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Women in Political Elites WOMEN IN POLITICAL ELITES: A Comparison of Australia with Taiwan bY Hai-Chuan Chou B. A. M. A. Submitted in fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy University of Tasmania July 1996 Declaration The Thesis contains no material which has been accepted for a degree or diploma by the University or any other institution, except by way of background information and duly acknowledged in the Thesis, and to the best of my knowledge and belief no material previously published or written by another person except where due reference is made. Hai-Chuan Chou Authority of Access This thesis may be made available for loan and limited copying in accordance with the Copyright Act 1968. Hai-Chuan Chou ABSTRACT This study compares recruitment and career paths of women politicians in Australia and Taiwan. It is based on the analysis of biographical materials and interviews with women MPs. The thesis argues that access of women to political elites is influenced by social dynamics, especially the pattern of modernisation. Different paths of modernisation — 'even' in Australia and 'uneven' in Taiwan — are associated with different configurations of gender-related political opportunities and resources, and with different political career paths. Political opportunities concern the overall access to social statuses and crucial pools of 'political eligibles'; political resources refer to those characteristics which are pivotal to securing promotion to elite positions. 'Even' modernisation in Australia is marked by economic, political and sociocultural modernisation, growing individualism and equalisation of political opportunities for women. However, such modernisation does not necessarily give women equal access to political resources, which tend to be concentrated in political organisations. 'Uneven' modernisation in Taiwan is marked by persistence of many traditional cultural norms and values, especially those concerning gender roles and the family. Consequently, women in Taiwan have more limited political opportunities than women in Australia. However, they have access to political resources, some of them gender-specific, which are concentrated in family networks and local communities. The career structures of women politicians (MPs) in both countries reflect these differences. Organisational (party or union) activist careers are dominant in Australia; they involve early entries into organised politics and long political apprenticeships. The dominant political career path for women in Taiwan represents a family-sponsored type; it involves a period of intense local activism. ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS I wish to express my deepest gratitude to Dr. Jan Pakulski, the supervisor of this thesis, for his patience, experience, encouragement, valuable suggestions and his continued efforts to improve my English throughout the course of my postgradute studies. I also wish to thank Professor Malcolm Waters and Dr. Baogang He for their invaluable advice and comments, all of which have greatly improved the quality of this thesis. This thesis is a comparative study. Many friends have helped to make this study possible. I especially wish to express my gratitude to Miss Chung-Peng Bai of National Chengchi University, Miss Kwei- Mei Lin, and all interviewees who have kindly provided information about their personal and political experiences. I thank Mrs. Louise Oxley for her helpful comments and linguistic assistance. My deepest appreciation goes to my parents and my parents-in- law for their financial support and continuous encouragement. Finally, my deepest debt is to my husband Su-Ke whose continuous assistance and encouragement were an invaluable contribution to my work. TABLE OF CONTENTS Introduction 1 Research Problem 1 Source of Evidence 3 Plan of the Thesis 3 Reasons for Comparing Australia with Taiwan 5 Chapter One Theoretical Framework: Elites, Modernisation and Women 8 Elites and Political Recruitment 9 Political Recruitment 13 Political Elite Recruitment and the Modernisation Processes 19 Patterns of Modernisation 20 Women, Political Elite Recruitment and Modernisation 34 Summary 49 Chapter Two Modernisation in Taiwan and Australia 51 Historical Background 51 Economic Modernisation 56 Social-cultural Modernisation and the Women's Movement 64 Political Modernisation 75 Conclusions 86 Chapter Three Family, Culture and Women's Opportunities and Resources 89 Family, Culture and Women 89 Women's Opportunities and Resources 103 Conclusions 131 Chapter Four Institutional Frameworks and Women's Political Career Structure 133 Electoral System and Political Institutions 133 Political Career 145 Political Career Patterns 155 The Patterns of Political Recruitment and Career Types 165 Conclusions 170 Chapter Five Conclusions 173 Women in Political Elites 173 Implications for Modernisation Theory 175 Implications for Theories of Gender Inequality 177 Implications for Elite Recruitment Theories 178 Recent Development and Future Research 180 Bibliography 182 Appendix 210 TABLES 2.1 Life Expectancy at Birth in Australia and Taiwan, 1972-1992 65 2.2 Female Students as Proportion of Total Students in Three Levels of Education in Taiwan, 1950-1992 67 2.3 Full-time Educational Enrolment Rate by Age and Gender, Taiwan and Australia, 1992 68 2.4 Divorce Rate in Taiwan and Australia, 1966-1992 71 2.5 Single Parent Families as Proportion of Total Families, Taiwan and Australia, 1986, 1992 71 3.1 Liberal Individualism and Confucian Familism 90 3.2 The Average Length of Education by Gender, Taiwan, 1993 94 3.3 Female Membership in Major Political Parties, Australia (Y()) 107 3.4 Membership in the KMT by Gender CYO 109 3.5 Women Office Holders within the ALP State Executives (1992) 110 3.6 Women's Representation within the KMT's Central Committee and the Central Standing Committee 115 3.7 Women's Representation within the DPP's Executive Committee and the Central Standing Committee 115 3.8 Women as Proportion of Total Administrators/Administrative Executives, Managers, and Professionals (%) 116 3.9 Women as Proportion of Higher Education Students, Australia and Taiwan, 1964-1991 122 4.1 Structural Features of Electoral Politics in Australia and Taiwan 134 4.2 Women Candidates and the Reserved-seat System (Examples) 137 4.3 Women MPs with Political Family Background 147 4.4 Education Attainment of Women MPs 148 4.5 Occupation before Entering Parliament 150 4.6 Women MPs' Political Party Affiliation, 1969-1993 152 4.7 Age at Which Women Parliamentarians Were First Elected 154 4.8 Age at Which Women MPs Began Politically Active 157 4.9 Women MPs with Experience of Local Government Services 159 4.10 Political Party Experience of Women MPs 160 4.11 Involvement of Women MPs in Women's Organisations 163 4.12 Involvement of Women MPs in Voluntary Organisations 164 4.13 Political Careers of Women MPs 166 FIGURES 1.1 The Opportunity and Resource Model and Typology of Elite Recruitment 16 1.2 Percentage of Women in Lower House in 25 Countries, 1993 41 2.1 Infant Mortality Rate in Taiwan and Australia, 1965-1993 65 2.2 Total Fertility Rate (Per Woman) in Taiwan and Australia, 1961-1992 66 2.3 Women's Median Age of First Marriage in Taiwan and Australia, 1971-1993 66 2.4 Numbers of Ex-nuptial Births as Proportion of Per Thousand Live Births, Taiwan and Australia, 1975-1992 (`)/0) 70 3.1 Female Labour Force Participation Rate by Marital Status 118 INTRODUCTION This thesis explores the question of how women's recruitment into political elites is affected by social dynamics, especially the pattern of modernisation. The impact of social dynamics on the gender composition and paths of recruitment of political elites in Australia and Taiwan is analysed over the last two decades. The different patterns of modernisation in Australia and Taiwan are associated with different configurations of political opportunities and resources, and these configurations, in turn, shape the paths of women's recruitment into political elites and affect the changing gender composition of political elites. Research Problem The revival of the women's movement in the late 1960s brought to public attention the need for empowerment of the female half of population. The changing roles and status of women in public life become the subject of public debates and academic research. These debates highlighted the fact that among the most salient features of women's position in contemporary public life is their limited presence in political elites. However, the research results reveal that women politicians are rare. Women who are interested in political careers face barriers derived from patriarchal tradition, inequitable institutional arrangements, financial constraints and patriarchal organisation (Kelber 1994). A common view is that these barriers are stronger in less modernised societies and that women are more likely to succeed in political contests in more developed countries. It is assumed that modernisation helps in reducing gender bias. Modernisation is widely seen as woman-friendly, and women's presence in political elites is often seen as a product of modernisation (eg. Huntington 1968; Putnam 1976; Etzioni-Halevy 1981; Berger 1987). Variation in this presence is typically attributed to variation in modernisation level and path. The classic early version of this modernisation theory points to the overall level of societal modernisation as the key determinant of gender divisions and correlates these divisions with sociopolitical 1 processes of elite recruitment and party formation (eg. Apter 1965;
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