The multi-layered political system of the European Union offers a unique environment for the study of comparative democracy. Its policies seek to give effect to an agreed range of values, including that of gender equality. This book explores gender equality and democratic politics in Europe. It discusses how democratic politics engages with gender equality in the European Union and examines what happens when a core democratic value of the European Union, equality between women and men, is given policy effect in supra-national and domestic level politics. It asks how embedded is this value in democratic politics and what degree of gender equality is expressed in this environment. The collection brings to light the gendered nature of democratic politics, offering a critical gaze on the workings of modern democracy in Europe. This book will be of interest to scholars and students of democracy, European studies, gender, and key to courses seeking to incorporate a deeper gender perspective or evaluating democracy and democratic performance in institutions and decision-making.

The representation of women in parliament is a subject of extensive research and a focus for political action in the last decade. The wide variation in women's parliamentary presence contradicts the expectation that established or consolidated democracies are more supportive of the presence of women in political life than emerging democracies. This volume explains this variation through a series of closely investigated case studies from the post-Communist transition democracies of Eastern Europe and emerging democracies in Asia and the Middle East to the long-established liberal democratic states. The volume examines the history of women's legislative involvement, clearly addressing the issue of equal opportunities for women in political life on a cross-national basis. It also identifies innovative solutions to redress the power-sharing balance between women and men. Offering a unique comparative perspective, Sharing Power will appeal to students and scholars of politics, women's studies, history and legislative studies.

The representation of women in parliament is a subject of extensive research and a focus for political action in the last decade. The wide variation in women's parliamentary presence contradicts the expectation that established or consolidated democracies are more supportive of the presence of women in political life than emerging democracies. This volume explains this variation through a series of closely investigated case studies from the post-Communist transition democracies of Eastern Europe and emerging democracies in Asia and the Middle East to the long-established liberal democratic states. The volume examines the history of women's legislative involvement, clearly addressing the issue of equal opportunities for women in political life on a cross-national basis. It also identifies innovative solutions to redress the power-sharing balance between women and men. Offering a unique comparative perspective, Sharing Power will appeal to students and scholars of politics, women's studies, history and legislative studies.

This book explores the relationship between women, the state and democratic politics in Ireland today. It highlights the conservatism of the political culture shared by all traditions on the island, and how this culture circumscribes women's political agency in Northern Ireland and Ireland. The book explores the opportunities and obstacles to women's participation and representation on each side of the border. The chapters take the view that public decision-making institutions and processes are subject to rules and practices that reinforce the gendered foundations of democratic politics. They document women's continuing quest for full participation and equal representation in these male-gendered arenas. The contributors focus on the marginalised experiences of women in modern politics in Ireland and detail their efforts to challenge the masculinized status quo. The book addresses the classical issues of citizenship, participation, representation and equal rights in a sustained analysis of the political systems on the island. It also deals with modern issues - multiculturalism, peace-building, the male-gendered legislature and the unequal nature of women's citizenship in constitutional, institutional and policy contexts. The book is completed by a comprehensive appendix of all women elected to political office on the island from 1918-2013. This book was published as a special issue of Irish Political Studies.

The multi-layered political system of the European Union offers a unique environment for the study of comparative democracy. Its policies seek to give effect to an agreed range of values, including that of gender equality. This book explores gender equality and democratic politics in Europe. It discusses how democratic politics engages with gender equality in the European Union and examines what happens when a core democratic value of the European Union, equality between women and men, is given policy effect in supra-national and domestic level politics. It asks how embedded is this value in democratic politics and what degree of gender equality is expressed in this environment. The collection brings to light the gendered nature of democratic politics, offering a critical gaze on the workings of modern democracy in Europe. This book will be of interest to scholars and students of democracy, European studies, gender, and key to courses seeking to incorporate a deeper gender perspective or evaluating democracy and democratic performance in institutions and decision-making.

Utilizing the concept of political representation, this book scrutinizes women's legislative presence and highlights the opportunities and obstacles to parity democracy in the post-Communist region of Europe. The book examines the link between women's membership in national parliaments and the substantive representation of gender interests. It investigates the role of civil society, the state, and the European Union in representing women's interests and in promoting gender politics. In revisiting Pitkin's account of political representation, the book provides an important and timely contribution to the classical political questions of who is the representative, what is represented, and how representation takes place. In adopting an integrated approach to political representation, the book extends current understanding of this fundamental concept. Using new research, it provides the first comprehensive comparative analysis of the interplay between emerging democracies and gender politics in post-communist Europe.