Politically disabled: barriers and facilitating factors affecting people with disabilities in political life within the European Union

Abstract

Diversity is a current buzzword in politics, but in the EU, people with disabilities are not achieving the gains made by women and ethnic minorities. This research examined barriers and facilitating factors through a literature review and interviews with politicians and political activists in five European countries. Six categories of barriers and facilitating factors were found: networks, recruitment and mentoring, resources (money, time and energy), the "hierarchy of impairments," accessibility of political spaces and activities, and laws and policies. Key recommendations include removing access barriers to political participation, from voting to holding office, including physical and procedural barriers in political spaces; ensuring that equalities legislation covers politicians; eliminating barriers imposed by benefits systems; promoting direct support for political activists, candidates and office-holders with disabilities, including access to necessary services and supports; encouraging parties to recruit and mentor disabled people with leadership potential; and considering quotas and job-sharing. ARTICLE HISTORY

Are Nepal’s water, sanitation and hygiene and menstrual hygiene policies and supporting documents inclusive of disability? A policy analysis

“…Existing evidence demonstrates that a dearth of data about the barriers to MHM that people with disabilities and their caregivers face, leads to a lack of awareness, understanding, support and guidance for MHM and disability [9,51]. Our study reflects these patterns, and this can be tracked through an absence of: 1) rights for people with disabilities with regards to MHM in national policies and supporting documents, 2) professional training and support for service providers, and 3) professional understanding of the issues.…”

How Do Voters Perceive Disabled Candidates?

“…5 CONCLUSION Despite significant progress in the rights of disabled people over the past few decades, including in the United States with the American Disability Act from 1990, in Britain with the Equality Act 2010, and with the United Nations Convention on the Rights of People with Disabilities from 2006, disabled politicians remain a rare sight. Following the 2019 general election in Britain, there were as few as five MPs in the British House of Commons who identify as disabled 6 , and the numbers are not higher elsewhere either (Waltz and Schippers, 2020). It is certainly possible that there are also politicians with hidden disabilities who have chosen not to disclose them.…”

“…If it emerges that voters do not discriminate against disabled candidates at the ballot box, as the findings here would lead us to expect, then other factors must be responsible. As previous research shows, candidates report a number of barriers that they experience in the selection and election processes, including a lack of accessibility and insufficient funding to make processes accessible, fewer networks and mentors, a risk of losing disability benefits, and a political culture that can be exclusive and alienating (Evans and Reher, 2020;Waltz and Schippers, 2020).…”

“…The numerical underrepresentation of disabled people in politics is likely to be jointly explained by a range of different factors. While studies have pointed out various barriers in the political recruitment process, from inaccessible buildings to higher costs of campaigning and a political culture that is often not inclusive (Evans and Reher, 2020;Waltz and Schippers, 2020), our understanding of how voters view disabled candidates remains extremely limited (but see Loewen and Rheault, 2019). Yet, based on what we know about voter attitude formation and decision-making, on the one hand, and the pervasiveness of disability stereotypes, on the other, we have strong reasons to suspect that candidate disability does influence voter perceptions.…”

Disability and political representation: Analysing the obstacles to elected office in the UK

“…In contrast, research on disabled political candidates and representatives is relatively scarce. The rare exceptions include a recent study by Waltz and Schippers (2020) based on interviews with nine disabled politicians from four European countries and Sackey's (2015) study of disability organisations and non-disabled local government officials in Ghana. Moreover, a few studies from Canada have focused on disabled people in elected office, including Langford and Levesque's (2017) analysis of interviews with three disabled candidates and elected office holders in British Columbia; D'Aubin and Stienstra's ( 2004) discussion of disabled candidates and elected politicians; Levesque's (2016) analysis of disabled candidates in provincial elections in Canada; and Michael Prince's (2009) study of disability and the policy-making process.…”