Hostname: page-component-745bb68f8f-g4j75 Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2025-01-30T18:42:25.915Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

The Consequences of Quotas: Assessing the Effect of Varied Gender Quotas on Legislator Experience in the European Parliament

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  20 June 2019

Andrea S. Aldrich Open the ORCID record for Andrea S. Aldrich [Opens in a new window]  and
William T. Daniel Open the ORCID record for William T. Daniel [Opens in a new window]
Andrea S. Aldrich
Affiliation:
Yale University
William T. Daniel
Affiliation:
University of Nottingham
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Abstract

This article explores the consequences of quotas on the level of diversity observed in legislators’ professional and political experience. We examine how party system and electoral system features that are meant to favor female representation, such as gender quotas for candidate selection or placement mandates on electoral lists, affect the composition of legislatures by altering the mix of professional and political qualifications held by its members. Using data collected for all legislators initially seated to the current session of the European Parliament, one of the largest and most diverse democratically elected legislatures in the world, we find that quotas eliminate gendered differences in experience within the institution, particularly when used in conjunction with placement mandates that ensure female candidates are featured on electoral lists in viable positions. Electoral institutions can generally help to “level the playing field” between the backgrounds of men and women in elected office while increasing the presence of desirable qualities among European Parliament representatives of both genders.

Keywords

Gender quotaswomenEuropean Parliamentlegislatures
Type
Research Article
Information
Politics & Gender , Volume 16 , Issue 3 , September 2020 , pp. 738 - 767
Copyright
Copyright © The Women and Politics Research Section of the American Political Science Association 2019

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

REFERENCES

Aldrich, Andrea S. 2018a. “National Political Parties and Career Paths to the European Parliament.” JCMS: The Journal of Common Market Studies 56 (6): 1283–304.Google Scholar
Aldrich, Andrea S. 2018b. “Party Organization and Gender in European Elections.” Party Politics: 135406881880663.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Allen, Peter, Cutts, David, and Campbell, Rosie. 2016. “Measuring the Quality of Politicians Elected by Gender Quotas – Are They Any Different?” Political Studies 64 (1): 143–63.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Anzia, Sarah F., and Berry, Christopher R.. 2011. “The Jackie (and Jill) Robinson Effect: Why Do Congresswomen Outperform Congressmen?” American Journal of Political Science 55 (3): 478–93.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Baltrunaite, Audinga, Bello, Piera, Casarico, Alessandra, and Profeta, Paola. 2014. “Gender Quotas and the Quality of Politicians.” Journal of Public Economics 118:62–74.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Barnes, Tiffany D., and Burchard, Stephanie M.. 2013. “‘Engendering’ Politics: The Impact of Descriptive Representation on Women's Political Engagement in Sub-Saharan Africa.” Comparative Political Studies 46 (7): 767–90.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Bernauer, Julian, Giger, Nathalie, and Rosset, Jan. 2015. “Mind the Gap: Do Proportional Electoral Systems Foster a More Equal Representation of Women and Men, Poor and Rich?” International Political Science Review 36 (1): 78–98.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Besley, Timothy, Olle Folke, Torsten Persson, and Rickne, Johanna. 2017. “Gender Quotas and the Crisis of the Mediocre Man: Theory and Evidence from Sweden.” American Economic Review 107 (8): 2204–42.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Brodoloni, Giacomo, Fondazione, Lenita Freidenvall, Stahre, Hedvig and Sansonetti, Silvia. 2014. Electoral Lists Ahead of the Elections to the European Parliament from a Gender Perspective. PE 509.980. Brussels: European Parliament.Google Scholar
Campbell, David E., and Wolbrecht, Christina. 2006. “See Jane Run: Women Politicians as Role Models for Adolescents.” Journal of Politics 68 (2): 233–47.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Caul, Miki. 2001. “Political Parties and the Adoption of Candidate Gender Quotas: A Cross–National Analysis.” Journal of Politics 63 (4): 1214–29.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Chiva, Cristina. 2014. “Gender, European Integration and Candidate Recruitment: The European Parliament Elections in the New EU Member States.” Parliamentary Affairs 672): 458–94.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Dahlerup, Drude, and Freidenvall, Lenita. 2010. “Judging Gender Quotas: Predictions and Results.” Policy & Politics 383): 407–25.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Daniel, William T. 2013. “When the Agent Knows Better than the Principal: The Effect of Education and Seniority on European Parliament Rapporteur Assignment.” JCMS: Journal of Common Market Studies 51 (5): 832–48.Google Scholar
Daniel, William T. 2015. Career Behaviour and the European Parliament: All Roads Lead Through Brussels? Oxford: Oxford University Press.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Daniel, William T., and Metzger, Shawna K.. 2018. “Within or between Jobs? Determinants of Membership Volatility in the European Parliament, 1979–2014.” Journal of Legislative Studies 24 (1): 90–108.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Daniel, William T., and Thierse, Stefan. 2018. “Individual determinants for the selection of group coordinators in the European Parliament.” JCMS: Journal of Common Market Studies 56 (4): 939–54.Google Scholar
Davidson-Schmich, Louise K. 2016. Gender Quotas and Democratic Participation: Recruiting Candidates for Elective Offices in Germany. Ann Arbor: University of Michigan Press.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Egmond, Marcel van, van der Brug, Wouter, Hobolt, Sara, Franklin, Mark, and Sapir, Eliyahu V.. 2013. European Parliament Election Study 2009, Voter Study. GESIS Data Archive, Cologne. ZA5055 Data file Version 1.1.0, doi: 10.4232/1.11760.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Fortin-Rittberger, Jessica, and Rittberger, Berthold. 2014. “Do Electoral Rules Matter? Explaining National Differences in Women's Representation in the European Parliament.” European Union Politics 15 (4): 496–520.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Fortin-Rittberger, Jessica, and Rittberger, Berthold. 2015. “Nominating Women for Europe: Exploring the Role of Political Parties’ Recruitment Procedures for European Parliament Elections.” European Journal of Political Research 54 (4): 767–83.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Fox, Richard L., and Lawless, Jennifer L.. 2004. “Entering the Arena? Gender and the Decision to Run for Office.” American Journal of Political Science 48 (2): 264–80.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Freidenvall, Lenita, and Dahlerup, Drude. 2013. Electoral Gender Quota Systems and Their Implementation in Europe (Updated 2013) IPOL\-FEMM\-NT(2013)493011_EN.Google Scholar
Fridkin, Kim L., and Kenney, Patrick J.. 2014. “How the Gender of U.S. Senators Influences People's Understanding and Engagement in Politics.” Journal of Politics 76 (4): 1017–31.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Gallagher, Michael. 1991. “Proportionality, Disproportionality and Electoral Systems.” Electoral studies 10 (1): 33–51.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Holzer, Harry J., and Neumark, David. 2000. “What Does Affirmative Action Action Do?” Industrial & Labor Relations Review Ithaca 53 (2): 240–71.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Huddy, Leonie, and Terkildsen, Nayda. 1993. “Gender Stereotypes and the Perception of Male and Female Candidates.” American Journal of Political Science 37 (1): 119–47.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Jann, Ben. 2014. “Plotting Regression Coefficients and Other Estimates.” Stata Journal 14 (4): 708–37.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Jones, Mark P. 2004. “Quota Legislation and the Election of Women: Learning from the Costa Rican Experience.” Journal of Politics 66 (4): 1203–23.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Kanthak, Kristin, and Woon, Jonathan. 2015. “Women Don't Run? Election Aversion and Candidate Entry.” American Journal of Political Science 59 (3): 595–612.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Krook, Mona Lena. 2010a. Quotas for Women in Politics Gender and Candidate Selection Reform Worldwide. Oxford: Oxford University Press.Google Scholar
Krook, Mona Lena. 2010b. “Why Are Fewer Women than Men Elected? Gender and the Dynamics of Candidate Selection.” Political Studies Review 8 (2): 155–68.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Krook, Mona Lena, and Norris, Pippa. 2014. “Beyond Quotas: Strategies to Promote Gender Equality in Elected Office.” Political Studies 62 (1): 2–20.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Lovenduski, Joni. 2005. Feminizing Politics. Polity.Google Scholar
Lühiste, Maarja. 2015. “Party Gatekeepers’ Support for Viable Female Candidacy in PR-List Systems.” Politics & Gender 11 (1): 89–116.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Lühiste, Maarja, and Kenny, Meryl. 2016. “Pathways to Power: Women's Representation in the 2014 European Parliament Elections.” European Journal of Political Research 55 (3): 626–41.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Mansbridge, Jane. 1999. “Should Blacks Represent Blacks and Women Represent Women? A Contingent ‘Yes.’” Journal of Politics 61 (3): 628–57.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Matland, Richard. 2006. “Electoral Quotas: Frequency and Effectiveness.” In Women, Quotas and Politics, ed. Drude Dahlerup, 275–292. New York: Routledge.Google Scholar
Meserve, Stephen A., Pemstein, Daniel, and Bernhard, William T.. 2018. “Gender, Incumbency and Party List Nominations.” British Journal of Political Science 1–15.Google Scholar
Murray, Rainbow. 2010. “Second Among Unequals? A Study of Whether France's ‘Quota Women’ Are Up to the Job.” Politics and Gender 6 (1): 93–118.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Niederle, Muriel, Segal, Carmit, and Vesterlund, Lise. 2013. “How Costly Is Diversity? Affirmative Action in Light of Gender Differences in Competitiveness.” Management Science 59 (1): 1–16.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
O'Brien, Diana Z., and Rickne, Johanna. 2016. “Gender Quotas and Women's Political Leadership.” American Political Science Review 110 (1): 112–26.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Pemstein, Daniel, Meserve, Stephen A., and Bernhard, William T.. 2015. “Brussels Bound Policy Experience and Candidate Selection in European Elections.” Comparative Political Studies 48 (11): 1421–53.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Polk, Jonathan, Rovny, Jan, Bakker, Ryan, Edwards, Erica, Hooghe, Liesbet, Jolly, Seth, Koedam, Jelle, Kostelka, Filip, Marks, Gary, Schumacher, Gijs, Steenbergen, Marco, Vachudova, Milada, and Zilovic, Marko. 2017. “Explaining the salience of anti-elitism and reducing political corruption for political parties in Europe with the 2014 Chapel Hill Expert Survey data.” Research & Politics 4 (1): 1–9.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Prpic, Martina, and Chahri, Samy. 2017. Women in Parliaments: National Parliaments with a Higher Proportion of Women Members than the EP. Brussels: European Parliament. http://www.europarl.europa.eu/EPRS/EPRS-at-a-glance-599314-Women-inparliaments%20Update_FINAL.pdf.Google Scholar
Pruysers, Scott, Cross, William P., Gauja, Anika, and Rahat, Gideon. 2017. “Candidate Selection Rules and Democratic Outcomes: The Impact of Parties on Women's Representation.” In Organizing Political Parties Representation, Participation, and Power, eds. Scarrow, Susan E, Webb, Paul D., and Poguntke, Thomas. Oxford: Oxford University Press.Google Scholar
Ringe, Nils. 2010. Who Decides, and How? Preferences, Uncertainty, and Policy Choice in the European Parliament. Oxford: Oxford University Press.Google Scholar
Schmidt, Gregory D. 2009. “The Election of Women in List PR Systems: Testing the Conventional Wisdom.” Electoral studies 28 (2): 190–203.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Schwindt-Bayer, Leslie A. 2009. “The Effect of Gender Quota Laws On the Election of Women.” Legislative Studies Quarterly 34 (1): 5–28.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Schwindt-Bayer, Leslie A. 2011. “Women Who Win: Social Backgrounds, Paths to Power, and Political Ambition in Latin American Legislatures.” Politics & Gender 7 (1): 1–33.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Teele, Dawn Langan, Kalla, Joshua, and Rosenbluth, Frances. 2018. “The Ties That Double Bind: Social Roles and Women's Underrepresentation in Politics.” American Political Science Review Washington 112 (3): 525–41.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Tomz, Michael, Wittenberg, Jason, and King, Gary. 2003. “Clarify: Software for Interpreting and Presenting Statistical Results.” Journal of Statistical Software 8 (1): 1–30.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Valdini, Melody Ellis. 2012. “A Deterrent to Diversity: The Conditional Effect of Electoral Rules on the Nomination of Women Candidates.” Electoral Studies 31 (4): 740–49.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Volden, Craig, and Wiseman, Alan. 2014. Legislative Effectiveness in the United States Congress. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Weeks, Ana Catalano, and Baldez, Lisa. 2015. “Quotas and Qualifications: The Impact of Gender Quota Laws on the Qualifications of Legislators in the Italian Parliament.” European Political Science Review 7 (1): 119–44.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Wolbrecht, Christina, and Campbell, David E.. 2007. “Leading by Example: Female Members of Parliament as Political Role Models.” American Journal of Political Science 51 (4): 921–39.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Xydias, Christina. 2016. “Discrepancies in Women's Presence between European National Legislatures and the European Parliament: A Contextual Explanation.” Political Research Quarterly 69 (4): 800–12.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Yordanova, Nikoleta. 2013. Organising the European Parliament: The Role of the Committees and Their Legislative Influence. Colchester, UK: ECPR Press.Google Scholar
Yoshinaka, Antoine, McElroy, Gail, and Bowler, Shaun. 2010. “The Appointment of Rapporteurs in the European Parliament.” Legislative Studies Quarterly 35 (4): 457–86.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Supplementary material: PDF

Aldrich and Daniel supplementary material

Aldrich and Daniel supplementary material
Download Aldrich and Daniel supplementary material(PDF)
PDF 332 KB