So far in our journey through issues of political engagement in the UK, we have addressed topics that concern young people and socio-economic inequality.
We must now turn our attention to the issue that affects over half our population and represents a lingering hindrance to our progression towards a more egalitarian society:
The severe underrepresentation of women in UK politics, and the subsequent lack of emphasis being given to issues that predominantly concern women.
‘Gender equality’ can be simply understood as the acknowledgement that the needs and concerns of any gender are of equal importance. This therefore means that the rights, responsibilities, and opportunities available to an individual are not affected by their gender (Un.org, 2019). The good news is that we, as a society, have come a long way since the days of 1918 when women had to endure many struggles and sacrifices to secure our right to vote (UK Parliament, 2019). The pursuit of gender equality is globally recognized as a major objective and women are no longer tied to solely domestic matters. Instead, we are excelling in all areas within our society, including politics (British Council, 2019). So surely it means we are on the same level as men with regards to our issues and concerns being addressed, right?
WRONG.
Women remain in a more difficult position than our male counterparts when it comes to our ability to contribute politically. In terms of descriptive representation (where a representative shares the same politically relevant physical characteristics to those they are representing), there are not enough females in political institutions to adequately represent the female population in the UK (Sawer, 2012). The biggest example of this is how we are continually underrepresented in parliament (Browning, 2019). The 2011 Census found that 51% of the UK gender demographic are female; making us the dominant gender portion. However, figure 1 demonstrates that until 1997, the number of parliamentary seats held by women never managed to surpass 10%, and the current figure of 32% achieved in the 2017 General Election is the record high (Browning, 2019). A disappointing result, considering the 19% difference between the percentage of women in the UK and the percentage of MPs that have the best potential of representing women’s interests.
What does this mean for women in the UK?
If an adequate level of descriptive representation by gender is achieved, then the level of substantive representation for that gender improves significantly (Beckwith, 2007). An MP’s capacity for substantive representation refers to their ability to influence, intervene, and advocate for the interests of the individuals they are representing (Sawer, 2012). Female MPs currently holding parliamentary seats therefore have their powers significantly reduced because there simply aren’t enough of them, and this then negatively affects their ability to fulfil their function of substantive representation with regards to female interests (Pyeatt & Yanus, 2017). This therefore means that issues affecting women, such as:
…cannot be effectively addressed due to the insufficient proportion of MPs in parliament who would genuinely understand the gravity of these issues and how women are affected. Feel free to click on each issue above or the following links to glimpse into what could be achieved for women’s interests if there were just more of us in political institutions:
- From Periods To Smear Tests, Here’s How Female MPs Are Raising Taboo Topics In Parliament
- Female MPs launch #PayMeToo campaign to end gender pay gap
So how can we actually resolve this?
In practical terms, our political system doesn’t necessarily need to be overhauled completely, BUT must be improved upon significantly. I argue that the most promising and immediate solution to the issue of female representation is the implementation of a gender quota system for party candidates during elections and appointments to political positions.
Studies have shown that gender quotas have the potential to dramatically increase the number of women elected as representatives through equalizing the opportunities available for women to secure these positions (Krook & Zetterberg, 2014). A common argument presented against gender quotas in politics is that it would lead to women being elected just because of their gender, and not necessarily for their merit (Murray, 2019). However, studies have shown that women elected through quotas are frequently just as qualified, or even more so, than their non-quota equivalents (Krook & Zetterberg, 2014).
Critics of quotas also argue that they are essentially undemocratic because they hinder the voters’ power to decide who to elected (idea.int, 2019). However, it must be noted that candidates are already controlled by political parties – meaning that introducing quotas at a candidate level would not affect voters’ rights (idea.int, 2019; Schwindt-Bayer, 2009).
I’m not saying that the quota system doesn’t have its potential pitfalls, and more studies focusing on the design and effects of quotas need to be conducted (Schwindt-Bayer, 2009). However, what I am saying is that women have a right to equal representation in order to achieve a more democratic system than is currently in place. Quotas are a quick-fix to benefit and improve our democracy and representation right now, whilst setting the foundation for a more democratic future (idea.int, 2019; Schwindt-Bayer, 2009). And if we consider adopting a system where quotas are implemented at a candidate level, many of the potential negatives would already be alleviated as a healthy choice of high-quality candidates would still be put forward by each political party.
But most importantly, the UK will be in a better position towards its objective of achieving gender equality by providing an even playing field between both genders in politics. Where the interests of both need to be taken into account, yet one is currently being severely overlooked. We need more women in parliament who will present and fight for issues that affect women, and quotas will ensure that we get it.
Or do you think there’s a better solution?
Bibliography:
Beckwith, K. (2007). Numbers and Newness: The Descriptive and Substantive Representation of Women. Canadian Journal of Political Science/Revue canadienne de science politique, [online] 40(01). Available at: https://www.jstor.org/stable/25166063 [Accessed 6 Apr. 2019].
British Council (2019). Gender equality and the empowerment of women and girls in the UK. [online] Available at: https://www.britishcouncil.org/sites/default/files/gender_equality_and_empowerment_in_the_uk.pdf [Accessed 6 Apr. 2019].
Browning, S. (2019). Women in Parliament and Government. [online] Researchbriefings.parliament.uk. Available at: https://researchbriefings.parliament.uk/ResearchBriefing/Summary/SN01250 [Accessed 6 Apr. 2019].
Idea.int. (2019). Gender Quotas | International IDEA. [online] Available at: https://www.idea.int/data-tools/data/gender-quotas/quotas#what [Accessed 6 Apr. 2019].
Krook, M. and Zetterberg, P. (2014). INTRODUCTION: GENDER QUOTAS AND WOMEN’S REPRESENTATION—NEW DIRECTIONS IN RESEARCH. Representation, 50(3), pp.287-294.
Murray, R. (2019). Merit vs Equality? The argument that gender quotas violate meritocracy is based on fallacies | British Politics and Policy at LSE. [online] Blogs.lse.ac.uk. Available at: https://blogs.lse.ac.uk/politicsandpolicy/merit-vs-equality-argument/ [Accessed 6 Apr. 2019].
Un.org. (2019). OSAGI Gender Mainstreaming – Concepts and definitions. [online] Available at: https://www.un.org/womenwatch/osagi/conceptsandefinitions.htm [Accessed 6 Apr. 2019].
Pyeatt, N. and Yanus, A. (2017). Increasing Women’s Political Participation: The Role of Women-Friendly Districts. Representation, 53(3-4), pp.185-199.
Sawer, M. (2012). What makes the substantive representation of women possible in a Westminster parliament? The story of RU486 in Australia. International Political Science Review, 33(3), pp.320-335.
SCHWINDT-BAYER, L. (2009). Making Quotas Work: The Effect of Gender Quota Laws On the Election of Women. Legislative Studies Quarterly, 34(1), pp.5-28.
UK Parliament. (2019). Women get the vote. [online] Available at: https://www.parliament.uk/about/living-heritage/transformingsociety/electionsvoting/womenvote/overview/thevote/ [Accessed 6 Apr. 2019].
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