Abstract
PurposeDespite the ongoing increase of women in the top positions, they are still underrepresented in politics. The studies that primarily focus on women’s underrepresentation in politics neglect the role of gender as a category that structures and makes sense of social practices. The purpose of this paper is to investigate the mechanisms that regulate the contemporary gender order in politics through discourse analysis and the contribution of the critical feminist perspective.Design/methodology/approachThe study is based on 30 biographical interviews with Italian politicians and focuses on the account of their political experiences and on the meanings attributed to these.FindingsThe results of this paper underline the tendency to either absolve or blame women for gender inequality in politics through different interpretative repertoires: “Women’s disinterest toward politics,” “Politics as masculine context” and “Politics–family unbalance.” The analysis allowed to unravel the way in which the discursive practices create and reproduce the hegemonic gender order in politics.Research limitations/implicationsThe research is limited to 30 qualitative interviews, and so results cannot be generalized.Practical implicationsThe findings of this paper highlight the importance of exploring issues relating to the gender gap in politics and stress the need to implement actions to promote gender equality in politics.Originality/valueThe paper contributes to an understanding of women’s underrepresentation in politics and offers causes for reflection on a phenomenon that has profound implications for our society.
Highlights
Paper type: Research paper ion Despite the ongoing increase of women in the top positions of hierarchy, they continue to be underrepresented in politics occupying 19.5 percent of seats worldwide, 22.8 percent in Europe, 22.6 percent in the Americas, and 42.0 percent in Nordic countries (Inter-Parliamentary Union, 2017a)
The number of women elected in central institutions http://mc.manuscriptcentral.com/edi is increased compared to the past, in Italy women are still low represented in politics (Massa, 2013), and the number of women politicians decreases in the hierarchy of power (Fornengo and Guadagnini, 1999; Bonomi et al, 2013)
This study offers a reflection on gender inequalities in political participation, starting with a review of the literature and the results of research conducted on Italian politicians
Summary
Despite the ongoing increase of women in the top positions of hierarchy, they continue to be underrepresented in politics occupying 19.5 percent of seats worldwide, 22.8 percent in Europe, 22.6 percent in the Americas, and 42.0 percent in Nordic countries (Inter-Parliamentary Union, 2017a). Eq from 1948 to date are 3 out of 14 (Italian Parliament, 2017) This position of women in politics, characterised by both a numerical increase compared to the past, and a numerical decrease at the top of the power hierarchy, is well represented by current government. Analysing the composition of the Italian parliament, it is clear that the disparity between men and women in politics is recognizable when roles are more prestigious This condition is confirmed at the regional level: women are present in the joint sessions in 29% of ive the councils and hold key positions (departments and offices with greater decision-making power) in 18% of the councils, while only 10% is president of the region and only 2% are leaders of the rsi municipalities in the capital city (Openpolis, 2015)
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