Female Political Participation Research Articles

“A Fly in the Ointment”: The Barriers to Portuguese Female Political Participation

The latest data from the Gender Equality Index ranks Portugal 10th in female political power. Despite a larger female resident population, parity in access to power and decision-making remains limited. Research on local political power reveals low female representation within parties and a lack of motivation to recruit or affiliate women. This study utilizes thematic analysis eight interviews with women in political leadership positions to identify barriers to female political participation in the Portuguese context. Key questions addressed include the following: How do media representation, role models, stereotypes, and cultural norms impact the political arena? Is it the lack of representation that deters women, or does the political environment alienate them? The analysis explores how media portrayal, stereotypes, double standards, scrutiny, and cultural norms interconnect, perpetuating the political arena as a male-dominated space, thereby marginalizing women politicians.

DA RESTRIÇÃO À REDENÇÃO: A Trajetória Feminina no Processo Eleitoral

The history of women in politics is marked by a constant struggle against discrimination, violence, and exclusion. From the achievement of suffrage in 1932 (and its constitutionalization in 1934) to their current underrepresentation, women have faced enormous challenges in fully exercising their political rights. This article explores the historical processes of female participation in politics and electoral processes, highlighting how the patriarchal structure has distanced them from these spaces, creating an environment of hostility and resistance. However, we also address the progress made in this process, which is the result of women’s persistent fight for rights and representation. In this context, the Superior Electoral Court (TSE) emerges as an important active agent in promoting a more equal and representative political environment, implementing measures not only to bring women closer but also to enable and ensure their presence in these spaces. Therefore, we will analyze the progress and challenges surrounding female participation in politics, as well as the TSE’s role in this process.

Gender Affirmative Actions and Greater Participation Female in Politics: Overcoming “Inaptitudes” With Amartya Sen

Objective: The objective of this study is to investigate affirmative actions within the framework of John Rawls' and Amartya Sen's theories, with the aim of analyzing how these theories have influenced the strengthening of the idea of human dignity in contemporary times and the promotion of female political participation. Theoretical Framework: This section presents the main concepts and theories that underpin the research. The focus is on John Rawls' theories of justice and Amartya Sen's capabilities approach, providing a solid foundation for understanding the context of the investigation. Method: The methodology adopted for this research comprises a jurisprudential review and an analysis grounded in a dialectical perspective. Data collection was conducted through the analysis of judicial cases and legal documents, particularly within the Brazilian context of fictitious candidacies and the demand for the implementation of gender equality policies. Results and Discussion: The results revealed the necessity for decisions by national courts in cases of gender quota fraud to also be based on a gender perspective. In the discussion section, these results are contextualized in light of the theoretical framework, highlighting the implications and relationships identified. Possible discrepancies and limitations of the study are also considered in this section. Research Implications: The practical and theoretical implications of this research are discussed, providing insights on how the results can be applied or influence practices in the field of gender equality in politics. These implications may encompass the formulation of public policies and judicial actions in cases of electoral fraud. Originality/Value: This study contributes to the literature by proposing the maintenance of legitimately elected female candidates who did not participate in electoral fraud, and, from this number, the recalculation of the legal quota proportionality, as a means of strengthening the fundamental right to gender equality. The relevance and value of this research are evidenced by the potential application of its results in improving the effectiveness of affirmative actions in the political context.

Female Political Participation in India

Female Political Participation in India

Women's Political Participation in District Dir Lower: An Analysis of Local Government Election-2022

Several things have influenced the political participation of females in the Local Government Elections 2022 in district Dir Lower, KPK, Pakistan. Female political participation was very poor as compared to men in the district. Although, after the introduction of the Elections Act, of 2017, the participation of females has been raised in elections the role of the ECP was still not effective despite the fact that various administrative and legislative powers were vested in it. As a consequence of this study, multifarious factors were uncovered due to which female political participation was very low including, meager resources, cultural issues, administrative factors, and absence of political consciousness, etc. To overcome the fundamental issues faced by females regarding political participation the results of the study urge for more advocacy and the making of policies at both national and provincial levels.

Barriers and Impacts of Female Participation in Formal Politics in Makassar City Period 2019-2024

The increase of women's representation in formal politics in Makassar is encouraging for democracy. Even though there has been an increase in numbers, it has not yet reached the 30 percent quota in accordance with the affirmative action policy. This article wants to discuss the barrier for women in Makassar making it difficult for them to get chance into formal politics. Then, this article also wants to discuss the barriers and impact of female in Makassar legislative and executive institutions to gender equality. In writing this article, we used the library research method. The conclusion in this article is that social structures and political party are barriers for female who want to advance into formal politics, and the impact of female participation in legislative institutions is also quite satisfying by issuing policies and programs that contribute to gender equality and women's empowerment.

Female’s Participation through First-Past-the-Post Electoral System in Provincial Election of Nepal

An election produces changes in the socio-cultural arena. The gender gap is commonly used in politics to indicate voting preferences and level of participation during pre-electoral, electoral and post-electoral activities. Gender gap creates obstacles in every step of gender mainstreaming. This article was prepared based on secondary data from the election commission, Nepal (ECN). To assess the status of female’s participation and to identify causes and measures of the gender gap in the provincial level first-past-the-post electoral system, this article was prepared as the title female’s participation through first-past-the-post electoral system in the provincial election of Nepal. A simple literature review was conducted to collect essential information to meet the objective. The status of female’s participation is found low at the provincial level first-past-the-post electoral system in Nepal. There were few numbers of nominate female candidates and elected female candidates in all 7 provinces. In Karnali province, even a single female candidate can’t win the race. To meet the national commitment in gender mainstreaming and to fulfill the target of sustainable development goals, all political parties must perform effective policy to increase the number of female candidates. Through politics, women can realize discrimination and destitution over them. Active participation of women in politics boosts up their roles as voters, candidates, elected officials, electoral administrators, observers, civil society representatives, etc. All barriers regarding female participation in politics must be corrected by concerned authorities as soon as possible with the visionary and coordinating leadership of the local, provincial, and federal government.

Cognitive movility and female political participation

El texto presenta un análisis de la participación política de mujeres universitarias de la Universidad de Guadalajara, México, desde la perspectiva de la movilidad cognitiva de Russell Dalton. La muestra del estudio incluyó a 218 universitarias, divididas en 164 que estaban en ciclos iniciales (primer y segundo semestre) y 54 en ciclos finales (octavo y noveno semestre). La división de la muestra en dos grupos se basó en la idea de que la movilidad cognitiva sugiere una correlación positiva entre el nivel educativo y la participación política. Las dimensiones relacionadas con la participación política que se examinaron incluyeron el interés por la política, la valoración de acciones de protesta, la confianza en la política, el conocimiento sobre la política, la participación en actividades políticas y la participación política en general. Los resultados del estudio revelaron que no hubo diferencias significativas entre las estudiantes de primeros y últimos ciclos en ninguna de las dimensiones de participación política analizadas. Sin embargo, se encontraron diferencias significativas en las subescalas de conocimiento sobre la política y valoración de acciones de protesta en función de las áreas de formación disciplinaria de las estudiantes. Específicamente, se observó que las estudiantes de ciencias sociales y humanidades y ciencias económicas y administrativas mostraron una mayor participación en actividades políticas y una mayor valoración de las acciones de protesta en comparación con las estudiantes de ciencias exactas e ingenierías. En resumen, el estudio sugiere que el nivel de educación no tuvo un impacto significativo en la participación política de las mujeres universitarias estudiadas, pero las diferencias disciplinarias en las áreas de formación sí influyeron en algunas dimensiones de su participación política.

Elite Women in Pre-Mongol Chronicles

Abstract This paper examines Rus’ chronicles’ information about female political participation. Frequent omission of women’s given names in the chronicles is often interpreted as evidence that Rus princesses were less politically significant than Western and Byzantine elite women. An analysis of East Slavonic name usage offered below challenges this interpretation. The paper argues that the scarcity of information about women in the extant sources does not reflect the realities of pre-Mongol Rus, and that elite women in Rus were no less politically active than their counterparts in the rest of Europe.

Women's political participation in the socio-cultural environment of Pakistan: A critical review of mainstream political parties (2018-2022)

Although women make up half of Pakistan's population, their participation in politics has historically been limited. While women today are more politically active and articulate than in the past, their involvement is still hindered by various factors, including patriarchal structures, a genderbiased socio-cultural environment, and a conservative interpretation of Islam. This study utilizes qualitative methods to assess the participation of women as voters and candidates by examining the roles of far-right (Jamaate-Islami), central (Pakistan Muslim League Nawaz and Pakistan Tehreek-eInsaf) and left (Pakistan People Party Parliamentarian) political parties in the 2008, 2013, and 2018 elections. Relevant secondary sources, including the selected parties' manifestos, have been analyzed through content analysis to establish the appropriate context. The research findings indicate that although regulatory efforts aim to increase women's representation, political parties frequently prioritize female candidates with preexisting political backgrounds. Nevertheless, it is worth mentioning that the parties' ideological positions significantly impact their dedication to female political participation and representation. Although political parties have made some progress in improving women's representation and participation in elections, it is clear that a significant and ongoing dedication is necessary to close the gender gap in political engagement.

Can Female Political Representation Impact Female Labour Force Participation Rate? A Study across Indian States using Fixed Effect Panel Data Model

Can Female Political Representation Impact Female Labour Force Participation Rate? A Study across Indian States using Fixed Effect Panel Data Model

Does Politics even use Lipstick? A study on power, gender, and legitimacy in Brazilian Politics

Although societies have made some progress in gender equality, in most countries, women remain a minority in parliaments. In Brazil, women work, vote, syndicate, and exercise other fundamental rights. However, in many areas, especially those related to work, the participation of women still needs to be questioned, as is the case of political participation. This investigation aimed to investigate how Brazilian female political representatives see the scenario of female participation in the country’s politics. For this, the theories of the Glass Ceiling with that of Max Weber’s Legitimacy of Power were associated. The study is qualitative in the qualitative approach and the narrative method, with structured interviews applied to state and federal deputies and Brazilian senators; the discourse analysis technique was used. The fusion of the two theories provided resources for the analysis of power if considered gender and the understanding of the role of sexism in the low rates of female participation in politics. There is a vicious circle in which the female population hardly gets involved in public life because it oversees private life and the few women who participate face many obstacles. It is up to the parties’ fundamental role to include women in their staff, not only to comply with Brazilian legal provisions but also to eradicate the idea that politics is masculine.

Kinship ties and female political participation: The case of Philippine mayors

Recent years have seen improvements in gender representation in the political sphere. One important contributor is the female politicians’ kinship ties to incumbent or previous politicians. There are concerns, however, that such improvements are merely nominal. I quantify the extent to which female politicians with kinship ties are more likely to serve as placeholders. I utilize the transitory nature of term limits among local Philippine officials and focus on Philippine mayors and their kinship ties to their predecessors. Using the universe of mayors that followed term-limited incumbents from 2004 to 2013, I find that female mayors are less likely to stand for reelection after one term than males. Further investigation reveals that the gender gap is primarily explained by the gap among mayors with kinship ties to their predecessors. The estimated gender gap is more than one-fourth of the average likelihood of running for reelection in the sample. I also find that the predecessors of female mayors with kinship ties are more likely to run for mayor after their gap term and win. The results are consistent with political clans disproportionately using their female members as placeholders. In addition, female incumbents with kinship ties are more likely to exit politics after one term than their male counterparts. This result suggests that the political participation of female kins of term-limited mayors is more transitory than males.

What do we know about campaign finance and gender so far? The scoping review as an analysis tool with a feminist approach

This paper aims to present the scoping review as an analysis tool for the feminist debate. Through the use of this bibliometric technique, we surveyed the academic production of two central themes of political science: campaign finance and female political participation. To understand what has the literature shown us so far, we produced a state of the art based on 51 articles found in two databases (Scopus and Web of Science). We could see that even with the increase in production on these themes, the male authorship status quo remains, and gender-related issues in political processes continue to be peripheral in the debate. This fact reinforces the need for a feminist perspective that looks at gender beyond an analysis variable.

Desirability of office and previous female representation as main factors of female candidacy and representation in Czech municipalities, 1998–2018

Despite some progress in winning elected political offices, women remain underrepresented at all levels of government in Czechia. More importantly, only a limited body of research has focused on the presence of women in municipal governments. This study uses an original time series on local elections in all 6249 Czech municipalities over an extended period (1994–2018) to test where more women run for seats in local councils and why the descriptive (or numerical) representation of women in policy-making positions is higher in some municipalities than in others. The analysis reveals that openness of local environment to women, in terms of women's previous representation, together with desirability of office are strong determinants of female political participation and representation in Czech municipalities.

Intersectionality, political rights and gender relations: interdisciplinarity in research on female participation in politics

The development of knowledge in the areas of humanities and social sciences has been transmuting and resizing the paths trodden for the understanding of complex phenomena, of an inter/transdisciplinary nature, which were once analyzed from methodical macromodels and theoretical frameworks circumscribed to the specific scientific field in which it was researched. This mode of elaboration of knowledge has been questioned, leading to the reflections that configure the objective of this article, which consists in the search and identification of new theoretical-methodological possibilities for the development of research dealing with the theme on political rights and gender relations, problematized in the causes of low female participation in Brazilian politics. For this, considering the reflective nature of the article, the method used is exploratory and basic. Considering the theoretical and prospective nature, the reflections developed sought to see the usefulness of intersectionality, inter/transdisciplinarity and transversality in studies involving the object theme of reflection, especially issues involving gender relations, the causes of low female participation in Brazilian politics and the possibilities of its expansion.

The Relationship Between Body Shaming and Female Political Participation in Ghana: A Case Study of Female Students at the University of Education, Winneba, Ghana

This study sought to examine the relationship between body shaming and female political participation in Ghana. The study adopted the correlational research design and the quantitative research approach. The convenient sampling technique was used to select 333 respondents from whom data was gathered through an online survey with the aid of a questionnaire. The study used descriptive statistics and Pearson correlation to analyze the data with the aid of SPSS version 26. The study found a high prevalence of body shaming against female students. Also, the study observed a low level of political participation among female students. Furthermore, it was discovered that body shaming has a strong negative relationship with female political participation. The study concludes by making recommendations for policy and practice.

Kinship Ties and Female Political Participation: The Case of Philippine Mayors

Kinship Ties and Female Political Participation: The Case of Philippine Mayors

Correction to: Does corruption hinder female political participation? Evidence from a measure against organized crime

Correction to: Does corruption hinder female political participation? Evidence from a measure against organized crime

Enforcing Gender at the Polls: Transing Voters and Women’s Suffrage before the American Civil War

Abstract Between 1800 and 1860, individuals deemed female by society donned male attire, represented themselves as men, and tried unlawfully to vote, thus challenging the gender binary at the foundation of U.S. democracy. Newspapers regularly featured those who were caught, describing how officials used inspection, violence, and ridicule to deny them the vote and reassert the association between gender and assigned birth sex. Commentators also linked these illicit voters with the organized women’s movement, mocking the possibility of female participation in electoral politics. In response, members of the mainstream women’s movement emphasized their desire to vote as women, reinforcing the gendered assumptions that justified their exclusion. Yet, “transing” voters were more inspired by the raucous partisan politics of the era than such middle-class reformers. The history of their confrontation with an electoral system reserved for men suggests a more porous and inclusive history of gender and citizenship before the Civil War.