The Uneven Representation of Women in Asian Parliaments: Explaining Variation across the Region
Although home to the majority of the world's women, Asia is the continent with the smallest proportion of women in Parliament. Rarely studied from a comparative perspective, this article examines the uneven representation of women in the lower houses of contemporary Asian parliaments. While soc...
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| Main Authors: | , |
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| Format: | text |
| Language: | English |
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Institutional Knowledge at Singapore Management University
2013
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| Online Access: | https://ink.library.smu.edu.sg/soss_research/1985 https://ink.library.smu.edu.sg/context/soss_research/article/3242/viewcontent/UnevenRepWomenAsia_pv.pdf |
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| Institution: | Singapore Management University |
| Language: | English |
| Summary: | Although home to the majority of the world's women, Asia is the continent with the smallest proportion of women in Parliament. Rarely studied from a comparative perspective, this article examines the uneven representation of women in the lower houses of contemporary Asian parliaments. While socio-economic modernization and industrialization are generally expected to increase the proportion of women in positions of political influence, we find that differences in electoral and party systems across Asia play a greater role than levels of female literacy, urbanization, or per capita income. In particular, Asian parliaments with strict quotas and a higher number of (three of more) major political parties had significantly more female MPs. We also found cultural attitudes supportive of women in the public sphere to make a difference along with multi-member districts and parties on the political left. © Koninklijke Brill NV, Leiden, 2013. |
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