Gender, Institutions and Political Representation

1. Front Matter

   Pages i-xii

   PDF

2. Introduction

   • Cristina Chiva

   Pages 1-28

3. Establishing Male Dominance: Descriptive, Substantive and Symbolic Representation

   • Cristina Chiva

   Pages 29-48

4. Candidate Selection and Male Dominance in Europe’s New Democracies

   • Cristina Chiva

   Pages 49-80

5. Reproducing Male Dominance: The Role of Incumbency

   • Cristina Chiva

   Pages 81-97

6. Reproducing Male Dominance: The Role of Electoral Systems

   • Cristina Chiva

   Pages 99-114

7. Reproducing Male Dominance: Asymmetric Institutionalisation in New Democracies

   • Cristina Chiva

   Pages 115-132

8. Breaking Male Dominance: Institutional Change in New Democracies

   • Cristina Chiva

   Pages 133-154

9. Conclusions

   • Cristina Chiva

   Pages 155-163

10. Back Matter

    Pages 165-208

    PDF

This book traces the struggles over the institutions of political representation in Central and Eastern Europe, focusing on the factors that have held women back over the post-communist period, as well as on the growing evidence for change throughout the region. Post-communist Europe has long raised two puzzles for scholars of women’s representation in politics. First, why have women been under-represented in politics in every country in the region since communism’s collapse? Secondly, why are there relatively few cases where women’s advocates have been successful in pressing for change? This comparative study of Europe’s new democracies argues that these puzzles are best understood as questions about male dominance – that is, about the mechanisms that sustain, or, alternatively, change long-established patterns of male over-representation in politics over time. The author covers six EU member states – Bulgaria, the Czech Republic, Hungary, Poland, Romania and Slovakia – during the period 1990-2016. The book will be of use to students and scholars in the fields of Comparative Politics, Democracy and Democratization, European Studies, Gender Studies, Post-Communist Studies, and Central and Eastern European Studies.

• gender and instituions in Europe
• political representation of women in Europe
• women in post-communist politics
• male dominance in European politics
• Central and Eastern European politics
• gender and politics in Bulgaria
• gender and politics in the Czech Republic
• gender and politics in Hungary
• gender and politics in Poland
• gender and politics in Romania
• gender and politics in Slovakia
• Comparative Politics
• Democracy and Democratization in Eastern Europe
• gender studies in Central Europe
• gender studies in Eastern Europe
• gender and canditate selection
• politics and feminism
• electoral systems and gender balance

• Politics and Contemporary History, University of Salford Manchester, Greater Manchester, United Kingdom

  Cristina Chiva

Dr Cristina Chiva is Lecturer in European Union Politics at the University of Salford Manchester, UK.

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