women in political office
- women in political office
Women are still underrepresented in most of the world’s legislatures, partly because of lack of educational opportunities in some parts of the world, but also because of their traditional responsibilities in childbearing and homemaking. Males often see themselves as especially suited to the conduct of political discussion and fitted for the role of political leadership. This tends to be a self-perpetuating situation, for women are liable to be deterred by the perception that politics is a man’s world, a macho experience which they will find daunting and intimidating.
Women fare better where a form of proportional representation is employed, rather than the first past the post electoral system. Scandinavia has the highest percentage of women among European legislative bodies, Protestant countries generally faring better than Catholic or Orthodox ones such as France, Greece and Italy.
Representation of women in the House of Commons has significantly increased in recent years, averaging around 3 per cent in the 1950s and fractionally under 20 per cent in the 2005 Parliament. Much of the increase of recent years has been due to Labour’s determination to boost women’s representation, through the use of allwomen shortlists.
The use of the additional member system in Scotland and Wales has helped the female cause, with 51 and 30 women members respectively in the Scottish and Welsh devolved bodies. The Welsh National Assembly is the only elected legislature in the world with an equal number of male and female members. Of course, there are other ways in which women participate in the political system, for example by service in local government and on the Bench, and by membership of pressure groups and involvement in political protest.
Glossary of UK Government and Politics .
2013.
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