• About us
  • GSDRC Publications
  • Research Helpdesk
  • E-Bulletin
  • Privacy policy

GSDRC

Governance, social development, conflict and humanitarian knowledge services

  • Governance
    • Democracy & elections
  • Social Development
    • Social protection
  • Humanitarian Issues
    • Humanitarian financing
    • Humanitarian response
  • Conflict
    • Conflict analysis
    • Conflict prevention
    • Conflict response
    • Conflict sensitivity
    • Impacts of conflict
  • Development Pressures
    • Climate change
    • Food security
    • Fragility
  • Approaches
    • Complexity & systems thinking
  • Aid Instruments
    • Budget support & SWAps
    • Capacity building
    • Civil society partnerships
  • M&E
    • Indicators
    • Learning
    • M&E approaches
Home»GSDRC Publications»Gender Equality in Parliamentary Strengthening and Electoral Support

Gender Equality in Parliamentary Strengthening and Electoral Support

Helpdesk Report
  • Seema Khan
December 2008

Question

Please examine the literature on gender equality in parliamentary strengthening and electoral support to produce a summary of the main issues and debates.

Summary

Many countries around the world have recognised the under-representation of women in politics and started to adopt measures to help women enter politics and national legislatures. However, most of the research to date has focussed on explaining the process of women’s entry into politics, rather than whether and how they can make a difference once they enter parliament.

Some of the key areas for supporting gender equality in electoral assistance programmmes include: the legal framework, electoral management bodies, political parties, voter registration, civic and voter education, the electoral campaign, and polling, counting and monitoring/observation.

Some of the most common obstacles to the entry of women into parliaments include:

  • Lack of political party support
  • Lack of coordination and support networks between women MPs and other public organisations
  • The dominance of male-oriented norms and male-dominated structures which work against women’s public participation
  • Insufficient mobilisation of media support
  • Lack of large-scale leadership-oriented training and education for women
  • An electoral system that is not conducive to women’s participation
  • The lack of quota reservations. Whilst quotas can contribute to an increase in the number of women in parliament, it is the interaction of quota systems with other factors in a particular country, such as the type of electoral system, the legal environment, and the nature of women’s movements, that is key.

file type icon See Full Report [PDF]

Enquirer:

  • Australian Government

Related Content

Donor Support to Electoral Cycles
Helpdesk Report
2021
Who are the Elite Groups in Iraq and How do they Exercise Power
Helpdesk Report
2018
Donor support for post-conflict elections
Helpdesk Report
2017
Dominant party systems and development programming
Helpdesk Report
2016
birminghamids hcri

gro.crdsg@seiriuqne Feedback Disclaimer

Outputs supported by FCDO are © Crown Copyright 2022; outputs supported by the Australian Government are © Australian Government 2022; and outputs supported by the European Commission are © European Union 2022
Connect with us: facebooktwitter

Outputs supported by DFID are © DFID Crown Copyright 2022; outputs supported by the Australian Government are © Australian Government 2022; and outputs supported by the European Commission are © European Union 2022