Gendering political representation: debates and controversies in Austria

Abstract

Introduction Historically, political representation in Austria was defined in terms of inclusion and exclusion. Exclusion corresponded with ethno-linguistic cleavages but was also based on class and gender. Class restrictions on men's voting were removed in 1907, and women were granted the right to vote and stand for election in 1918. Suffrage was now universal and equal, and elections free and secret. From 1918 to 1934 female MPs, especially from the highly organised and centralised women's working class movement, which was part of the Social Democratic Party, represented women as an interest group in decision-making bodies at federal and local levels. In 1934 the Christian Social Party abandoned its commitment to parliamentary democracy, and the parties of the left were outlawed. Between 1938 and 1945 Austria was part of the German Third Reich. After the Second World War the party system was re-established. In the decades following the war political representation was primarily understood in terms of economic interest representation, and women's representation in parliament hovered around 6 per cent. It was not until the emergence and growth of the second wave of the women's movement that the political representation of women became an issue. In the late 1970s the movement called for a higher percentage of female MPs by linking descriptive representation to questions of substantive representation, and women's parliamentary representation began to increase up to 10 per cent. By 2003 the proportion of women MPs was 31.7 per cent.