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asian lecture tour
Asst.
Prof. Ann-Cathrine Jungar
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| indonesia
I brunei I philippines I vietnam I singapore |
Unfinished
democracy?
Gender equality and political representation in a comparative
perspective
Despite
the fact that in most countries of Asia and Europe women today
possess the same political rights and freedom - political
power remains largely within the control of men in both regions.
On average, women constitute only 15% of the members
of national parliaments worldwide while their presence
is proportionately lower in governments, regional assemblies
as well as international organisations. Europe and Asia are
quite similar in this respect: In Europe 18.1% of the parliamentarians
are women, whereas the proportion of women in Asian parliaments
is 16.5%. There are, however, some regional differences. Women
control 40% of the seats in the Scandinavian parliaments,
whereas the representation is around 10% in France and Italy.
Vietnam and China with 27.3% and 20.2% women in the national
assemblies are above the Asian average, whereas Singapore
with 4% and Indonesia with 8% female parliamentarians are
below the average.
The
essence of democracy is that those who are affected by the
decisions should be able to influence them and
based on the available figures, one may conclude that women
are undoubtedly still marginalized in much political decision-making.
To be present when the political agenda is set, when policies
are negotiated and finally when decisions are taken are prerequisites
for influence. The under-representation of women may
imply that issues of particular importance for women are not
given the requisite consideration since the multifold experience
of women is not present in the political deliberations.
The
lecture will address the lack of gender equality from a theoretical
as well as a comparative perspective. Firstly, why is equal
representation important? Does a greater proportion of women
make a difference so that more "women-friendly" policies are
made? Which policies are more supportive of gender equality
than others? Secondly, which instruments can be used to increase
the share of women in politics? Does the structure of the
political institutions make a difference, for instance, the
electoral system? Are constitutionally regulated or informally
decided quotas within the political parties a remedy? In what
ways can the state support a more equal distribution of power
between men and women in politics and more broadly in society?
Finally, should gender equality policies not only be targeted
to women, but to men as well?
PROFILE OF THE SPEAKER
Asst.
Professor Ann-Cathrine Jungar studied political science
at the Åbo Akademi University in Finland for
her Masters and Licentiate degrees and received her
Ph.D in political science from the Department of Government
at the Uppsala university in Sweden. She wrote her
thesis on parliamentary government and in her book
"Surplus majority government. A Comparative Study
of Finland and Italy" she develops explanations
for why oversized cabinets form.
After
her dissertation she has continued with research on
Europeanisation, that is, how the EU affects the political
systems of the member states. The Tercentenary Foundation
of the Swedish Bank finances the project "The
repercussions of the EU on Nordic democracy" that
in particular investigates the roles of national parliaments
in internationalised political processes ( www.statsvet.uu.se/nordicdemocracy
). Recently she has received further grants for
extending this comparative research to the neighbouring
three Baltic states. Prof. Jungar has among other
things written on the EU and gender equality, the
use of referendums, the EU policies of the Scandinavian
states in both
English and Swedish.
In
2002 she received a position as a assistant professor
at the University College of Southern Stockholm where
she teaches classes in democracy, Nordic politics
and European integration. She has also been invited
as a guest lecturer to various universities in Scandinavia
and Europe. She is member of the Board of the Center
of Small State Studies in Reykjavik, Iceland and comments
on current affairs in the EU and Scandinavia in the
media. In 2004 she was nominated to hold the annual
Odd Engström lecture at the University in Karlstad
on the role of political opposition in democratic
political systems.
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