Is this a men’s world? On the need to study descriptive representation of women in lobbying and policy advocacy

Abstract

How well are women represented in the world of political advocacy? Despite the important role of interest groups in modern democracies, the demographic composition of the interest group community remains a blind spot in public policy research. Based on data on over 1000 lobbyists in five European countries, we suggest that the share of women in the world of advocacy is significantly lower than in parliaments. We therefore argue that gender biases in political advocacy need to move high up on the research agenda. As key avenues for future studies, we raise the effects these imbalances have on agenda setting and political decision-making, as well as their symbolic effects on female participation and perceived legitimacy. Moreover, we call for research addressing the complex supply and demand-side factors that cause gender inequalities in lobbying to address this problem in practice.

Advocacy intelligence and competition: Assessing lobbyists' sharing of tactical knowledge in focus group interviews

“…We identify socialization, mentorship and personal traits as plausible alternative explanations, and fruitful directions of theory development. Some literature exists on what personal traits characterize the ‘ideal lobbyist’ (McGrath, 2006) and what biases exist in the traits of lobbyists, partly due to socialization processes (Junk et al., 2021; LaPira et al., 2020). Yet, these are currently neither centrally studied, nor considered in relation to group‐to‐group interactions.…”

“…This will also allow new reflections on power relations in the world of lobbying. On the one hand, the socialization of individual lobbyists might lead to closed (male dominated) circles in the world of lobbying, where outsiders have difficulties to enter (Junk et al., 2021; LaPira et al., 2020). On the other hand, our study points to the willingness of some high‐ranking lobbyists to share their knowledge about the lobbying tradecraft quite liberally, providing opportunities for less central players to gain access.…”

Exploring the proportionality of representation in interest group mobilization and political access: the case of the Netherlands

“…We see a number of theoretical and empirical challenges for such a research program. Conceptually, the concepts of descriptive and substantive representation cannot have the same meaning in the field of elected representation and in 'self-appointed' representation (e.g., Montanaro 2017; Rasmussen et al 2020). Most notably, in group politics, one can't meaningfully depart from the equality norm of 'one (wo)man, one vote' (e.g., Lowery et al 2015) and therefore need to account for the intensity and proportionality of the interests in society.…”

Women Representation in Textbooks in Pakistan: Impact on Career and Study Choices of Female Students Enrolled in the Postgraduate Programmes

“…The textbook writers added more women in their stories and textbook regimes became added women in their pool of textbook writers, reviewers, approvers and editors. The efforts on the part of the textbook regimes, around the world, were insufficient because many disciplines and professions still remained male-centric and male-dominated with little female representation (Junk, Romeijn, & Rasmussen 2020;Perez, 2019;Sarseke 2018).…”