Gender as a recruitment criterion in the parliamentary political elite of Latvia (1993–2016)

Abstract

The globalization process has transformed substantially understanding of the issue of border. Revising borders is also seen in political science – in the area of political elite recruitment. Recruitment criteria and their importance are changing, including the importance of gender. In 1981 the United Nations General Assembly adopted the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women, which provides equal rights of genders in the political elite, the so-called “mirror representation”, i.e., in the political elite men and women should be represented proportionally according to their number in society [4]. It should be particularly stressed that the purpose of “mirror representation” is not only to ensure equal rights of genders, but first of all to improve the quality of politics. As soon as Latvia regained its independence in 1990, the complicated process of formation (recovery) of the democratic governance model started. In 1993 the first parliamentary elections were held, and by 2016 elections for eight parliamentary terms had been held [3]. In view of the complex political history of Latvia, it is interesting and important to clarify the role of gender in the Latvian parliamentary political elite recruitment process – what correlations can be observed with regard to the male and female share in the parliament during the period from 1995 till 2016, and the extent to which it complies with the sex ratio breakdown of the society.