Question 1
Please fully discuss why it is beneficial for a nation that women be elected to political office.
Response:
It is beneficial for a nation to have women elected in the political office. In a global perspective, women are underrepresented in the world of politics, about 20 percent of the average percentage of women in the national parliaments. This underrepresentation is just one of the facts presented for women who are part of the politic arena. In addition, there are many argumentations about the representation of women in politics. On the contrary, justice arguments are clear for the representation of women.
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If gender-neutral language is used in principle, in practice only men appear in politics, and then there is no equality among women. Generally, some male lawmakers are less to initiate and pass laws that would serve the interests of women and children. Naturally, women always think about issues on rape, domestic violence, women’s health and child care than men do. In the utility arguments, women improve the quality of deliberations, and women in politics act as role models for the younger generations or women.
In the world of politics, a nation can benefit the power of women, women have good decision-making, and it makes the nation flexible to any changes in the environment, internally or internationally. This power bring change in the political arena, politics need women to fight for the rights of every woman who are victims of violence. Gender is an institution that is persistent and pervasive forms in the social context, and people should not take gender for granted.
Question 2
Please fully discuss the barriers that women face in being elected to national office in 2014. (The barriers in running for office)
Response:
Women faced barriers in running for office, and in the demand side, once decision is made, usually there are barriers. These barriers are candidates must be selected by gatekeepers and be selected by voters. The gatekeepers are the political parties or PRs, recruitment and selection happens in these parties in most countries. The rules of the game is that, the PRs pick the candidates, electoral systems determine how the votes cast translate in seats won by the parties or candidates. In addition, in the perspective of women running for office, double barriers are clear to understand. There are cases that women from racial, ethnic, and religious minority groups are excluded from participation being minorities than they are women. The double barriers are more complex to understand than to acknowledge either gender or minority status limits women in politics.
The PRs have its characteristics such as they decide who to recruit, field, groom, and support. The plurality-majority systems can improve the chances of women to run and to give more money or support. It only implies that minority status has less chances of running an office or winning a position. Its high visibility to perpetuate men is good in the business, and in politics that political ideology of the party matters, however, less or seldom well for women. In fact, about 63 percent of ethnic parties excluded women in general. In the PRs system list, the representation of women is low, and the worst is from the ethnic parties. However, it sometimes depend on the party elite, it means that, women in the midlevel positions in the party can help some women achieve a higher level positions.
Question 3
Please fully discuss why you believe that the United States Congress has a lower than world average amount of women in Congress.
Response:
After a thorough analysis in the provided readings, United Sates Congress has a lower than world average amount of women in Congress. Women in different countries, acted differently in the field of legislations. Added to the fact is that, the party system is problematic, Congresswomen vote for women’s issue bill than male colleagues. In this manner, it affects the number of women as part in the congress as their bills are quite limited to issues that benefits the general women population only, and that female legislators are subject to the same institutional and party constraints. Congresswomen propose bills on women, children, family, and education and health. Its effectiveness in passing bills is doing well; however, people need other bills that would benefit the general public or citizens of the United States, entirely.
The legislative effectiveness of women is successful, and in getting their bill passed accordingly. However, there are instances that women in general are less effective in the political process than men do. For example, in the United States Congress, women are more effective in getting only federal money to their districts, and the women-sponsored bills receive more scrutiny, hostile testimony, and debate than male-sponsored bills. In addition, women have less effective in getting bills passed that deal in the issues in women or in the women’s perspective in particular. Another example, still in the United States state legislatures, women are more successful than men in getting bills directly to women, children, and family. However, they less to pass bills that concern on criminal issues and the likes. Women are only good as men do at passing bills on topics of broad interests to women.
The United States Congress should have equal bills passed both in men and women. This is what the citizens of the United States looking to certain Congress officials. The limited bills passed by Congresswomen in the United States caused the lower than world average amount of women in Congress.
Question 4
Please fully analyze the difficulties women face once they are elected to office.
Response:
There are many difficulties women faced once they are elected to office. However, the woman leaders are strong enough to face such difficulties for the sake of the general public’s benefits. Traditionally, the leadership gender traits are associated with competitiveness, aggression, decisiveness, and dominance. These gender traits are the stereotypes state of man leaders, while woman leaders stereotyped nurturing, likeable, helpful, polite, and gentile.
When woman leaders practice their responsibilities that is, to serve the people and its country as whole, they possess two roles; as leaders and as women. People serve as evaluators of the behavior of women, and most evaluate women more negatively than men. Women are viewed as gentle, soft, and family nurturing, while men are viewed as tough and strong in decision making. The gender role of women conforms the result of failure that is, contrary as expected as requirements of their role as leaders. This conformation is partly a kind of discrimination, and not supposed to happen to women as leaders in the nation.
It is not fair that some woman leaders sacrificed their marriage or family because of their political career. They do not need to choose which is more important, the people of the nation she serves or her spouse or family. Woman leaders should not think that at work, they are less responsible wives or abandoned their children, and at home, they think they are less responsible in service to the people. Some women faced difficulties on how they look in front of the public or to their constituents, that is why some dressed attractively, and would persuade, and flatter to look more aggressive, ruthless, rude, and tough like Margaret Thatcher does. For Ellen Johnson Sirleaf of Liberia, she claimed to bring a motherly sensitivity and emotion to the presidency as a way of healing the wounds caused by war. Woman leaders are more democratic, participatory, consensus, compromise oriented, and sympathetic, and view power as a way to get things done than a way to control and influence people.
Question 5
Please fully discuss how different aspects of culture affect women's representation in politics.Response:
In the explanation of the political representation of women in politics, there are aspects that affect it, culturally. Factors that produced different levels of political representation for women across the world are supply factors and demand factors, respectively. The supply factors increased the pool of women with the interest and experience to compete against men in the political world. The demand factors characterized the electoral systems or the PRs that create it; women are pulled in the office from the supply of interested candidates.
Some people think that women and its lace really matters for the ability to perform or attain power. Women would not be taken as contenders for power if they are considered apolitical, irrational, or incapable of acting as male do. Historically, two reasons offered to women in the political exclusion; the assumptions about women’s inherent nature or capabilities and beliefs regarding women’s proper place in society, and politics is simply out of women’s proper sphere or domain. Accordingly, Women do not have the temperament or capabilities necessary for political participation and they are biological differences, thought to extend to difference across moral, intellectual and emotional dimensions. In addition, women are focused only in the home, family, children and husband proper domain and the distinction between public and private. The place of women today have the continuing power of culture; in a recent worldwide survey of female politicians, about 76 percent of those interviewed claimed that prevailing values about gender roles limit the participation of women in politics. In addition, even after gaining office, cultural norms can limit effectiveness when dealing with their male counterparts.
Question 6
Please fully discuss how women in the workforce result in more women in political office.
Response:
In the United States, it is found that there are a greater percentage of women working in a state that includes law and executive forces, and there are an increased number of women in the state of legislature, as well. Women in the workforce is increasing worldwide however, a disproportionate number of women are still in low paying jobs. As per statement of David Richards, he classified countries in accordance to its economic rights they afforded to women. These economic rights are equal pay for equal work, choice of employment without a male relative’s consent, freedom from sexual harassment, and right to work at night. In 2003, only 8 countries met the rights such as Australia, Belgium, Iceland, Netherlands, Moldova, Sweden, and Tunisia. While 12 countries fell into the lowest group where there was systematic discrimination such as Afghanistan, Pakistan, Cameroon, Central African Republic, Chad, Guinea-Bissau, Lesotho, Liberia, Togo, Saudi Arabia, and Yemen.
The threshold for representation in the workforce in the political office is clearly presented; about 30 percent in the United States identified as the level of representation necessary for women to affect the operation and output of parliamentary bodies. In addition, in 2010, at Paxton colleagues found that for every 1 percent increase in a quota threshold, women’s representation increases by only 0.1 percent on average.
In the International IDEA classifies quotas into three main types; the candidate, political party, and reserved seats. The legal or legislative quotas, requires all political parties in a country to field a certain percentage of female candidates. The political party quotas voluntary and occurs when a party chooses to adopt a set of rules or targets that a certain percentage of its candidates be women. Lastly, in the reserved seats, it mandates that a certain percentage of women are elected in works for plurality-majority systems, particularly.
Question 7
Please fully discuss plurality/majority systems vs. proportional representational systems in electing female candidates.
Response:
In the plurality-majority systems, the vote is for just a single candidate to represent candidates like in the United States, and one person represents the voters. The proportional representation systems, vote is for the party which has a list of candidates, directly relate the number of seats won by the party to the number of votes cast for that party, and multimember districts where multiple people represent the voters.
Plurality-majority systems can improve women’s chances by running them in winnable districts and giving more support or money. In plurality-majority systems, religious ethnic parties were better for women, and it depends on rules, are they understandable, clear, and consistent. Generally choose incumbents over newcomers are more likely to win. High visibility is good – in community, in business, in politics it does this perpetuate the men
In list PR systems women’s representation in ethnic parties is low, and religious ethnic parties were the worst. Women do better in gaining political office under PR electoral systems; women can get on the party’s ballot without displacing a male, in the plurality system a woman would displace a male on the ballot or zero sum gain, as “newcomers” women is less likely to win in a head to head situation that incumbents have an edge, since party elites want people who are likely to win, women do not get picked if they believe the male will fare better, and a PR system party elite are pressured to balance the ticket. In addition, in the PR systems are beneficial to minority women but not a fix all – in some lower income countries the PR system does not seem to benefit women over plurality-majority systems.
Question 8
Please fully discuss how International Organizations affect (both positively and negatively) women in politics.
Response:
The international organizations affect women in politics, positively and negatively. For example, the International Women’s Movement or WINGOs, has been steadily increasing in size and in strength.
Historically, the activism of women in the United Nation or UN started in 1975 declared as the International Women’s Year. In 1975 to 1985, the UN Declared Decade for Women. The UN Global conferences happened to be the significant conflict between women from the Global North and South. The Global Southern Women accused Western feminists of ignoring their regional concerns and conflict over the agenda stalled progress. The Israel-Palestinian had a conflict; the North supports Israel, South and developing countries support Palestinians. However, eventually women come together and make it work and in 2000 UNSC Resolution 1325 was adopted that calls on member states to ensure women’s participation in post-conflict regimes. The NGOs provide money, personnel, training to promote women’s empowerment throughout the world. While the International organizations have pressured states to adopt gender quotas and loan money. National and local women’s organizations may also join with international forces to increase demand for women in politics
The UN advocates gender mainstreaming the idea that gendered perspective must be independently introduced into all policies and programs of a government. The opposite of this is women’s policy machinery, consolidation of women’s programming under a single entity. Some scholars believe this is crucial for accomplishing coordination and fully representing women’s diverse issues. It really makes a difference in general; it increased the supply of women interested in and able to compete for office, inspired and trained local women’s movements, learned social movement tactics that have been successful in other parts of the world, and exchanged arguments against the enduring cultural beliefs that work against women’s participation in politics in swap ideas. It enabled the international committee to conduct inquiries into systematic violations of women’s rights
Question 9
Please fully discuss the following question "Does it really matter if women serve in political office?"
Response:
Yes, it really matters if women serve in political office. It matters a lot in women’s own development as human beings, to the people they serve, and the nation as a whole. Women as leaders play a very important role in building a nation. From the beginning of the amendments of the rights of women, specifically the right to vote, women were considered as one of the strengths of a certain nation. The impact of its leadership influenced every woman in the past, present, and future generations.
The leadership of women is a good example of and integrity; the power of equality and being role models of change in the world of politics. Women in the political arena strengthened the advocacy of women against violence and children. Leadership is not a job, instead it is an obligation to serve the people, and the nation.
Every woman as a leader transformed every person to continue to achieve peace, prosperity, and equality, and fight against inequality on gender. Both men and women are equal in terms of decision-making with its respective technique on how to lead and serve the people. The effectiveness of its leadership should never equate to any form of discrimination, leaders are born to serve and to offer the most lawful and equal rights for every citizen in every country. Despite some issues, still both men and women leaders stand to defend the people and the nation.
Question 10
Is intersectionality a good thing or bad thing for women (who are intersectional) and why?
Response:
Intersectionality is when there are multiple sources of power or disadvantages as part of a minority and female. There are four key elements of intersectionality; it recognizes differences among women, sees stratifying institutions as inseparable, explicitly references power, and acknowledges complexity.
Intersectionality recognizes differences among women. This is recognizing and exploring differences among women is at the foundation of intersectionality research. Intersectionality challenges ideas that women are a fixed, monolithic group and contests essentialism; the assumption that women are defined by a common set of characteristics, attributes or interests. When faced with assertions about “women” intersectionality raises the question of “which women?”
Intersectionality sees stratifying institutions as inseparable. The systems of stratification like gender and race and forces of oppression like sexism and racism are seen as “interlinked”, “interlocking” and “mutually constructed.”
Intersectionality explicitly references power. The differences such as gender, race, ethnicity, nationality, religion, and sexuality combine to form intersecting social hierarchies. These intersections are said to create a matrix of domination through which individuals may experience both privilege and marginalization, or experience multiple oppressions.
Intersectionality acknowledges complexity. The barriers faced by marginalized women may be compounded by the multiplicity of forces of oppression. In other cases, minority women’s dual identities can provide strategic advantages or opportunities.
Generally, it has positive effects than the negative effects. It serves as guideline to act according with positive outlooks being a woman of power and courage.
