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Lessons for Expanding Women’s Representation
A number of lessons for increasing women's representation can be drawn from the above discussion on the legislative recruitment process and the impact of electoral systems.
- Women should organize themselves inside and outside political parties. Being organized in interest groups both inside and outside political parties provides valuable experience for women and gives them a power base on which to build if they aspire for office. Political groups as well as professional groups, such as women doctors or women lawyers associations, can play an important role as a recruiting ground for women candidates. Being organized also increases visibility and legitimacy. In addition, in political parties where women commonly do a considerable amount of the essential party work, it is important to be organized into a woman's caucus that can lobby for improved representation.
- Women should urge parties to set down clear rules for candidate selection. It is more likely that women will benefit if parties have clear bureaucratic procedures for selecting candidates rather than a system based on loyalty to those in power. When the rules of the game are clear it is possible for women to develop strategies to improve representation. When the process is dominated by patronage, rules can be murky and decisions are often made by a limited number of persons, who are almost certainly predominately male.
- PR systems are better than majoritarian systems for increasing women's representation. Of the 10 highest-ranking countries in terms of women's representation, all utilize proportional representation electoral systems. Single-member district majoritarian systems have consistently proven to be the worst possible system for women.
- Some PR systems are preferable to others. Systems that guarantee high party magnitudes through a combination of high district magnitudes and electoral thresholds are expected to be superior for women. Ireland, for example, which uses a "single transferable vote" form of proportional representation with small (35 members) electoral districts has lower levels of female representation than majoritarian systems in countries such as Canada, Australia and the United Kingdom. The optimal system for women is likely to be when the whole country is one district. As noted earlier, however, such a proposal will not always be a viable option, and often there will be good reason to divide the country into several geographically-based electoral districts. Systems which utilize two "tiers" of representation, combining national lists with regional or local constituencies, have often proved to be amongst the most effective in maximizing women's representation. Sweden, Denmark, Germany and New Zealand are all examples of such systems, and are all amongst the top 10 countries in the world when it comes to levels of female representation in parliament.
- Women should keep in mind all variables and alternatives with regard to electoral system design. Even when there is broad agreement on a system based on geographic districts, there usually will be different ways of implementing such a proposal. Those interested in increasing women's representation should not be indifferent to these alternatives. The existing research suggests that the more seats in the national legislature the better it is for women, because this will increase party magnitude. When deciding how many geographic districts should be formed, the fewer districts created the better for women, again because this will increase party magnitude. In addition, women should be watchful when the number of seats in each voting district is determined. Often this process results in the over-representation of rural districts and the under-representation of urban districts. It is exactly in urban districts, where non-traditional roles for women are more common and where there are far more resources for women interested in participating in politics to draw on, that women tend to do well. Work done in several countries has shown that women tend to win more seats in urban areas than they do in rural areas. Women's groups should watch carefully to see that when the number of seats per district is determined, that the distribution of seats is as close to "one person/one vote" as possible.
- While PR systems are better in the long run, immediate results cannot be guaranteed. While changes in the electoral system make greater representation more likely, and in the long run there is no question that electoral system changes will help women improve their representation levels, an immediate effect cannot be guaranteed. While PR systems on average have higher proportions of women than majoritarian systems, this will not be true for every case. Furthermore, researchers find that PR systems, on average, do not help women in developing countries. The non-effect for the electoral system variable in developing countries is an important example of a more general point. While certain institutions or rules may advantage one group or another, an effect will appear only if the group is sufficiently well organized to take advantage of the situation. If not, the institutional arrangement can have no effect on outcomes. The failure of PR to help women in lesser-developed countries is an example of this, and it is also seen in the relatively small difference between proportional systems and majoritarian systems for the period from 19451970. If the forces interested in women's representation are not effectively organized, then the electoral system is expected to have only limited effect.
- Changing the electoral system is only one part of a more comprehensive strategy for improving women's representation. Women will need to become active and effective voices within their individual parties and within society as a whole to be able to take advantage of the institutional advantages certain electoral structures provide.
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