Quotas and Gender Gaps in Political Participation among Established Industrial European Democracies: Distinguishing Within- and Across-Country Effects

Abstract

This paper proposes to investigate the influence of legislative quotas on gender differences in political participation by analyzing the within- and across-country effects of quotas. Gender quotas can signal to women that their presence in politics is welcome, leading to a subsequent increase in their involvement in political activities. This change in political behavior should not be reproduced in men; thus, when gender quotas are present, the gap between men’s and women’s participation narrows. Using the European Values Survey and data from eighteen European democracies, this paper demonstrates that this indeed occurs for some political activities when gender gaps are compared before and after the introduction of quotas within countries. This result, however, is not replicated for across-country analyses. European countries without legislative gender quotas tend to have smaller gender gaps than countries with them. This result is explained by referring to the context of the adoption of gender quotas.

Equality prescribed? Contextual determinants of citizens’ support for gender boardroom quotas across Europe

“…the implementation of quota laws, is positively related to citizens' acceptance of these laws. This result is in line with previous research showing a positive impact of political quotas on women's political activism (Beauregard 2017); however, we cannot establish a causal relationship based on our cross-sectional data. By contrast, the higher the actual level of gender equality in a society, the higher the female employment rate, and the more equal representation of women in politics and leading business positions, the lower is citizens' support for a gender quota for company boards.…”

“…Moreover, it has been argued that women in politics can act as gatekeepers to push for more gender equality and better living conditions for women in society (Ferrarini 2006;Westfall and Chantiles 2016). Empirical evidence on the possible spill-over effects of political legislative gender quotas shows that beyond increasing women's formal representation, quotas have led to an increase in the gender consciousness and some forms of political activism among women (Beauregard 2017;Krook 2006).…”

“…Over the last years, an increasing number of studies has focussed on the determinants and effects of political gender quotas for parliaments or party list positions (e.g. Barnes and Córdova 2016;Beauregard 2017;Kroeber et al 2018;Ruedin 2012;Weeks 2018). These quotas have been implemented to ensure the representativeness in the democratic process.…”

“…This article provides the first cross-national comparative study of citizens' support for gender quotas in the economy using the example of female representation on company boards. Previous research on political quotas shows that the context in which these are adopted is crucial for whether they in fact can lead to a reduction of gender inequality in political decision-making and participation (Beauregard 2017;Krook 2006). Therefore, an understanding of the determinants of citizens' support for boardroom quotas is pivotal to assess their potential for successfully enhancing equality in economic decision-making in top positions and beyond.…”

Quotas, women's leadership and grassroots women activists: Bringing women into the party?

“…2014). However, other studies find little or no such effect (Beauregard 2017; Clayton 2015; Davidson‐Schmich 2016; Karp & Banducci 2008; Zetterberg 2009). Moreover, even if quota rules do stimulate women's grassroots participation, their effects on the gender gap depend on whether they have a similar impact on men's and women's participation.…”