Event Detail

Thursday, September 18, 2008

Do Gender Quotas Empower Women? Electoral Reform and Women's Political Representation

Political parties and national legislatures in more than 100 countries have established quotas for the selection of female candidates to political office, almost all within the last 15 years. To date, most research focuses on the forms these measures take, reasons for their passage, and variations in their effects on the absolute numbers of women elected. Drawing on evidence from around the world, this talk asks three new questions: What kinds of women are elected through quotas? Does the adoption of quotas lead to greater attention to ‘women’s interests’ in policy-making? Do quotas result in more favorable attitudes towards women in politics or the increased political engagement of female constituents? Addressing the wider impact of quotas, it explores how quotas might affect existing political dynamics and what they might mean more broadly for women as a group.

Mona Lena Krook is Assistant Professor of Political Science and Women and Gender Studies at Washington University in St. Louis. She received her Ph.D. in Political Science from Columbia University in February 2005. Mona’s dissertation, entitled Politicizing Representation: Campaigns for Candidate Gender Quotas Worldwide, developed a framework for analyzing the adoption and implementation of quotas for the selection of female candidates to political office. Her current research explores the global diffusion of gender quotas, the normative dimensions of quota reform, and the broader significance of quota policies to existing political processes, including links between the descriptive and substantive representation of women. During her fellowship at WAPPP, Mona plans to build upon her latest book manuscript, Quotas for Women in Politics: Gender and Candidate Selection Reform Worldwide. She will expand this project in two ways: (1) she will create and analyze a new database on quota campaigns and quota policies and (2) she will begin the theoretical work for the next stage in her research program, which involves studying the impact of quotas on three facets of women’s political representation.

• Location:
  Taubman 401
• Date:
  Thursday, September 18, 2008
• Time:
  11:40 AM

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