WOMEN IN DEMOCRACIES : QUOTA SYSTEM AND POLITICAL EMPOWERMENT OF WOMEN IN CHANGING SOCIETIES

Democracy guarantees equal right to both men and women and opens up equal spaces for the participation of women in the political process. Nonetheless, constitutional guarantee of equality proved futile and in most of the democracies women constitute less than 30 percent of the total representation....

Ausführliche Beschreibung

Bibliographische Detailangaben
Veröffentlicht in:The Indian Journal of Political Science. - INDIAN POLITICAL SCIENCE ASSOCIATION, 1939. - 77(2016), 1, Seite 15-20
1. Verfasser: Rai, Anuradha (VerfasserIn)
Format: Online-Aufsatz
Sprache:English
Veröffentlicht: 2016
Zugriff auf das übergeordnete Werk:The Indian Journal of Political Science
Schlagworte:Democracy Empowerment Quota system Women Representation
Beschreibung
Zusammenfassung:Democracy guarantees equal right to both men and women and opens up equal spaces for the participation of women in the political process. Nonetheless, constitutional guarantee of equality proved futile and in most of the democracies women constitute less than 30 percent of the total representation. To encourage and ensure greater participation of women in politics, further incentives were invented and quota system is one of the widely advocated mechanisms to increase the participation of women in political process of the countries. Role of quotas to accelerate women's political participation has been recognised in most of the developing countries, including India and the studies shows that quotas have a positive effect on increasing women's involvement in politics. Out of the top 26 countries with the highest gender equal ratios of representation, 20 have quota systems in place. However, the political empowerment of women is more than an increase in the number of women in politics. It demands women in decision-making role to promote gender justice. Does quota truly empowers women or it works as a token of empowerment in these countries? The paper will look into the effectiveness of quota for women political empowerment in these countries and how successfully women in these countries are supporting the cause of structural and physical violence against women.
ISSN:00195510