Comparing Democracies: Elections and Voting in Global Perspective. Lawrence LeDuc , Richard G. Niemi , Pippa NorrisThe New American Voter. Warren E. Miller , J. Merrill ShanksHow Russia Votes. Stephen White , Richard Rose , Ian McAllister

cultural and developmental 'container,' changes in its levels of women's parliamentary representation must be attributed to some other factors. The conclusion of this study is that the immense increase in the proportion of female representatives in Croatia cannot be attributed to the changes in its electoral system. Rather, it can be ascribed partly to the ideology of the party in power and partly to the ability of women to, with the help of non-governmental organizations, form inter- and intra-party unions which have put significant pressures on all party leaderships to nominate more women to office.

/pdf/croatia-s-leap-toward-gender-equality-in-the-parliament-2bjyh6wlzi.pdf

Croatia's Leap Toward Gender Equality in the Parliament: Rules Versus Players

A number of political, socioeconomic, and cultural factors have been identified as having an effect on the level of parliamentary representation of women. Studies concentrating on the most prosperous longstanding democracies accentuate the importance of political factors, whereas most of the studies that include less developed nations suggest a more pronounced role for socioeconomic and/ or cultural factors. Conclusions about the relevance of a particular group of factors become much less clear-cut when tested on a sample of nations such as the postcommunist bloc, which does not clearly belong to either the most affluent longstanding democracies or the less developed nations. This study examines the effects of the electoral system designthe most prominent of the political factors, using what Lijphart calls the controlled comparison method in a single post-communist country: Croatia. Since Croatia represents a single cultural and developmental 'container') changes in its levels of women's parliamentary representation must be attributed to some other factors. The conclusion of this study is that the gradual increase in the proportion of female representatives in Croatia cannot be wholly attributed to the changes in its electoral system. Identifying all of the reasons for that increase would require further party-level research. This article is available in Res Publica Journal of Undergraduate Research: https://digitalcommons.iwu.edu/ respublica/vol6/iss1/5 Croatia's Leap toward Gender Equality in the Parliament: The Role of the Electoral System Design Josip Glaurdic A number of political, socioeconomic, and cultural factors have been identified as having an effect on the level of parliamentary representation of women. Studies concentrating on the most prosperous longstanding democracies accentuate the importance of political factors, whereas most of the studies that include less developed nations suggest a more pronounced role for socioeconomic and/ or cultural factors. Conclusions about the relevance of a particular group of factors become much less clear-cut when tested on a sample of nations such as the postcommunist bloc, which does not clearly belong to either the most affluent longstanding democracies or the less developed nations. This study examines the effects of the electoral system designthe most prominent of the political factors, using what Lijphart calls the controlled comparison method in a single post-communist country: Croatia. Since Croatia represents a single cultural and developmental 'container') changes in its levels of women's parliamentary representation must be attributed to some other factors. The conclusion of this study is that the gradual increase in the proportion of female representatives in Croatia cannot be wholly attributed to the changes in its electoral system. Identifying all of the reasons for that increase would require further party-level research. Contrary to recent trends seen in most Western democracies, newly democratic Eastern European nations have witnessed a decline in levels of women's parliamentary representation in the period after the fall of communist rule. The decreases range from the extreme case of Romania, which saw its level of women's parliamentary representation initially shrink by 30.8 percentage points, to the less pronounced example of Poland whose level initially shrunk by 6.7 percentage points (Figure 1 provides a more detailed description of these dynamics). Though subsequent elections have in many cases reversed the trend, the region-wide average remains below the levels seen in many of the established Western democracies (Inter-Parliamentary Union 2000). In Eastern Europe, where parliaments have been the center of democratization and political life, the failure to include women has important ramifications for the quality of the emerging democracy. As Darcy, Welch, and Clark (1994,15-17) indicate, increasing the representation of women can affect the quality of the democracy in a number of ways. Firstly, it is questionable how well a male-dominated parliament can truly represent the interests of women and address the issues that tend to be of greater importance for them. This argument appears to be supported in the context of Eastern European parliaments since it can easily be suggested that throughout the process of transition lawmakers have not appropriately addressed what are generally considered \"women's issues\" (education, social security, health care, etc.). Secondly, due to their different professional experiences, women have knowledge and insights into some matters that men do not have. Not utilizing that expertise by fostering greater parliamentary representation of women weakens the scope of the legislature's decision-making powers. Thirdly, it is argued that the quality of political leadership will necessarily improve if women fully enter into political competition simply due to the larger pool of individuals competing for office. And finally, more equal political representation of women contributes to the legitimacy of the political system because it increases its ability to represent all strata of the society, which is particularly salient in the context of fledgling democracies. Given the importance of these issues, scholars have tried to identify the factors that encourage or inhibit women's access to political power. Figure 1. Proportion of Women in Some Eastern European Parliaments A number of political, socioeconomic and cultural factors have been identified as having an effect on the level of parliamentary representation of women. Studies concentrating on the most prosperous longstanding democracies accentuate the importance of political factors, whereas most of the studies that include less developed nations suggest a more pronounced role for socioeconomic and/or cultural factors. Conclusions about the relevance of a particular group of factors become much less clear-cut when tested on a sample of nations such as the post-communist bloc, which does not clearly belong to either the most affluent longstanding democracies or the less developed nations and has a very particular cultural and socio-demographic legacy. That is why the purpose of this study is to expand the literature dealing with the bloc of newly democratic countries by examining the effects of the most prominent of the political factors on the level of women's parliamentary representationthe electoral system design. Electoral System Design: Previous Findings Although some studies do attribute a formidable level of importance to such political factors as the time of women's suffrage (Rule, 1981) and the degree of political democracy (Paxton, 1997), electoral and party system features have received most attention from researchers examining the effects of political factors on the level of women's legislative representation. One of the implications of that research has been that women can expect greater success in electoral competitions conducted under party list proportional representation (PR) rather than singlemember district (SMD) rules. As Kenworthy and Malami (1999:237) argue, \"parties are more likely to nominate women for office, and voters are more likely to vote for them, if women represent only part of a larger group of candidates.\" Most of the theoretical arguments for district magnitude's positive effect on female representation stem from the assumption that as district magnitude increases, election strategies change (Matland, 1993: 738). An increase in district magnitude ought to make it easier for party decision-makers to slate female candidates for a couple of reasons. First, as district magnitude increases, the exclusion of women from the party's list of candidates increases the danger of a negative reaction from voters. Second, it ought to be easier to slate women in districts with large magnitudes because then entrenched male interests within the party do not need to be deposed in order for women to be placed on party lists. In other words, balancing a ticket is much easier when district magnitude is large. However, the explanatory power of district magnitude has been questioned. A number of studies have found at best modest effects of district magnitude on female representation (Welch & Studlar, Matland, 1993). Several possible explanations for the inconsistent results in the literature have been found, one of these being the 'party magnitude explanation'. Some authors argue that it is the party magnitude (the number of seats a party expects to win in a district) that makes a difference in the levels of women's representation. As Matland and Taylor (1997: 189) point out, it is possible to have a system with high district magnitude, but where many parties win just a few seats, as in Israel. Briefly put, the availability of ticket-balancing dynamics primarily depends on the number of seats parties have a realistic chance of winning. Naturally, parties' expectations about electoral results depend on the number of effective competitors. One electoral system feature that has consistently been found to limit the number of electoral competitors is the threshold. Thresholds basically set a lower limit for parliamentary entry, thereby blocking legislative representation of smaller parties and consequently increasing party magnitude for major parties. From this brief literature overview we can infer that electoral system factors potentially have a decisive effect on the level of women's parliamentary representation and consequently warrant ample scrutiny. Designing the Application of the Controlled Comparison Method: The Simulation Approach In the context of newly democratic nations, exploring the effects of factors such as electoral system design on the level of women's parliamentary representation becomes a matter of simple practicality. Quantifying and testing cultural and socio-economic factors in a highly volatile environment such as Eastern Europe has pr

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Croatia's Leap toward Gender Equality in the Parliament: The Role of the Electoral System Design

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Croatia's Leap Toward Gender Equality in the Parliament: Rules Versus Players

Croatia's Leap toward Gender Equality in the Parliament: The Role of the Electoral System Design