Governance

Citation:

Lind, Amy. 2003. “Gender and Neoliberal States: Feminists Remake the Nation in Ecuador.” Latin American Perspectives 30 (1): 181–207.

Author: Amy Lind

Topics: Civil Society, Development, Economies, Poverty, Feminisms, Gender, Women, Governance, Constitutions, Nationalism, NGOs Regions: Americas, South America Countries: Ecuador

Year: 2003

Citation:

Kunovich, Sheri, and Pamela Paxton. 2003. “Women Political Representation: The Importance of Ideology.” Social Forces 82 (1): 87–113.

Authors: Sheri Kunovich, Pamela Paxton

Abstract:

Women's low rate of participation at the highest levels of politics is an enduring problem in gender stratification. Previous cross-national research on women in national legislatures has stressed three explanations for differences in women's political representation: social structure, politics, and ideology. Despite strong theory suggesting the importance of ideology, it has not found support in previous cross-national statistical studies. But ideology has not been as well measured as structural and political factors. In this article, we demonstrate that gender ideology strongly affects the number of women in national legislatures. We do so by introducing a newly available measure of national gender ideology into a cross-national model of women in legislatures. We demonstrate that ideology, when measured more precisely, strongly predicts differences in women's political representation.

Topics: Gender, Women, Governance, Political Participation

Year: 2003

Citation:

Krook, Mona Lena. 2008. “Quota Laws for Women in Politics: Implications for Feminist Practice.” Social Politics: International Studies in Gender, State and Society 15 (3): 345–68.

Author: Mona Lena Krook

Abstract:

More than fifty countries have adopted quota laws to regulate the selection or election of women to political office. This suggests that states have begun to identify quotas as a new state-led strategy for incorporating women into public life and, by extension, for promoting feminist aims to improve women's overall social, economic, and political status. This article explores the reasons why quotas have been so readily adopted in diverse countries around the world, as well as possible implications for women as political actors and for women as a group, to gauge the broader meaning of quotas for feminism in practice.

Topics: Feminisms, Gender, Women, Governance, Quotas, Political Participation

Year: 2008

Citation:

Hinton, Rachael, Michelle Kopi, Angela Apa, Agnes Sil, Mary Kini, Jerry Kai, Yanny Guman, and Daniell Cowley. 2008. “The Kup Women for Peace Approach to Peacebuilding: Taking the Lead in the Papua New Guinea National Elections.” Gender & Development 16 (3): 523–33. doi:10.1080/13552070802465383.

Authors: Rachael Hinton, Michelle Kopi, Angela Apa, Agnes Sil, Mary Kini, Jerry Kai, Yanny Guman, Daniell Cowl

Abstract:

In seven short years, Kup Women for Peace, a community organisation in Papua New Guinea, has gone from tribal peacebuilding to ensuring a free, fair, and violence-free election in one small part of Simbu Province. The organisation's approach was multi-faceted and locally appropriate, enfranchising many women - and educating men - in the process. In a country where women are marginalised in decision-making structures, the implementation of UN Resolution 1325 could have a major impact on democratic processes and good governance. (Oxfam)

Topics: Democracy / Democratization, Gender, Women, Governance, Elections, Peacebuilding, UN Security Council Resolutions on WPS, UNSCR 1325, Violence Regions: Oceania Countries: Papua New Guinea

Year: 2008

Citation:

Branisa, Boris, and Maria Ziegler. 2011. “Reexamining the Link Between Gender and Corruption: The Role of Social Institutions.” No. 15, Proceedings of the German Development Economics Conference, Berlin, June 24-25, Verein für Socialpolitik, Research Committee Development Economics.

Authors: Boris Branisa, Maria Ziegler

Abstract:

In this paper we reexamine the link between gender inequality and corruption. We review the literature on the relationship between representation of women in economic and political life, democracy and corruption, and bring in a new previously omitted variable that captures the level of discrimination against women in a society: social institutions related to gender inequality. Using a sample of developing countries we regress corruption on the representation of women, democracy and other control variables. Then we add the subindex civil liberties from the OECD Development Centre's GID Data-Base as the measure of social institutions related to gender inequality. The results show that corruption is higher in countries where social institutions deprive women of their freedom to participate in social life, even accounting for democracy and representation of women in political and economic life as well as for other variables. Our findings suggest that, in a context where social values disadvantage women, neither political reforms towards democracy nor increasing the representation of women in political and economic positions might be enough to reduce corruption.

Keywords: social institutions, gender inequality, corruption, OECD Development Centre's GID Data-Base

Topics: Corruption, Gender, Women, Governance

Year: 2011

Citation:

Echazu, Luciana. 2010. “Corruption and the Balance of Gender Power.” Review of Law & Economics 6 (1): 59-74.

Author: Luciana Echazu

Abstract:

This paper seeks to explain the negative relationship between female participation in a government and corruption found in empirical research. We propose that even if there are no innate gender differences towards moral values, the costs of corrupt behavior may still differ across genders and are related to the proportion of female participation in government agencies. Hence, females behave more honestly than males do, not because they are naturally prone to it, but because they cannot afford to be corrupt if they are a minority. In that sense, the total density of corruption is non-monotonic in the proportion of female participation.

Topics: Corruption, Gender, Women, Gendered Power Relations, Governance

Year: 2010

Citation:

Abdulhadi, Rabab. 1998. “The Palestinian Women’s Autonomous Movement: Emergence, Dynamics, and Challenges.” Gender and Society 12 (6): 649–73. doi:10.1177/089124398012006004.

Author: Abab Abdulhadi

Abstract:

This article examines the Palestinian women's autonomous movement that emerged in the early 1990s, emphasizing changes in the sociopolitical context to account for the movement's emergence, dynamics, and challenges. Using interviews obtained during fieldwork in Palestine in 1992, 1993, and 1994, and employing historical and archival records, I argue that Palestinian feminist discourses were shaped and influenced by the sociopolitical context in which Palestinian women acted and with which they interacted. The multiplicity of views voiced by the women I interviewed attests to the impossibility of homogenizing and flattening women's experiences, while the range of actions and strategies employed by different groups and organizations calls attention to contextual limitations on social action.

Topics: Feminisms, Gender, Women, Governance Regions: MENA, Asia, Middle East Countries: Palestine / Occupied Palestinian Territories

Year: 1998

Citation:

Wängnerud, Lena. 2009. "Women in Parliaments: Descriptive and Substantive Representation."Annual Review of Political Science 12: 51-69.

Author: Lena Wängnerud

Abstract:

This essay reviews two research programs. The first focuses on variations in the number of women elected to national parliaments in the world (descriptive representation), and the second focuses on effects of women's presence in parliament (substantive representation). The theory of the politics of presence (Phillips 1995) provides reasons for expecting a link between descriptive and substantive representation. The safest position would be to say that results are “mixed” when it comes to empirical support for the theory of the politics of presence. However, when a large number of studies covering a wide set of indicators on the importance of gender in the parliamentary process are piled together, the picture that emerges shows that female politicians contribute to strengthening the position of women's interest.

Topics: Gender, Women, Gender Balance, Governance, Quotas, Political Participation

Year: 2009

Citation:

Goodkind, Daniel. 1995. “Rising Gender Inequality in Vietnam Since Reunification.” Pacific Affairs 68 (3): 342–59. doi:10.2307/2761129.

Author: Daniel Goodkind

Abstract:

This paper documents increases in gender inequality in Vietnam since reunification of the country in 1975. That contention is based upon an analysis of census and other survey data, a review of secondary source materials, and fieldwork. The rise in inequality has entailed the following: declines in relative survival probabilities for female children, worsened marriage prospects, greater occupational segregation, and increased female representation among the elderly and impoverished. At least four factors have contributed to these changes. The first is that wartime mobilization before 1975 had artificially inflated women's social position to an unsustainably high level. The second concerns the demographic outcome of the war of reunification which resulted in a relative surplus of women. The third is the free market reforms of the 1980s which signaled a diminished governmental commitment to social equity and contributed to a re-emergence of patriarchal Confucian patterns. The fourth is a set of other policy measures and historical circumstances which have enhanced preferences for bearing sons. The paper also assesses contrary and ambiguous evidence, such as the absence of a large gender gap in education, and suggests the possibility of future improvements in gender equality.

Topics: Economies, Gender, Women, Girls, Boys, Gendered Power Relations, Gender Equality/Inequality, Gender Equity, Governance, Post-Conflict Regions: Asia, Southeast Asia Countries: Vietnam

Year: 1995

Citation:

O'Rourke, Catherine. 2009. "The Shifting Signifier of 'Community' in Transitional Justice: A Feminist Analysis." Wisconsin Journal of Law, Gender & Society 23 (2): 269-91.

Author: Catherine O'Rourke

Topics: Civil Society, Feminisms, Gender, Governance, Post-Conflict Governance, International Law, Justice, International Tribunals & Special Courts, Transitional Justice, TRCs, Peacebuilding, Peace Processes, Post-Conflict, Post-Conflict Reconstruction

Year: 2009