Measuring the quality of politicians elected by gender quotas - are they any different?
Allen, Peter and Cutts, D. and Campbell, Rosie (2014) Measuring the quality of politicians elected by gender quotas - are they any different? Political Studies 64 (1), pp. 143-163. ISSN 0032-3217.
Abstract
Do gender quotas reduce the quality of politicians elected to a legislature? For the first time in the literature, this article addresses this question by examining the quality of ‘quota women’ compared to their non-quota colleagues at three stages of their political career: their electoral performance, their qualifications for political office and their post-election legislative career trajectories. Drawing on the unique case of Britain following the 1997 general election, no significant difference is found between the quality of ‘quota women’ and their non-quota colleagues. Voters do not punish ‘quota women’ at the ballot box; ‘quota women’ are as equally qualified for political office as their colleagues; and the gatekeepers of executive office do not discriminate against ‘quota women’ in front-bench promotions. Considering this, the article concludes by asking whether the similarity of ‘quota women’ to their colleagues may actually impact on their capacity to affect transformative substantive representation.
Metadata
Item Type: | Article |
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Keyword(s) / Subject(s): | gender quotas, women in politics, political representation, voting behaviour, political careers |
School: | Birkbeck Faculties and Schools > Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences > School of Social Sciences |
Research Centres and Institutes: | Gender and Sexuality, Birkbeck (BiGS), Social Research, Birkbeck Institute for (BISR), Birkbeck Centre for British Political Life |
Depositing User: | Administrator |
Date Deposited: | 24 Nov 2014 11:12 |
Last Modified: | 02 Aug 2023 17:14 |
URI: | https://eprints.bbk.ac.uk/id/eprint/11094 |
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