Politics of Gender

Question 1

O’Brien (2015) - Rising to the top: Gender, Political performance, and party leadership

Answer 1

Female leaders = play by a different and more demanding set of rules than their male counterparts.
Some of their conclusions:
- Women are more likely to come into power in minor opposition (or those losing seat share)
- They are more likely to leave when faced with an unfavourable trajectory

Question 2

Anne Phillips (1998) - THE POLITICS OF PRESENCE

Answer 2

• Argues against ‘politics of ideas’ which sees race and gender as indifferent
• Instead view race and gender as DEMOCRATIC CONCERNS
  However simultaneously realises this can lead to essentialist ideas of group identity, so poses for a combination of the two

Question 3

Annesley, Beckworth & Francheset (2019) - Cabinets, Minsters and Gender (lecturers book)

Answer 3

Historically, men more likely to be appointed.
The emergence of ‘concrete floor’ (minimum number of women who must be appointed to the cabinet to ensure it’s legitimacy)
One of the strongest causes of women being appointed to the cabinet was them being a close ally or friend of the PM (not a meritocratic appointment)

Question 4

Norris and Lovenduski (1995) - Supply and Demand explanations

https://www.bath.ac.uk/publications/barriers-to-women-entering-parliament-and-local-government/attachments/barriers-to-women.pdf

Answer 4

SUPPLY

• Focus of women coming forward to stand (#askhertostand)
• Public/Private divide = men’s duty to be in the public sphere
• Caring responsibilities (childcare isn’t always affordable)
• 45% of women MPs don’t have children

DEMAND
- Focus on selection process, WHO chooses candidates and WHAT is the process (AWS?)
- What the preconceived idea of what a politician should look like is (white, male, private school)
(this leads to discrimination as assumptions are made prior to establishing applicants actual ability)
NEARLY 50% OF CONSERVATIVES WENT TO PUBLIC SCHOOL. NEARLY 1/4 OF CURRENT MPS WENT TO OXBRIDGE VS 1% OF THE POPULATION.
- The system favours incumbents (parliament is structured to suit this stereotype) = long hours don’t allow for being a full-time parent as well.
- What ‘voters will like’ = electoral bias?

Question 5

Lewis (2015) - The Motherhood Trap

Answer 5

• 45% of women MPs are childless vs 28% of men. (mothers, not just women are under-represented in parl)
• Childless women = vilified as selfish
  Angela Merkel described as ‘not embodying with her the biography of the experiences of most women’
• Parliament = structured to facilitate white middle-class men

Question 6

Bochel and Denver (1983)

Answer 6

“If more women come forward, more would be nominated”

Question 7

ASKHERTOSTAND

Answer 7

• A movement focused on achieving a 50:50 split between men and women in parliament
• (need to be asked 3 times before they consider standing)
• You can nominate a woman to stand for parliament by ‘asking her to stand’ = increase on the supply side

Question 8

ALL WOMEN SHORTLISTS - 1997

Answer 8

• In the 1990’s LESS THAN 10% of the House of Commons were women
• LABOUR used AWS in HALF of all winnable seats in 1997
• (35 out of 38 of these seats won/ were elected)
• A record number of female MPs now sit in UK parl
  ( 34% in TOTAL ) (51% of LABOUR are women)
• Increased parliamentary priority to issues such as domestic violence and childcare

Question 9

Criticisms of the AWS (Fawcett Society 2018)

Answer 9

’ I had to defend myself against the system I was going through ‘

Negatively shapes women’s experience of selection as it faced backlash for ‘discriminating against men’

Question 10

McKay (2011) ‘Having it all? Women MPs and Motherhood in Germany and the UK’

(WOMEN in H of C = 34%)
(WOMEN in BUNDESTAG = just over 30%)

Answer 10

Psychological effects of being a ‘good mother’ and a successful parliamentarian at the same time

• Long and unsociable hours
• Long-time periods away from home
• Reliance on childcare
• Living in London (minimise time away from home)

Rely on affluence

45% OF WOMEN MPS ARE CHILDLESS

Question 11

Recent example of the affluence needed for women in parliament

Answer 11

Laura Smith Labour MP lost her seat in December 2019 general election

• ‘I am working class, when the work stops, the money stops.’
• ‘I have two kids and a responsibility of care for them’

People took photographs of her in her local jobcentre as she didn’t have ‘savings’ to fall back on’

Question 12

SUTTON TRUST DATA (trends in the social bias of parliament)

Answer 12

• Nearly 50% of Conservatives went to public school

- Nearly 1/4 of current MPs went to Oxbridge vs 1% of the population

Question 13

Gender quotas stat

Answer 13

60% of countries that use gender quotas have parliaments composed of 30% women

Question 14

Female leadership

Answer 14

Most countries in Eurpe didn’t see a female leader until 1970s (UK and Portugal 1979)

Question 15

GERMAN GENDER STATS (can be included in supply and demand argument)

Answer 15

• Despite Angela Merkel being a female, only just over 30% of the Bundestag are female (a 20 year low for Germany) UK = 34%
• 46th place in world ranking
• At a recent CDU conference Angela Merkel described the group’s leadership as ‘very male’

= AfD gaining 94 seats in parl changed the representation
(Only 11% of AfD are women)
- Women are frequently asked how they balance fmaily life and politics (a question that is rarely, if ever asked to men) (demand exp)

• The Greens and Left Party in Germany however use internal gender quotas that require 50% of all candidates to be women

Current Bundestag
GREENS = 58% women
LEFT PARTY = 54% women