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Yes, measuring the numbers of women in politics is important but the more important aspect of this to "measure" what impact do women do when involved in politics. Does women's participation at different levels (legislative, executive and other top level posts )make difference? Do women represent women's interests and needs or by the end of the day we found women who are more masculine than men.

Safia
Program Officer International IDEA- Sudan

Dear Giorgia,

I know that you wanted to stay away from numbers or percentages of women in parliaments, but I do think that looking at the number of women in the executive branch (ministers, etc), the number of women local councilors and mayors, and the number of women in leadership spots in political parties could be quite helpful. We also measure the number of women who receive training, the number of women who decide to run as candidates, and the percentage of those women who win their spots. This helps to see where women are falling through the political cracks.

Hope this helps.

Best Regards,

Piper Nelson
Senior Program Officer, National Democratic Institute (NDI)

Dear Giorgia,

Thank you for an interesting question. Besides looking into the number or percentage of women MPs in any given country as an indicator for measuring women’s political participation, it would be interesting to research the following indicators:

• Measuring women’s participation in political decision-making. Scholars and practitioners have pointed out that there is a difference between nominal and real participation of women in politics. Many of these scholars claim that measuring women’s political participation only by the numbers of women represented in parliament or governance structures may not reflect the true picture. For example, a country may have a high number of women elected or appointed to political positions, but these positions are nominal and do not allow women to participate in power-sharing and decision-making processes. Therefore, it would be valuable to measure women’s real participation in political decision-making.

  Julie Ballington, Program Officer for Partnership between Men and Women, Inter-Parliamentary Union (IPU), suggests looking into how women participate in decision-making processes i.e. whether women parliamentarians sponsor any pieces of legislation, how they vote on legislation, and how active they are in committee or plenary debates. She also underlines the importance of measuring what positions women hold within parliaments i.e. the office of speaker/presiding officers, heads of committees, Secretary General, and looking at which portfolio assignments women hold. (Ballington, J. Expert Opinion 2008).

  To use the concept of women in decision-making positions as an evaluation indicator, it would first be necessary to define what positions rise to this level. This may be a politically sensitive and time-consuming process since there is no single, universally-accepted definition of the “women in decision-making positions” concept.

• Measuring the political participation of women at different levels of government and civil society. Since women’s participation in politics is not only defined by their participation in executive and parliamentary branches, it is important to measure their participation at the regional and local levels. According to Julie Ballington, although executive and parliamentary participation is well researched, there is less solid comparative and longitudinal data on women serving at the provincial and local levels.

  An interesting example of a comprehensive measurement of women’s empowerment and political participation is African Gender and Development Index (AGDI), which is based on an analysis of gender gaps and the gender relations on the African continent. A particularly relevant component of AGDI is measurement of women’s “political power” in the African countries. To measure political power, AGDI uses indicators assessing positions held by women in the public sector and civil society. The AGDI indicators for measuring women’s participation in civil society include senior positions held by women in political parties, trade unions, employers’ associations, and professional syndicates. The indicators measuring women’s participation in the public sector include numbers of women members of parliament, cabinet ministers, higher courts judges, members of local councils, and higher positions in civil service.

• Assessing behaviors of women in political processes. Anne Marie Goetz, Chief Advisor of Governance, Peace and Security at the UN Development Fund for Women (UNIFEM), suggests in her background paper to UNESCO to look into women’s voting behaviors, lobbying activity, associational activity, and membership of political parties as indicators measuring women’s political participation. (Goetz, A. Background Paper for the Education For All Report, UNESCO, 2004).

  Julie Ballington also suggests looking at “voter turnout/voter registration data to analyze how women have participated in elections over a period of time. For example, data from a decade ago suggested that there was a gender gap in terms of the political participation of women in elections. That gap seems to have diminished in recent years, and women are at least as likely, perhaps more likely, to vote than men in several countries.” (Ballington, Julie. Expert Opinion. 2008)

  There are also good examples from other organizations and initiatives that designed and implemented comprehensive evaluations of women’s empowerment in a specific country or region. A good example is focus groups conducted by the Canadian International Development Agency (CIDA) to assess women’s empowerment by looking into their political and legal awareness, as well as their participation in public protests and political campaigning.

• Measuring the impact of deterring factors on women’s access to politics. Some studies assess the participation of women in politics through the impact of deterring factors on women’s entrance into politics. For instance, in the survey published by IPU, Julie Ballington highlights domestic responsibilities, cultural perceptions about the role of women, lack of support from family, and lack of financial resources as deterrent factors to the participation of women in politics. (Ballington, J. Equality in Politics: A Survey of Women and Men in Parliaments, IPU, 2008) Analyzing these deterrent factors may provide information on the real participation of women in politics and obstacles faced by them.

Here are some resources suggested for further references:

Gender and Indicators. BRIDGE. 2007.

The African Gender and Development Index. United Nations Economic Commission for Africa (UNECA). 2004.

Guide to Gender Sensitive Indicators. Canadian International Development Agency (CIDA). 1997.

Definition from the European Commission’s Website on women and men in decision-making. European Commission (EC). 1997.

Equality in Politics: A Survey of Women and Men in Parliaments. Ballington, J. Inter-Parliamentary Union (IPU). 2008

We hope you find these indicators helpful.

Sincerely,
iKNOW Politics Team