The objective of more balanced participation of men and women in national governing structures is less an end in itself than a means towards improved quality of governance. Although women in all countries of the ECE region enjoy the legal entitlements necessary for taking part in the political process without restrictions, they continue to face serious difficulties in becoming involved in equitable numbers in the political process. Whatever the constitutional arrangements, the core of decision-making in each country is the executive branch of the government, that is the cabinet and the senior civil service. In the ECE region, women’s share in government varies from zero to 50 per cent.
While a few countries are able to show considerable progress in the proportion of women in national assemblies, in the majority of western countries the share of women in power increased only slowly over the last decade. In Central and Eastern Europe as well as in the countries of the CIS, women have found themselves progressively pushed out of public life, and only in the Baltic states and a couple of other countries did women manage to progress sufficiently to make up 15 per cent of the elected parliaments.
Repeated studies of gender and voting behaviour indicate that the absence of women in electoral office is not the result of voting in general elections but is attributable to party nomination practices. The role of political parties in increasing women’s representation is clearly crucial, as political parties are the channels to elected office. The limited presence of women in parties and their even smaller role in parties' executive committees explains in large part the difficulties women have in getting access to political power.
General attitudes in society, which construe men as the only real political actors, tend to legitimate men and their political actions, while disqualifying women. In the same sense, women in politics are often more closely scrutinised and criticised than men. The unequal division of family responsibilities places women at a disadvantage in terms of time needed to be active in politics. Similarly, limited social services inhibit women’s access to “disposable time” required for building up a political career. Other explanations for the dearth of women in electoral politics include the lack of positive measures and networks to support women in politics and the re-emergence in some societies of patriarchal values and relegation of women to the private sphere of the family.
As a result of all this, women are the minority among parliamentarians in all countries of the region and therefore have relatively little influence on the social and economic policies that characterise a society. Training and strong policies in some of the members states with quotas and targets have been instrumental in increasing women’s presence in different appointed offices in the senior civil service, commissions and committees that make up part of contemporary government.
Examples of policies in the region:
Norway: policy on gender balance in political bodies
Sweden: parliament has the highest proportion of female members in the world
Ukraine: training women in political leadership
