The first women representatives in the United States were elected in 1894 when Colorado votes sent three women to the state legislature. Now, a century later, women almost everywhere are the majority of voters but a distinct minority of elected officials. This discrepancy is a puzzle for those who thought democratic institutions would incorporate newly enfranchised women, and a problem for those working to expand democratic representation. Darcy, Welch, and Clark examine women candidates and candidacies in the United States and several other democratic nations. Their careful analysis reveals that male voters and political elites are not the barriers to women's election that common wisdom suggests. Instead, they find that a party's ability to determine candidate selection, along with election procedures that benefit incumbents, produces slow turnover of elected officials and few opportunities for new women candidates. In addition, the authors analyze nomination procedures and election systems to document both the conditions that lead political parties to nominate more women and the mechanisms that yield more victories by women candidates. Women, Elections, and Representation is an extensively revised and expanded edition of a successful text that provides a thorough and up-to-date account of research on women and politics.

"The authors take a unique approach: they reject the view that women should accommodate themselves to the system and argue instead that the system has an inherent obligation to accommodate itself to women. Using data from local, state, and national levels they formulate a model of elections. The authors contend that as the number of qualified women increases, more will run for office-and more will be elected. As more women are elected, the incumbency factor will assist in their reelection until the number of elected women reaches parity with that of men." -- Book Cover.

In the century since women were first eligible to stand and vote in British general elections, they have relied on news media to represent their political perspectives in the public realm. This book provides a systematic analysis of electoral coverage by charting how women candidates, voters, politicians' spouses, and party leaders have been portrayed in newspapers since 1918. The result is a fascinating account of both continuity and change in the position of women in British politics. The book demonstrates that for women to be effectively represented in the political domain, they must also be effectively represented in the public discussion of politics that takes place in the media.

Delving into the pressing topic of gender and politics, this volume provides fresh comparative perspectives on "what works" to promote women in politics today. Inspiring and informative, Women, Power, and Political Representation offers a comprehensive overview of the role women play in contemporary politics, and pinpoints the reasons behind their underrepresentation. Discussing the challenges and opportunities women face when running for office, as well as their experiences as political leaders, this book offers a broad and thoughtful overview of the pitfalls encountered by women, from gender biases to sexual harassment, in the notoriously male dominated political arena. Featuring a range of voices that articulate a path towards women’s political advancement and equality, Women, Power, and Political Representation is an important and timely resource for scholars, students, and women working professionally in Canadian and international politics.

Gender equality is central to the protection of human rights and the functioning of democracy. It cannot be right that the experiences, skills and concerns of women are not fully represented or reflected in decision making about the laws and functioning of the societies in which they live. The regional study on women’s political representation in the Eastern Partnership countries was commissioned in response to the key objectives of the Council of Europe and the European Commission to address the lack of women’s political representation at national and local level in these countries. Researchers based in each of the countries have contributed qualitative information on both the situation of women and on the experiences of women who have stood for elected office. While the legal basis for equality of women and men exists in all the countries in question, the reality is quite different. Stereotypical views and assumptions about the roles of women in society affect how women step forward as candidates, and whether they are selected and elected. The Council of Europe is convinced that this study, by providing examples of good practice and evidence-based, practical recommendations, will help to address the current imbalance of women holding elected office and, by doing so, will enhance democracy and human rights in the countries of the Eastern Partnership.

This title argues that political parties fundamentally structure the ways in which women legislators represent women's interests. Using original election, sponsorship and roll call data across the US state chambers, Osborn shows how parties shape the policy alternatives women offer.

This is the first world-wide, comparative study of the controversial new trends of gender quotas now emerging in global politics, presenting a comprehensive overview of changes in women’s parliamentary representation across the world. This is important reading for all those working to increase women’s influence in politics, because it scrutinizes under what circumstances gender quotas do increase women’s representation – and why they sometimes fail. These distinguished international scholars also show how gender balance in politics has become important to a nation’s international image and why quotas are being introduced in many post-conflict countries. They present key case studies of Afghanistan, Iraq, Argentina, Sweden, South Africa, Belgium, covering almost all major regions of the world: Latin America, Africa, the Arab world, South Asia, the Balkans, The Nordic countries and Europe, New Zealand, Australia and the USA - and Rwanda, which in 2003 unexpectedly surpassed Sweden as the number one country in the world in terms of women’s parliamentary representation. Using a comparative perspective, this book contains analyses of the discursive controversies around quotas; it gives an overview over various types of quotas in use from candidate quotas to reserved seat systems, and it throws light over the troublesome implementation process. When do gender quotas lead to actual increase in the number of women parliament? When are quotas merely a symbolic gesture? What does it imply to be elected as a ‘quota woman’? Tackling these and many more key questions, this is a major new contribution to the field. Making an important contribution to our knowledge of gender politics worldwide, this book will be of interest to NGOs, students and scholars of democracy, policy-making, comparative politics and gender studies.