Abstract
AbstractWomen are underrepresented in legislature almost worldwide, and China is no exception. Although the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) implemented its first gender quota in 1933, gender quotas and women's representation in China remain understudied. This study fills the literature gap by examining the subnational variation in gender quota implementation and women's representation in the county-level people's congresses (CPC). Through a comparison of four county-level units in Hunan and Hubei with similar socioeconomic features yet contrasting results in the numbers of female representatives elected in the 2016 CPC election, this study argues that women's access to CPCs is affected by the CCP's adoption and enforcement of grassroots quotas. The fieldwork shows that although all cases introduced a 30 per cent gender quota, only CPCs in Hunan province were able to meet the quota requirements. This was because the grassroots quota threshold was raised in Hunan and strictly enforced, partly as a response to the 2013 Hengyang vote-buying scandal. In contrast, CPCs in Hubei province nominated a large number of “first hands” (yibashou) candidates, very few of whom were women.
Highlights
Women are underrepresented in legislature almost worldwide, and China is no exception
Melanie Manion’s research on local congresses finds that members act as delegates for their constituencies and substantively represent them through the parochial provision of public goods.4. This study addresses this literature gap by examining the subnational variation in the implementation of gender quotas and women’s representation in China
Each selected rural county or urban district resembles its counterpart in the other province in various socioeconomic metrics but differs drastically in the proportion of female representatives elected in the 2016 county-level people’s congresses (CPC) election
Summary
Women are underrepresented in legislature almost worldwide, and China is no exception. Sun Long describes how several Party committee members reminded the participants during the vetting of the importance of meeting the quotas assigned to the electoral district: the four shortlisted candidates had to include two ethnic minorities, two non-CCP members, one under 35 years old, one woman, and two grassroots representatives.27
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