Tag: Claire McGing
To enhance women’s representation, internal party democracy may need to be ‘managed’ in the short term
With a general election in the Republic of Ireland imminent, gender quotas have already doubled the proportion of women candidates relative to the 2011 general election. In most cases the implementation of quotas at constituency level has been straightforward. However, problems have arisen largely due to ‘local’ versus ‘central’ conflict, writes Claire McGing. Here she explores how […]
Sweden’s Feminist Initiative are on the rise, but what does the history of women’s parties tell us about their prospects?
With the success of Soraya Post and Feminist Initiative in Sweden this year, Claire McGing looks at women’s political parties, how they emerge, what influences they can have, and the challenges they face. While the influence of women’s parties has historically frequently been transitory, they nonetheless have a ‘contagion’ effect on mainstream parties, who seek […]
The impact of online misogyny on women’s participation: democracy experts respond
Many women, including a number of high-profile British politicians, have been the targets of misogynistic abuse via social media. Democratic Audit recently featured an article by Laura Bates, arguing that this trend has negative effect on rates of female participation in public life. In this post we ask leading democracy and gender experts to respond, sharing their […]
Northern Ireland Assembly elections show internal party cultures, not the electoral system, prevent equal opportunities for women in politics
Only a fifth of MLAs in the Northern Ireland Assembly are women, which is lower than the House of Commons and other devolved legislatures in the UK. In the second post our Gender and Democracy series, Claire McGing investigates whether the single transferable vote system used for Assembly elections explains female under-representation. She finds, however, that […]
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