the legitimacy of feminists in government and the substantive effect of descriptive representation. Each of these will be discussed and evaluated as will the effectiveness of liberal democracy in terms of women’s rights and representation.
Finally, a focused discussion on electoral systems and quotas and how they can be used to ensure fair representation and participation for both genders ensues. Based on this, the required evaluation of
It is a statement of the obvious to note that women have been discriminated against in the political arena for centuries, enjoying little to no representation and playing no role in the governing of their countries. To effectively give credence to the arguments for women’s representation and to be able to evaluate the effectiveness of various ideologies, electoral systems and the use of quotas in offering women political equity, we must first understand how they have been politically marginalised.
To that end, this paper begins with an exploration of the concept of citizenship: what it means, how important is it in having access to rights and representation and how and why the notion is gender-biased. Arguments are then presented that highlight the imperative need for women to have a face in governments, indicating their right to be a part of the policy making process. Women’s representation is, however, not a cut and dried issue for many political theorists and there are a number of debates surrounding the issue including the matter of women’s interests being a part of policy making, the legitimacy of feminists in government and the substantive effect of descriptive representation. Each of these will be discussed and evaluated as will the effectiveness of liberal democracy in terms of women’s rights and representation.
Finally, a focused discussion on electoral systems and quotas and how they can be used to ensure fair representation and participation for both genders ensues. Based on this, the required evaluation of
Bibliography: Dodson, DL. 2006. The Impact of Women in Congress. Oxford University Press, New York. Held, D. 1991. “Between State and Civil Society: Citizenship” in Andrews, G (ed). Citizenship. Lawrence and Wishart, London. Lowe Morna, C. 2004. Ringing up the Changes. Gender Links, Johannesburg Mendus, S Pateman, C. 1989. The Disorder of Women: Democracy Feminism and Political Theory. Stanford University Press, Stanford California. Phillips, A. 1991a. Engendering Democracy. Polity Press, Cambridge. Phillips, A. 1991b. “Citizenship and Feminist Theory” in Andrews, G. (ed) Citizenship. Lawrence and Wishart, London. Phillips, A. 1993. Democracy and Difference. Polity Press, Cambridge. Phillips, A. 1995. The Politics of Presence. Clarendon Press, Oxford. Sawer, M. 2006. “From Women’s Interests to Special Interests: Reframing Equality Claims” in Chappell, L and L. Hill (eds). The Politics of Women’s Interests. Routladge, Oxford Vickers, J