Despite the rise in women's participation and representation in politics in recent decades, further sustained efforts to remove the persisting structural barriers need to be made
This article is part of the series — International Women's Day
Democracy, as its rudimentary function, seeks to empower the people. To fulfil its promise to empower all sections of society, especially marginalised groups, democracy as a political system offers compelling representative claims. Democracy’s primary preoccupation continues to be providing power to the ordinary people to elect political representatives of their choice, who can, in turn, pursue the governance and developmental aspirations of the electorate on their behalf. Women constitute almost half of the global population and yet remain historically marginalised across countries, owing to deep-rooted patriarchal norms, societal prejudice, and structural impediments. Thus, with the commencement and consolidation of democratic political systems across the world, the egalitarian vision espoused by the institutions of democracy became crucial for the socio-political amelioration of women.
Political structures of democracy premised upon the rule of law offer equal political opportunity to all. This enables all sections of society, including women, to develop their political agency by voting in the elections as electorates and by contesting elections as political representatives. As electoral politics is one of the major avenues for the multi-dimensional empowerment of women, the emergence of women as voters, representatives, and leaders has been a momentous step to mitigate structural marginalisation and neglect of women, both in the private and public spheres of life. Democracy’s fundamental function of representation has been instrumental for women empowerment in three ways.
As electoral politics is one of the major avenues for the multi-dimensional empowerment of women, the emergence of women as voters, representatives, and leaders has been a momentous step to mitigate structural marginalisation and neglect of women, both in the private and public spheres of life.
First, in terms of symbolic representation, the entry and appointment of women in the high offices of political power in the legislature or government, facilitated by the democratic process, has helped enormously in challenging the patriarchal discourses on politics. Even if the number of women at the high echelons of power remains minuscule, their presence in politics by breaking the ostensible glass ceiling of the male-dominated world of politics, inspires women to participate in public life. Second, democracy also offers descriptive representation to the women when they are represented by female legislators and leaders in political parties, parliament, cabinet, or other governmental bodies. As women enter the structures and institutions of politics and governance, their presence in the governmental and political architecture makes it more gender-inclusive as women are able to shape policy choices and decisions, fundamentally contributing to the processes of nation-building. Third, apart from the symbolic and descriptive representation, the most important aspect of democracy’s representative claims is its substantive implications. One of the most crucial measures of women’s representation in politics remains whether the presence of women in politics leads to substantial and concrete policy innovations and interventions, focused categorically on the welfare of the women community. As the understanding remains, that as women representatives are better equipped to understand the needs, aspirations and challenges of women, they will take up women’s issues as their policy priorities, bringing in long-term positive impact on the emancipation of women. Thus, such representation opportunity posited by the democratic political system serves as a crucial catalyst for the holistic empowerment of women.
The political empowerment of women can be assessed in three broad parameters. First, the role of women as voters is the most basic yet fundamental parameter of looking at the political agency of women. Second, is the presence of women representatives in the legislative and executive organs of the governments as elected representatives of the people. Third, is the presence of women in the crucial local structures of governance in democracies where decentralised models of basic welfare delivery are ensured. Several reports in the recent decade have revealed that, with time, ‘well-known [gender] equivalence in voter turnout’, has been achieved in many prominent democracies across the world, notably in democracies like United States (US) and India. Due to greater political awareness and conducive socio-political conditions, women voters have increasingly shown their willingness to cast their vote in the elections. However, studies have also noted that while women’s turnout in national elections has increased over time, their participation in provincial or local-level elections in many regions remains limited. This is despite the importance of subsidiary tiers of political structures within democratic political systems.
Due to greater political awareness and conducive socio-political conditions, women voters have increasingly shown their willingness to cast their vote in the elections.
As per the data till early 2024, there are 26 countries where 28 women serve as heads of state and/or government. It is noted that 15 countries have a woman head of state, and 16 countries have a woman head of government. In the data compiled data by UN Women, it shows that women represent 22.8 percent of ministerial positions in the cabinet of the executive branch of governments across elected governments in the world. 26.5 percent (average) of parliamentarians in single or lower houses of national parliaments across countries are women, which is a substantial increase from 11 percent in 1995. The state of women representation in legislatures widely varies across the regions of the world. Women hold 36 percent of parliamentary seats in Latin America and the Caribbean and make up 32 percent of parliamentarians in Europe and Northern America. In sub-Saharan Africa, 26 percent of legislators are women, followed by Eastern and South-Eastern Asia with 22 percent, Oceania with 20 percent, Central and Southern Asia with 19 percent, and Northern Africa and Western Asia with 18 percent of women members of Parliament.
According to the 2023 data from 141 countries, there are more than 3 million (35.5 percent) women elected members in local deliberative bodies, which are extremely crucial institutions that deliver basic developmental goods in the spirit of decentralised governance. At the local level as well, the regional variations vividly persist. As of January 2023, women’s representation in local bodies in Central and Southern Asia stands at 41 percent; Europe and Northern America at 37 percent; the Oceania region at 32 percent; the East and Southeast Asia at 31 percent, Latin America and the Caribbean at 27 percent; Sub-Saharan Africa at 25 percent; and Western Asia and Northern Africa at 20 percent. Hence, women's participation at the grassroots level of democratic governance has been increasing in countries across the globe but needs to be buttressed further.
The abovementioned data reveals that although the political representation of women has increased in all forms across countries in the world, it remains substantively behind the men who still largely dominate the structures of power politics. The existing studies on the political agency of women point to the four major impediments that deter women from participating in politics, eroding their political agency. First, the uncongenial circumstances under rigid patriarchal norms obfuscate avenues for socialisation and skill development for women, diminishing their chances to acquire the skills instrumental for a successful career in politics. The lack of exposure and the deep-rooted societal prejudice which underlines the notion that women are not capable of shouldering public responsibilities, leads women to create a self-perception that they are inadequate/unfit for a challenging task like politics and are better placed to continue with their ‘traditional’ roles. Political institutions like the political parties, often dominated by men, remain reluctant to give access to women leaders for contesting elections essential for ensuring their advancements in their political careers. Second, the voters, embedded in social patriarchal prejudices, look at the prospect of women taking part in politics with disdain and scepticism. Many studies have confirmed that the misconceived perception and gender bias that considers women to be incapable of withstanding the travails and turbulence of the political life and administration often stops voters from choosing women leaders as their representatives.
The lack of exposure and the deep-rooted societal prejudice which underlines the notion that women are not capable of shouldering public responsibilities, leads women to create a self-perception that they are inadequate/unfit for a challenging task like politics and are better placed to continue with their ‘traditional’ roles.
Also, the apprehension that women’s traditional roles of managing the household and raising children will deviate them from full-time commitment towards politics looms very large on the psyche of major sections of voters, which include both men and women. Third, the material concerns and extremities that women in politics need to face remain a Herculean challenge for women leaders. Contesting elections has increasingly become an extremely costly endeavour requiring huge expenditure for running effective election campaigns. Women, who are traditionally more financially dependent than men, often find contesting elections financially untenable for them. Fourth, women in public life in general and politics in particular, across the world face tremendous calumny, physical as well as verbal attacks and harsh/unpleasant comments that are often used to malign their reputation to deter women's participation in politics.
Needless to say, women’s participation and representation in politics have got a major impetus in recent decades with the consolidation of vibrant electoral democracies across the world. Also, an emerging body of research reveals the major role that women play in politics, making a positive impact on governance and welfare parameters and bringingstronger attention to women-centric issues in policymaking. However, further sustained efforts to remove the persisting structural barriers, both through institutional reforms and social change, to ensure more impactful representation of women in democratic politics across the world, is the need of the hour.
Ambar Kumar Ghosh is an Associate Fellow at the Observer Research Foundation
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Ambar Kumar Ghosh is an Associate Fellow under the Political Reforms and Governance Initiative at ORF Kolkata. His primary areas of research interest include studying ...
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