Representation of Women and Theories Cheat Sheet (DRAFT) by faminconnue

– Descri­ptive (Hannah Pitkin, Jane Mansbr­idge)
– Substa­ntive: Politics of presence (Anne Phillips)
– Critical Mass: (Moss Kanter, Drude Dahlerup)
– Critical Actors & Acts: (Sarah Childs, Mona Lena Krook)
– Feminist Democratic Repres­ent­ation (Karen Celis, Sarah Childs)

emphasizes gender equality and empowe­rment in political decisi­on-­making processes to ensure fair and inclusive govern­ance.

- It challenges tradit­ional power structures that margin­alize women in political leadership roles.
- Advocates for policies promoting women's rights and gender equity within instit­utions.
- Seeks to increase women's repres­ent­ation in government through mechanisms like quotas or affirm­ative action.
- Aims to create a more diverse and inclusive political landscape reflective of the popula­tion.

refers to the minimum amount of something needed to initiate a reaction or bring about signif­icant change

- can be used to describe a threshold required to achieve a specific outcome or trigger a particular event
- in social movements, reaching critical mass signifies momentum and potential for widespread impact
- the concept is often employed in discus­sions about nuclear reactions or population dynamics
- reaching critical mass can lead to a cascade effect, where rapid and widespread change occurs due to a tipping point
- critical mass is important
- to justify women in politics
- explain why small numbers of women in politics have limited impact on policy­making
- crucial tool for gender quotas campai­gners as it succinctly illust­rates the need for quotas as a ‘fast-­track’ measure to increase women’s political repres­ent­ation

repres­ent­ation is multi-­dim­ens­ional; has 4 distinct aspects
- formal­istic: focuses on how the relati­onship between the repres­ent­ative and the repres­ented is establ­ished
- symbolic repres­ent­ation: what does a politics with or without women symbolise about that country; it values and belief systems; laws; the legitimacy of the political process
- descri­ptive repres­ent­ation: The number or proportion of women in parliament – the extent to which parliament resembles society. Who do repres­ent­atives stand for?
→ promotes democracy, democratic values and citizen’s political involv­ement
→ used by scholars of identity politics, women in politics, multic­ult­uralism and minority
- substa­ntive repres­ent­ation: Assesses if women, when elected, act for women?
- focuses on how well elected repres­ent­atives advance the interests and needs of the groups they represent → ‘who do they act for?’
- involves repres­enting the interests and perspe­ctives of margin­alised groups effect­ively
- quality of repres­ent­ation is assessed based on tangible policies and actions that address the concerns of consti­tuents
- substa­ntive repres­ent­ation aims to ensure fair and equitable decision making processes

the relati­onship between descri­ptive and substa­ntive is the ‘critical mass’ concept hypothesis
→ once women reach a particular proportion of parlia­ment, they are able to exert a ‘real’ influence on decisions

= an altern­ative approach to ‘critical mass’
-> focused not on when women make a differ­ence, but on how the substa­ntive repres­ent­ation of women occurs; not on what women do, but on specific actors do

- Critical actors as legisl­ators who initiate policy proposals on their own and/or embolden others to take steps to promote policies for women, regardless of the numbers of female repres­ent­atives
- critical acts = acts that improve the lives of women
- we must always consider how the following shape opport­unities for repres­ent­ation:
- instit­utional constr­ain­ts/­opp­ort­unities
- party ideology and affili­ation
- legisl­ators’ identities and interests

- the presence of women in political office is normat­ively desirable
- women’s presence in political leadership may act to sever the strong associ­ation between mascul­inity and political leadership
- women’s presence reduces partisan hostility
- women’s presence in political office in one country may have a contagion or diffusion effect on women’s partic­ipation in public life in other nations
- women in political office, in particular cabinet, influence policy outcomes
- Phillips (1998): identified four arguments to support women’s political repres­ent­ation
1. women politi­cians act as role models for aspiring women candidates
2. women should be equally repres­ented for justice reasons as they compose 50 percent of most popula­tions
3. women’s interests are inadeq­uately addressed in a politics dominated by men
4. women’s political repres­ent­ation revita­lises democracy