Background Document - Danish Institute for Parties and Democracy

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DIVERSITY AND EQUALITY MATTERS! Searching for ideas and practices that can inspire change This background document is not about the statistics on women in politics, because we already know the situation too well. As stated in the Millennium Development Goals Report 2011 from the United Nations: “Despite growing numbers of women parliamentarians, the target of equal participation of women and men in politics is still far off.” Progress is clearly slow, indeed frustratingly slow. Only 26 countries worldwide have managed to achieve the 30 per cent target for women in decision-making positions set by the Beijing Platform adopted in 1995. Globally we have still not been able to climb above 20 per cent. When we dig deeper into the different dimensions like top leadership positions in parties and cabinets at national level, ministerial posts, or heads of municipal councils, the picture just gets even more depressing. So despite some progress, the reality we live in continues to be one of discrimination against women, in law as well as in practice, resulting in both equality and diversity suffering. Denmark is doing better than most countries in this area. As suggested in the last article of the background document, maybe the secret is that sustainable equal status development has been rooted in a combination of top-down and bottom-up politics. The state pushed equality through legislation, but making it a living and vibrant reality required the hard and persistent work of various civil society organisations, as well as strong individuals. In a sense this is not a new recognition, but rather a general recipe for change or development. But it is nevertheless important to remember when we search for ideas and practices that can inspire change. Both sides are important; each side needs the other. This is different from stating that every country should now copy what Denmark has done. We know that this is not possible. While recognising that principles of diversity and equality are important dimensions of a democratic culture, we must accept and understand that they have to be managed and practiced in different cultural, religious, social and political settings. The Christiansborg Seminar is therefore not driven by a search for the ‘one-size-fitsall’ magic bullet, but rather for ideas and experiences from our global village, which can inspire all of us in our different localities. WOMEN IN POLITICS DANISH INSTITUTE FOR PARTIES AND DEMOCRACY PAGE 4
Of course this search will also build on all the wealth of knowledge others have already accumulated. The journey we have travelled so far indicates that many different areas need to be dealt with in a strategic manner to ensure progress: Equal constitutional rights for women and men need to be included; different electoral systems can offer different avenues; the use of quotas or reserved seats for women can be considered; the role of party rules for recruitment procedures should not be underestimated; capacity development to strengthen skills and resources of women is needed; and reform of the rules and internal procedures within parliament may also be helpful. Changes in institutional structures and regulations are often possible in the shortterm. But history tells us – including the successful Danish history – that egalitarian attitudes towards women and men, improvements in human development, and societal modernisation are long-term undertakings. After all, it took Denmark around 150 years to reach the present 40 per cent level of women parliamentarians and see the first woman become Prime Minister! Maybe other countries can reach this level more quickly. At the end of the Christiansborg Seminar 2012, we hope to be able to adopt a statement on principles, ideas and practices that can inspire our work on support for women in politics. This will of course not be a legal document, but rather a commitment by the Danish Institute for Parties and Democracy to follow these principles when we engage with our partners, both in the area of party-to-party partnerships and in the area of multi-party partnerships. At the general level this is already codified in our strategy for 2011-2013 “Political Parties in a Democratic Culture”, but we hope that the ideas and practices presented in the seminar will make it possible for us to deliver more effectively than is the case today. We believe that this is important and necessary as an end in itself. But it is also important and necessary because the empowerment of young women in politics, women engaging in politics at the local level, as well as women in politics in countries undergoing some form of transition contribute to the overall strengthening of democracy. WOMEN IN POLITICS DANISH INSTITUTE FOR PARTIES AND DEMOCRACY PAGE 5 Bjørn Førde, Director
Page 1 and 2: DANISH INSTITUTE FOR PARTIES AND DE
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Page 7 and 8: CONTENTS 9 Young women in politics
Page 9 and 10: YOUNG WOMEN IN POLITICS From househ
Page 11 and 12: litical parties ‘rely on the stat
Page 13 and 14: ing able to keep up with and ‘bei
Page 15 and 16: youth population. Overall, it could
Page 17 and 18: dialogue across party lines. It als
Page 19 and 20: The program was broadly understood
Page 21 and 22: BIBLIOGRAPHY Ann, Teo Sue and Shuib
Page 23 and 24: WOMEN IN LOCAL LEVEL POLITICS Socia
Page 25 and 26: While contesting the post of an ele
Page 27 and 28: In fact training and capacity build
Page 29 and 30: enforcing these norms in ways that
Page 31 and 32: WOMEN IN LEADERSHIP POSITIONS AT TH
Page 33 and 34: amidst a scenario where only 0.6% w
Page 35 and 36: Jaipur: Rawat Publications, 2006. M
Page 37 and 38: WOMEN IN TRANSITION COUNTRIES Strug
Page 39 and 40: A year later, women in the Arab Spr
Page 41 and 42: INSTITUTIONALISED MALE DOMINANCE AN
Page 43 and 44: OPENING SPACES AND INCREASING ACCES
Page 45 and 46: GENDER AND DEMOCRACY Danish democra
Page 47 and 48: ulation were now able to read about
Page 49 and 50: y American, French, German, and Bri
Page 51 and 52: THE STRUGGLE FOR WOMEN’S REPRESEN
Page 53 and 54: On the municipal level, development
Page 55 and 56:
and set new standards of female cit
Page 57 and 58:
NETWORKS AND TOOLKITS Some resource
Page 59 and 60:
EMPOWERING WOMEN FOR STRONGER POLIT
Page 61:
MAKING DEMOCRACY WORK FOR WOMEN: IN
Page 64:
CHRISTIANSBORG SEMINAR The ’Chris
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Background Document - Danish Institute for Parties and Democracy

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