Gender and Select Committee Elections in the British House of Commons

Who Gets What? The Interactive Effect of MPs’ Sex in Committee Assignments in Portugal

“…Who the committee's members are is a relevant issue not only in terms of the question of justice but also because they can potentially influence policy outcomes. The Portuguese case corroborates recent scholarship indicating signs of change and a relative equilibrium between women and men in committee assignments (Baekgaard and Kjaer, 2012;O'Brien, 2012;Kerevel and Atkeson, 2013;Barnes, 2014). In fact, MPs' sex is almost irrelevant for nomination to the most prestigious committees and those linked to traditionally 'male' domains.…”

“…Therefore, the second objective of this article is to explore whether these individual level factors are equally relevant for the committee assignments of women and men. 1 Although a consistent body of research suggests there is a bias against female candidates in committee appointments (Thomas, 1994;Towns, 2003;Diaz, 2005;Heath et al, 2005;Schwindt-Bayer, 2010), more recent scholarship has shown signs of change (Baekgaard and Kjaer, 2012;O'Brien, 2012;Kerevel and Atkeson, 2013; Barnes, 2014). This study contributes to this debate by examining committee assignments in Portugal, which is a relevant case study for four reasons.…”

“…It places Portugal in the broader comparative literature on women's assignments to committees and observes some trends described in previous research. More specifically, even though committee appointments are not gender neutral, there are signs of change (Baekgaard and Kjaer, 2012;O'Brien, 2012;Kerevel and Atkeson, 2013;Barnes, 2014) and neither the growing percentage of women in the legislature nor the implementation of gender quotas have had negative consequences (Kerevel and Atkeson, 2013). Moreover, this study confirms that although the emphasis on party control over the electoral mandate typically given in CLPR systems is also found in Portugal, MPs' preferences are taken into consideration; it thus supports prior research highlighting the fact that individual MPs are increasingly relevant in Portugal (Leston-Bandeira, 2004;Fernandes, 2016;Fernandes et al, 2018).…”

Conclusion: prospects for analysing committees in comparative perspective

“…With regard to the latter point, a number of studies for example have shown that gender forms a powerful influence over committee assignments with male and female legislators consistently found to participate differently and to be assigned to different committees across time and space (see for example, Funk et al 2017;Murray and Sénac 2018;O'Brien 2012;Pansardi and Vercesi 2017). This presents a serious challenge to theories of allocation based on the traditional congressional framework since any tendency for committee places to be filled on the basis of expertise, loyalty or outlying policy preference seems to be cross-cut by the gendered character of different policy areas.…”

Desafios à representação política de mulheres na Câmara dos Deputados

“…Esses procedimentos informais reafirmam a centralização do processo decisório nas lideranças partidárias e o papel meramente formal das eleições das autoridades no âmbito das comissões, o que pode levar a uma restrição dos direitos de minorias políticas, uma vez que, como dito anteriormente, tais regras podem obscurecer critérios ilegítimos de distribuição de recursos (HEATH, TAYLOR-ROBINSON, SCHWINDT-BAYER, 2005;Diana Z. O'BRIEN, 2012 T T T T Tabela 2 abela 2 abela 2 abela 2 abela 2 -Presidências de comissões permanentes da Câmara dos Deputados ocupadas por deputadas, 1995-2010 Interessante notar que, na ausência de uma comissão de "assuntos de mulheres", a participação das legisladoras como presidentes de comissão se concentra nas comissões cujas jurisdições incluem temas relativos ao cuidado: as comissões de Seguridade Social e Família, Educação e Cultura e Direitos Humanos e Minorias compreendem a quase metade das vezes em que as legisladoras presidiram comissões (9 em 21 ou 42,85%).…”