Parliamentary Representation Research Articles

BARGAINING POSITIONS OF WOMEN & FEMALE CANDIDATES IN POLITICAL CONTESTATION

After 25 years of reform and several elections, the 30% quota for women's representation as legislators - both at the national level (DPR RI), as well as at the regional level (Provincial DPRD) and Regency/City DPRD, can be said to have never been fulfilled. In the 2019 election, women's representation in the DPR RI only reached 20.8% or 120 people out of the 575 members of the DPR RI. This fact, of course, raises questions. The fact that several elections have taken place and the level of women's representation in parliament (central/regional DPR) has not yet reached the ideal minimum level (30%) is an interesting phenomenon and needs to be explained. Through this study, the researcher/author tries to analyze and explain this phenomenon from the perspective of Classical Sociology , namely from a Marxist, Durkheimian and Weberian perspective. By analyzing the problem using a sociological approach, it is intended to provide a theoretical and empirical picture of " what " and " why " the phenomenon of women's low bargaining power ( gaining ) in the political arena still occurs. It is hoped that the results of this study can provide constructive input for more equal contemporary political dynamics, especially for increasing women's representation in the field of practical politics . The method used in this research is the Qualitative Descriptive Method with the research objective to examine the central theme of women's representation in legislative institutions. The results of the research show that there is the phenomenon of women's votes, then there is the phenomenon of female legislative candidates, the existence of political parties and female legislative candidates, as well as the existence of problems in the political arena ( Political Barriers ) .

Evaluation of the Zipper System in Efforts to Increase Women’s Representation to 30 Percent in Parliament

The low representation of women in parliament is a global problem, especially in Indonesia. The status quo shows that the role and representation of women in parliament is still very low, which has implications for legislation products that are not inclusive. Women are vital in legislation, especially in micro-policy aspirations related to welfare, education, equality, and household issues. The affirmation policy with a minimum female candidacy quota of 30 percent in Indonesia is implemented through the zipper system. However, unfortunately, it is still ineffective because women's representation is still very low. This study uses a qualitative descriptive method to analyze the inequality of women's representation in the Indonesian parliament. The data used secondary data, which has been collected and processed by other parties. The result of this study is an evaluation of the zipper system, which is still ineffective because it depends on the placement of candidate sequence numbers and political party awareness. The placement of women in number 1 is only 19 percent, while in number three, it reaches 67 percent, and in number 6, 65 percent. It has a big impact on the probability of low electability. With women's representation, women's voices can be heard and fought for in government, thus realizing an equal and inclusive government. Revamping the zipper system by requiring the placement of female candidates at number 1 is an effective solution to increase women's representation in parliament in line with descriptive representation theory, which emphasizes the importance of proportional representation from various groups of society in government.

Dünyada kadın yoksulluğunun genel görünümü

various strata of society, but it particularly impacts women and children deeply. Poverty encompasses not only income deficiency for women but also the lack of social participation, leading to social exclusion. However, the question of whether poverty should be considered primarily as a women's issue or examined from a broader perspective is a subject of debate, as women can be disproportionately affected due to a gender-biased perspective.
 Recent research indicates that in contemporary societies, women are more adversely affected by poverty compared to men. Gender inequality and income disparities often restrict women's access to education, limit employment opportunities, push them into low-paying jobs, or hinder their workforce participation due to domestic responsibilities. Studies conducted by the United Nations Development Program (UNDP) highlight the prevalence of global gender inequality in Sub-Saharan Africa, the Arab Peninsula, and many South Asian countries. These studies also reveal that gender inequality is more pronounced in countries with low to medium levels of human development. Consequently, regions like the Arab Peninsula and South Asia exhibit extremely low rates of female workforce participation. Moreover, these regions often witness a significant lack of female representation in their parliaments.
 Among the fundamental causes of women's poverty are deficiencies in education and negative societal attitudes towards women. Therefore, it is of utmost importance to elevate women's educational levels and encourage their participation in the labor force. Studies have shown a correlation between increasing women's education levels and economic growth. Consequently, governments should review employment policies and social security mechanisms to enhance women's access to employment opportunities. Social assistance policies should be implemented with a rights-based approach and should encompass women. Addressing the excessive burden of household chores, gender-based discrimination, and patriarchal attitudes limiting women's career choices is of paramount importance. Transforming societal norms and dismantling gender biases are necessary for this purpose. The combat against female poverty necessitates the active engagement of Non-Governmental Organizations (NGOs) in the realm of social policy implementations, social assistance programs, governmental initiatives related to gender-responsive budgeting, and the practices of financial institutions concerning microcredit.

Exploring the Role of Political Parties in the Enhancement of Women Representation in Parliament, Zambia: A phenomenological perspective

This study aimed at exploring the role of political parties in the enhancement of women representation in Parliament of Zambia. The continued underrepresentation of women in the Zambian National Assembly prompted undertaking this study. The Patriotic Front (PF) and the United Party for National Development (UPND) and the 2016 general elections were the main focus of the study. 
 This study was qualitative and a case study research design based on two major political parties, studied in depth using twenty six party officials, at different levels of party hierarchies who were purposefully selected. Data was collected through in-depth interviews, narratives and unstructured questionnaires from the two political parties and the Electoral Commission of Zambia (ECZ) documents. 
 The study used an interpretive phenomenological theoretical framework based on discussions and reflections of direct sense perception and experiences of the role of political parties in enhancing women representation in the national assembly of Zambia. The starting point for using an interpretive phenomenology for this study was our ability to approach this study oblivious of a priori assumptions. Phenomenological theoretical framing was used as a broad and loose name for various types of analysis, which lay emphasis on experiences, interpretations, semiotics, narrative and discourse based on the phenomenological orientation of the Philosophy of social sciences.
 Data was analysed and presented by the thematic approach as well as through frequency tables. The study found that both political parties had put in place strategies and mechanisms to enhance the representation of women in parliament and these included; having at least 30 percent women in decision-making positions, the adoption of the women’s wing concept, training and sensitisation, adoption of women in political party strongholds and relaxing of adoption requirements for women. Following the 2016 General elections, the PF made a pronouncement that the party would adopt 40 per cent women as parliamentary candidates. Nevertheless, the study found that the two political parties failed to meet their own regional and international targets on the number of women adopted to contest parliamentary seats. Thus, the study concluded that the lack of affirmative action, Nolle prosequi, Corruption and ignoring women voices taking place in political parties perpetuates women under representation in parliament in Zambia. This shows that political parties have a role to play to strengthen women representation in parliament through affirmative action in all party structures. The study urges political parties to seriously consider employing practical deliberate strategies and mechanism to increase the number of women in parliament since Zambia does not have a legislated quota. 
 Keywords: Phenomenology, Affirmative action, gender mainstreaming, Corruption, Nolle prosequi.

Motives and Political Representation: The Case of Women Members of Parliament in Uganda

Women’s political representation in Uganda is a contentious issue. On the one hand, there are doubting public narratives of Women Members of Parliaments’ (WMP) performance. The doubts about WMPs’ performance inspired growing interest in their parliamentary performance. On the other hand, there are concerns about the gender gap in parliamentary representation. The underrepresentation of women in the political scene raises a puzzle about those who dare to compete. However, at the same time, there has been neglect of what drives women in the first place to parliamentary representation and their relationship to performance. This intriguing question calls for an objective analysis to unravel what influences women’s interest in parliamentary office. This paper answers two analytical questions: How do women Members of Parliament construe their interests in joining parliamentary politics? And whether WMPs’ motives influence their performance. These questions were answered by analysing conversations and interviews of five purposively selected WMPs representing five districts of Northern Uganda in the tenth Parliament between 2020 and 2021. Field data was triangulated with performance data from the same Parliament’s Hansard. Findings reveal that personal and social-cultural factors drive WMPs to Parliament. Motives are consequential to performance, although personal motives were more potent than social-cultural motives to performance. Personal, compared to social-cultural motives, are more susceptible to social-political factors in constituencies, institutions of Parliament, and the broad government, affecting motives’ fulfilment

Political polarization and politainment: Methodology for analyzing crypto hate speech on TikTok

TikTok has become an international benchmark: In 2022 it was the most downloaded application in all of Europe. Political discourse has not stayed on the sidelines, and its rhetoric has been adapted to a young electorate who feels at home with this new platform. Given this social network’s explosion, the main objective of this research is to analyze which topics and approaches the parties with the greatest parliamentary representation use most frequently by looking at their activity on TikTok and determine how they have leveraged a time of polarization and political confrontation to a network geared toward entertainment. To achieve these objectives, a methodological triangulation based on three analyses –quantitative content, discourse, and qualitative content– is used. The sample consists of 250 posts from the official profiles of the following Spanish political parties: Partido Socialista Obrero Español (PSOE), Partido Popular (PP), Ciudadanos (C’s), Unidas Podemos (UP), and Vox. Specifically, a non-random stratification system was used, selecting the 50 videos from each party that had with the highest number of views since they launched their profiles on this social network. From a theoretical standpoint, this study proposes a new concept, the aggressive critical message (ACM), which is presented as a further contribution to the conceptual framework of emerging studies on crypto hate speech. From an empirical standpoint, the results obtained reveal that the partisan rhetoric on TikTok is not homogeneous, and substantial differences are seen between the topics addressed by the different parties. It also is concluded that the parties are implementing techniques used in entertainment alongside polarization itself, which trivializes politics, aiming to go viral rather than to provoke thought.

Women Leaders in the Perspective of Indonesian Regulations and Progressive Fiqh

The population of Indonesian women is slightly less than men, according to the Indonesian Central Agency of Statistics survey in 2022. Unfortunately, they have not yet filled and occupied many public sectors, which have significant influence in determining decisions and important policies as their male counterpart have. This paper aims to elaborate on the potential of having Indonesian women as leaders - including political leaders and parliamentary representatives - by analyzing data about women's participation as parliamentary representatives and regency/city and provincial leaders in Indonesia. The study is descriptive qualitative research employing historical and both Indonesian regulations and progressive fiqh (Islamic jurisprudence) juridical approaches. The data were analyzed using fiqh al-siyāsah (Islamic jurisprudence on politics) and empowerment theories. The findings show that 1) historically, women, in general, have the same capability and competence to become public and political leaders as men, and 2) juridically, the right to become public and political leaders is properly guaranteed in both Indonesian regulations and progressive Islamic jurisprudence.

Gender inequality and utilization of ART: an international cross-sectional and longitudinal analysis.

What is the association between a country's level of gender equality and access to ART, as measured through ART utilization? ART utilization is associated with a country's level of gender equality even after controlling for the level of development. Although gender equality is recognized as an important determinant of population health, its association with fertility care, a highly gendered condition, has not been explored. A longitudinal cross-national analysis of ART utilization in 69 countries during 2002-2014 was carried out. The Gender Inequality Index (GII), Human Development Index (HDI), and their component indicators were modelled against ART utilization using univariate regression models as well as mixed-effects regression methods (adjusted for country, time, and economic/human development) with multiple imputation to account for missing data. ART utilization is associated with the GII. In an HDI-adjusted analysis, a one standard deviation decrease in the GII (towards greater equality) is associated with a 59% increase in ART utilization. Gross national income per capita, the maternal mortality ratio, and female parliamentary representation were the index components most predictive of ART utilization. Only ART was used rather than all infertility treatments (including less costly and non-invasive treatments such as ovulation induction). This was a country-level analysis and the results cannot be generalized to smaller groups. Not all modelled variables were available for each country across 2002-2014. Access to fertility care is central to women's sexual and reproductive health, to women's rights, and to human rights. As gender equality improves, so does access to ART. This relation is likely to be reinforcing and bi-directional, with progress towards global, equitable access to fertility care also improving women's status and participation in societies. External funding was not provided for this study. G.D.A. declares consulting fees from Labcorp and CooperSurgical. G.D.A. is the founder and CEO of Advanced Reproductive Care, Inc., as well as the Chair of the International Committee for Monitoring Assisted Reproductive Technologies (ICMART) and the World Endometriosis Research Foundation, both of which are unpaid roles. G.M.C. is an ICMART Board Representative, which is an unpaid role, and no payments are received from ICMART to UNSW, Sydney, or to G.M.C. to undertake this study. O.F., S.D., F.Z.-H., and E.K. report no conflicts of interest. N/A.

Introducing a New Dataset: Age Representation in Parliaments on the Party-Level

Abstract This research note highlights the underrepresentation of younger people in parliaments across the globe, which has been a persistent issue for decades. We introduce a novel open-access dataset containing information on mean and median age as well as the share of MPs in specific age brackets in party parliamentary groups in lower houses or single chambers of national parliaments. The dataset covers 163 cases from 30 countries and features variables that present these aforementioned shares in relation to the respective group’s presence in the voting-age population (Age Representation Index). Furthermore, the dataset includes the share of women within the party parliamentary groups as well as identifiers that enable matching the dataset with indicators from the Political Party Database (PPDB), the V-Party dataset, PartyFacts and the Manifesto Project Database. Our main finding underlines the importance of research focusing on party level factors influencing youth representation as there is not only variation between countries, but also within them on the party-level. Additionally, we show that most party parliamentary groups in which women are underrepresented also have low relative shares of young people, which is in line with theoretical arguments on party behavior.

Women's Suffrage in Indonesia: A Structural Analysis of Women's Representation in Parliament

This study aims to analyze the meaning of women's suffrage through the representation of women in parliament in Indonesia. The Research method used is A Structural Analysis of the Historical Research Method. The study results show that the meaning of women's suffrage in Indonesia, especially in the political field, means the right to vote and be elected. Every woman who has the right to vote can use her right to vote freely, but women who have been successfully elected "to sit in parliament" have not been equal and balanced in number compared to men. The lowest gender empowerment index is the involvement of women in parliament; nevertheless, in the period 2019-2022, there has been an increase. This condition will certainly affect the next period if political parties can consistently carry out affirmative action and other interventions based on gender equality. There is a need to strengthen a gender-responsive political paradigm through various training forums on gender mainstreaming for leaders and members of political parties continually.

Parliamentary representation of radical right and anti-immigration attitudes

Does the parliamentary representation of the radical right increase anti-immigration attitudes in a country? In this paper, I hypothesize that the existence of a radical right party (RRP) in the legislature will increase negative attitudes toward immigration and polarization over this issue. I use two studies to test these hypotheses. In study 1, I employed a regression discontinuity design to causally identify the claim using the European Social Survey data from 28 countries between 2002 and 2018. In study 2, I utilized panel data of German voters to investigate the argument further. The results suggest that RRPs' parliamentary representation increases the probability of having negative immigration attitudes. The findings are robust to placebo tests and alternative specifications. This study advances our knowledge of radical-right party politics and its influences on citizens’ attitudes.

What Do We Call an ‘MP’? On Categories of Thought in the Anthropology of Parliaments

Abstract This article questions what social scientists mean by the term ‘Member of Parliament’ (‘MP’) and explains that they tend to associate it with a universal conception of parliamentary representation. The author starts to present the rationale behind this presupposition, which lies in the resistance of legislative studies to interpretive approaches, and shows its limits. He then defends the necessity of extensive scientific knowledge of deliberative assemblies to distinguish the vernacular meanings of the notion of ‘MP’ from its analytical meaning. Finally, he takes the example of his own research in France to show the concrete difficulties of a singular conception of parliamentary representation and to expose the virtues of using empirical-based ideal types to overcome them.

Approaches to Promote Gender Parity in Parliamentary Representation in Germany and France

Men and women are equal, but parliaments are dominated by men. In Europe, there has been a debate since the 1990s how to change this and promote gender parity in parliamentary representation. This contribution presents the approaches taken and discussed in Germany and France, and the considerable constitutional obstacles on the way to achieving this goal.

Kicking the Ladder or Not? Unraveling Income Inequality Perceptions in the World

This research aims to explore the factors influencing support for income equality at both the individual and macro levels worldwide. By analyzing the latest data from the World Values Survey, which includes responses from 50,615 individuals across 42 countries, and incorporating key macroeconomic variables obtained from the World Bank, this study identifies several crucial determinants of attitudes towards addressing income inequality using logistic regression analysis. The research findings reveal that factors such as material well-being, life satisfaction, institutional trust, job status, place of residence, level of education, and religiosity play a significant role in shaping individual perceptions of income inequality, particularly in the context of support for either support for redistributive policy or free-market capitalism as potential solutions to mitigate income disparities. Additionally, macro-level variables reveal a substantial influence on support for income equality. Income per capita, income share of the top 10, the unemployment rate, and women's representation in parliament as a proxy for gender equality are found to significantly increase the likelihood of endorsing efforts to reduce income inequality. Our results remain robust when controlling for alternative income-related variables.

The Tribunate as a Realist Democratic Innovation

We argue that a reinvention of the plebeian tribunate should play a key role in addressing the challenges stemming from increasing concentrations of, and inequalities in, social, political, economic, and cultural power in liberal democracies. Addressing these challenges, which negatively affect parliamentary representation, requires a form of institutional innovation that gives voice to non-elites who are ruled but do not rule. We propose revisions of the composition and tasks of the tribunate that are tailored to these current challenges. Our fully randomly selected tribunate emerges as a vehicle not only for contesting concentrated power but also for articulating lines of conflict, disruptive agenda-setting, and political experimentation. Our proposal contributes to developing realist democratic theory. We argue that the reinvented tribunate not only meets realist commitments to avoiding moralization and idealization but also demonstrates the underexploited capacity of realism to inform institutional innovation and thus contribute to substantial political analysis.

Concentration of power in nomination of presidential candidates in Indonesia

Since 2004, Indonesia has held 5-yearly national elections for the positions of president and vice president. This has been a promising step forward in a maturing democracy. However, a restriction was imposed that nomination of presidential candidates can only be made made by political parties with parliamentary representation above some minimum level—the “minimum threshold”. That threshold is relatively high, meaning that since 2009, there has only ever been two candidates for president in the elections, each backed by coalitions led by the dominant establishment parties. This paper discusses the workings of the minimum threshold and argues that it undermines democratic principles, having the effect of preserving and strengthening the power of the strongest political parties at the expense of new or emerging voices. We also propose an alternative approach that delivers the desired broader democratic voice.

Once More, with Feeling! Digital Campaigns and Emotional Candidacies in X in Andalusia and Castilla y León

In 2022, two regional elections were held that initiated a new electoral cycle in Spain. The first, in February, took place in Castilla y León where, for the first time, the extreme right-wing party, VOX, formed a coalition in a regional government with the right-wing Partido Popular, while, simultaneously, the extreme left-wing party Podemos was barely left with parliamentary representation. The second, in June in Andalusia, led to VOX increasing its representation by two seats and beginning its national level electoral growth; the far-left that was split in two parties, finding that the dynamic that began in Castilla y León also affected them as they lost 10 representatives. This article seeks to compare the emotional strategies of these extremist parties in the 2022 regional elections, focusing especially on leaders’ and parties’ communication strategies on X, formerly Twitter, during the electoral campaign. We expect to find differences between political parties but also between regions. To test this, we carried out an ‘X account content analysis’. We selected those accounts representing the candidates to the regional President and also the main political party accounts in the regions: namely VOX in both regions, Podemos in Castilla y León, and Adelante Andalucía and Por Andalucía in Andalusia.

Political Parties and Women’s Representation in the Indonesian Parliament 2009-2019

As the transmission belt linking people's aspirations to the government, the political party has a crucial role in preparing actors to become candidates for people's representatives. Since the enactment of affirmative policies both in elections and internal parties, the number of women in parliament has never met the 30% quota as expected. During the ten years from 2009 to 2019, the number of women in the House of Representatives (Dewan Perwakilan Rakyat, DPR) seats only ranged from 17-20 percent. This article examines the influence of political parties' characteristics on women's representation in the Indonesian parliament in the 2009-2019 period. This research uses four party characteristics by Sundström Stockemer as variables that will be analyzed through linear regression models. The research results show that the vote size variable is the only variable significantly influencing women's representation in parliament. The estimated trend of women's representation in parliament shows an increase in the upcoming 2024 elections. However, it is still far from the target of 30%. Hence, it needs a progressive affirmative policy in the form of reserved seats to encourage proportionality in the policy-making forum.

MIDDLE CLASS IN UKRAINE: GOVERNMENT OR OPPOSITION?

MIDDLE CLASS IN UKRAINE: GOVERNMENT OR OPPOSITION?

How to Open Representative Democracy to the Future?

AbstractIn recent years, various innovations aimed at counteracting perceived presentism and democratic decline have emerged. One primary concern is the issue of inadequate representation in parliaments, which has prompted the development of various proposals for reforming the selection mechanisms of parliamentarians. In this context, lottocracy (selection of representatives at random) and proxy democracy (selection models based on self-selection and flexible nominations that determine the relative influence of representatives) are candidates as selection rules to open democratic representation. Herein, I examine the normative and contextual trade-offs underpinning lottocracy and proxy democracy. While both systems outperform electoral alternatives on the dimensions under study, they induce tensions that are often overlooked. Nonetheless, clarifying the normative compromises is crucial to addressing the challenges facing democratic systems and to informing the deployment of the future of representative democracy.