Women, Gender, and Politics

N01 - Parties, Institutions, and Gender Equality

Date: Jun 12 | Time: 08:30am to 10:00am | Location:

Chair/Président/Présidente : Rebecca Wallace (St. Francis Xavier University)

Discussant/Commentateur/Commentatrice : Dietlind Stolle (McGill University)

Gendered Party Strategies and Quotas: Sebastian Vallejo Vera (Western University), Diana Davila Gordillo (Lake Forest College)
Abstract: Despite significant advances, women's descriptive and substantive political representation lags behind men's. Parity remains an elusive goal. Quotas, often considered the silver bullet for parity, have been shown to be effective but with some limitations. There is a persistent gap between the number of candidates and the number of elected candidates. We argue that these findings highlight the power that party selectors can have on women's representation. Our paper addresses the role of party selectors and conceptualizes party strategy (i.e., the choices of selectors when they create party lists) as a crucial factor affecting (most of the time negatively) women's representation. We develop and test our theory using the case of Ecuador. We look into the interaction between the restrictions imposed by quotas and the perceived cost of placing women in favorable (electable) positions. Selectors look at certain candidates traits to construct party lists. We argue that, as quotas affect list construction selectors resort to preconceived notions of gender hierarchies, favoring low-status men over women of similar status. High-status women, however, will be placed in more favorable list positions, similar to high-status men. While gender quotas change the options available for selectors, they do not change their preconceived notions or strategies. As gender quotas laws become stricter, the value placed on high-status women to occupy favorable seats increases, for selectors do not want to lose that advantage. This benefit is not extended to low-status women, as they see fewer gains from change in the quota regime. We test our argument using original data on candidates from the Ecuadorian elections between 2002 and 2021. Overall, our work speaks to research examining the interaction between institutional set-ups and how individuals game the system to the detriment of greater parity and the spirit of gender quotas.

Assessing Party-Directed Gendered Electoral Financing in Western Democracies: Anna Johnson (University of Toronto)
Abstract: This paper is a comparative investigation into party-directed gendered electoral finance initiatives in France, Ireland and the Canadian province of New Brunswick. While studies of gender quotas are plentiful, few examine the specific incentives attached to these quotas. In 2017, The Province of New Brunswick amended its annual per-vote subsidy for political parties in an effort to encourage parties to increase the number of female candidates they nominate. This reform falls into a category of initiatives now referred to as party-directed gendered electoral financing (Muriaas et al., 2019), which tie the public funding of political parties to gender parity. Only 27 countries around the world have introduced such gendered electoral financing and most of these are newer or developing democracies. Before the reforms in New Brunswick, France and Ireland were two of the only advanced Western democracies to introduce such initiatives. Yet, while France and Ireland use gendered electoral financing to supplement their formal candidate gender quotas in the form of financial penalties, New Brunswick has opted to forgo an official gender quota. Instead, the province offers parties greater per-vote funding based on the gender of the party’s candidates (i.e. a vote for a woman is worth 1.5 times a vote of a man). These incentives should encourage parties not only to nominate more women, but also to nominate more women in winnable districts. This paper assesses the success of these two forms of party-directed gendered electoral financing. Preliminary findings suggest that financial penalties associated with formal quotas are more effective than financial incentives with no formal quotas.

The Gendered Mediation of Political Leadership: a Contextual Approach: Clémence Deswert (Université libre de Bruxelles)
Abstract: Although leadership remains understood mostly in stereotypically masculine terms, its definition is now more inclusive of traits traditionally associated with femininity. As the literature on the gendered mediation of political leadership has shown, these leadership demands are reflected by the media discourse on political leadership, which has increasingly valued some stereotypically “feminine” approaches to power, alongside the continued promotion of traditionally “masculine” leadership skills (Wagner, Trimble & Sampert 2019; Wagner at al. 2022; Trimble et al. 2022). This paper argues that context should be considered in the analysis of the gendered mediation of political leadership. Indeed, the media do not just mention candidates and leaders, but they tell a story of these personalities taking actions, reacting to or participating in political events. More specifically, this research assumes that during electoral campaigns, the gendered construction of political leadership in media discourse is shaped by campaign events. To our knowledge, gendered mediation studies do not address this contextual dimension of coverage. This paper intends to tackle this gap by studying the press coverage of the 2022 French presidential elections campaign. Discourse analysis assisted by a text analysis software is used to examine which skills are used to depict candidates in the context of several campaign events and how they are evaluated in mediatic discourse in order to uncover gendered understandings of the qualities associated with political leadership.

The Silent Rise: paradigm shift and Women's Role in Defending new Democratic Values: Mohadeseh Jazaei (Ferdowsi University of Mashhad)
Abstract: The arrival of AI technology has led to significant transformations and advancements in numerous aspects of society, including how we perceive and uphold democratic ideals. A paradigm shift refers to a fundamental alteration in the fundamental assumptions, beliefs, and practices of a specific system or field. With regard to AI and democratic values, a paradigm shift signifies a transformational change in the way we understand and defend these values, especially regarding the role of women. In the past, women have faced numerous challenges and barriers in various spheres, including politics, technology, and leadership positions. But with AI, women can play a bigger role in defending new democratic values. it seems that AI technologies, can ensuring that democratic values such as privacy, transparency, and accountability through: Inclusivity and diversity, new Ethical considerations, Policy and governance and bridging the gender gap. but this article focuses on Empowering marginalized communities and Authoritarian societies. The question of this study is how women can be effective in the new age of AI in Authoritarian societies. The methodology of this research is based on the concept of 'Discourse of resistance in everyday life.' It explores how AI can empower women in both public, visible forms of power and the hidden transcripts—the informal, offstage, and often disguised expressions of resistance that occur within everyday life. These silent discourses include strategies like humor, gossip, coded language, foot-dragging, sabotage, and other acts of defiance that challenge the legitimacy of power structures in spreading democratic values. For this research, the focus is on the Iranian movement (woman, freedom, life) as women fought for democratic values. The study examines virtual campaigns used for organizing demonstrations and protests, revealing hidden transcripts and silent resistances that form the focal points of this research.