Voter Turnout

Switzerland and Poland have the lowest voter turnout in national elections (up to March 2003) in the ECE region with rates below 50% (Table 12.1 and figure 12.4).

Parliamentary systems

Most countries in the region (33) have a unicameral parliamentary system, of which the Turkish parliament has the largest number of seats (550) and Monaco the least (24). Of the countries with a bicameral system, the United Kingdom’s Parliament is the largest with more than 1300 seats followed by Italy with around 950 seats. The most common voting system is proportional representation, but there are still some chambers in parliaments that include appointed members (Table 12.2).

Women in parliaments

There is a great variety in the proportion of women parliamentarians in the ECE region. Eight countries have more than 30 per cent of women in their parliaments[1]: Sweden, Denmark, Finland, Norway, Iceland, Austria, Netherlands and Germany. On the other hand, 17 countries have 10 per cent or less women parliamentarians: Kazakhstan, Azerbaijan, Belarus, Kyrgyzstan, Italy, Malta, Hungary, Greece, Russian Federation, Serbia and Montenegro, Georgia, Uzbekistan, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Albania, Ukraine, Turkey and Armenia (Figure 12.5). No country has reached full gender equality in the parliament, and most countries are far from it.

Women as government ministers

As with the parliaments, Sweden has the highest proportion of women among government ministers. However, with 45 % women ministers, even Sweden hasn’t reached full equality. Sweden is followed by Finland (44 %) and Norway (42 %). At the opposite end of the spectrum are San Marino, Moldova, Czech Republic, Cyprus and Armenia without any women in ministerial posts (Figure 12.6).

Women in local politics

It is difficult to compare the participation of women in local politics in different countries, since the local political systems vary. However, the data in table 12.7 show that few countries have a substantial representation of women in local political positions. France stands out with 47.5 % women municipal councillors, as does Sweden with 42 % local representatives. In contrast, Turkey stands out with only 0.4% of female mayors. Within the European Union, Austria has the least women mayors, with only 1.7 %. In general, there is a huge scope for improvement in the ECE region when it comes to including women in political decision-making (Table 12.7).

Tables and charts

12.1 Voting turnout at last national election and proportion of seats held by women

12.2 Parliaments and voting systems

12.3 Parliamentary election results, political parties

12.4 Participation in elections

12.5 Women parliamentarians

12.6 Women government ministers, 2002

12.7 Political participation of women at local level