Pathways to power: Women's representation in the 2014 European Parliament elections

Abstract

The 2014 European Parliament (EP) elections produced a record proportion of women MEPs overall (37 per cent). Yet, these results vary widely across countries and parties. This article aims to explain these variations, evaluating not only who the elected representatives of the 8th EP are, but also how they got there. Are the paths to the EP the same for women and men? Are there gender differences in terms of MEPs’ political experience? A unique dataset listing more than 700 elected MEPs and their background, party and country characteristics is used to empirically examine who makes it to the EP and through which route. The results of the analysis suggest no significant gender differences in the pathways to the EP. Yet, parties matter: more women were elected to the 8th EP from left‐wing than from right‐wing or ‘new’ parties, and both men and (especially) women representing right‐wing parties tend to be politically more experienced than their fellow MEPs from other types of parties. Furthermore, it is found that men are more likely than women to be promoted straight from party office to the EP, suggesting that some pathways to the EP are less open to women than others.

Do young female candidates face double barriers or an outgroup advantage? The case of the European Parliament

“…Directly, quotas can be a fast track for female candidates to get elected. Indirectly, intraparty quotas send a signal to women that their participation in politics is encouraged (Lühiste & Kenny 2016). 4 Third, we expect young parties to have a higher share of female representatives than older parties.…”

“…Directly, quotas can be a fast track for female candidates to get elected. Indirectly, intraparty quotas send a signal to women that their participation in politics is encouraged (Lühiste & Kenny )…”

Gendering the Representative Work of the European Parliament: A Political Analysis of Women MEP's Perceptions of Gender Equality in Party Groups

“…For instance, Fortin‐Rittberger and Rittberger () study the candidate selection practices of 100 political parties across the EU and show that inclusiveness at an early stage is key to more gender balanced representation. Luhiste and Kenny, in turn, compiled a dataset of the backgrounds of more than 700 MEPs in the context of the 2014 EP elections and found that political parties were key determinants to women's electoral success with some pathways to power being very different for women than men (Lühiste and Kenny, ).…”

“…The representation of women in the EP has risen steadily over the past decades, most recently from 35 per cent female MEPs in the 7 th legislature to 37 per cent in the 8 th legislature (see also Lühiste and Kenny, ; Kantola and Rolandsen Agustin, ). Big differences remain in the numbers of women elected by different member states.…”

Women's Representation across Different Generations: A Longitudinal Analysis of the European Parliament

“…In another study Pemstein et al (2015) identified incumbency as a factor that harm's women's nomination to party lists and their election to the EP. In addition, and focusing more on elections than nominations, Luhiste and Kenny (2016) reported that left-wing parties sent more women MEPs to Brussels and Strasbourg than center or right-wing parties. (2016) Right-leaning parties (reference category in the models) Dummy variable for right-wing and radical right-wing parties (1) for all parties with a value 6.01-10 on the ideological 0-10 scale in the ParlGov dataset Döring and Manow (2016)…”