Regions Are Not Created Equal

08-Paxton.qxd 2/6/2007 6:35 PM Page 217 8 All Regions Are Not Created Equal n previous chapters, we identified a number of factors and general I processes that influence women’s political power across the world. But though it is important to understand the big picture, one must also recognize that there is substantial regional variation in both the nature of the obstacles faced by women and the avenues open to women to pursue political inclu- sion. In parts of the Middle East, women continue to struggle for the most basic social and political rights, whereas in Scandinavia women are close to closing the gender gap in political power. Although we cannot delve deeply into the specifics of women’s political situations in every country, in this chapter we identify some of the key issues and trends common to particular regions of the world. The Geography of Women in Politics To begin, we divide the globe into six regions: Western industrialized countries, Eastern Europe and Central Asia, Latin America and the Caribbean, sub-Saharan Africa, Asia and the Pacific Islands, and the Middle East and North Africa. Countries in each of these categories are fairly geographically concentrated, with the exception of the West, which includes Canada and the United States, Northern and Western Europe, Australia, and 217 08-Paxton.qxd 2/6/2007 6:35 PM Page 218 218—— Women, Politics, and Power 30% 25.4% 25% 20% 17.5% 15.4% 15.0% 15% 10.3% 10% 7.7% % Women in Parliament 5% 0% Western Latin America Sub- Eastern Asia Middle East Industrialized and the Saharan Europe and and the and Caribbean Africa Central Asia Pacific North Africa Figure 8.1 Women’s Parliamentary Representation for 187 Countries by Region, 2006 SOURCE: Data from Inter-Parliamentary Union (2006b). New Zealand. Figures 8.1 and 8.2 present an overall picture of the variation in women’s political representation and leadership across these six regions. When focusing on national legislatures, Western industrialized countries lead the world, averaging 25% women. Latin America, sub-Saharan Africa, and Eastern Europe fall in the middle range with 15% to 18%. Asia and the Middle East have the fewest women, where women hold an average of only 8% to 10% of seats. When looking at national leadership, however, the regional picture of women’s political power changes somewhat. Women in Asia and Latin America perform better than those in the West in attain- ing primary national leadership positions, whereas in Africa, Eastern Europe, and the Middle East, women lag behind (see Chapter 3 for a dis- cussion of the different categories of political leadership). In the following sections, we examine each region in turn. Overall, we cover a number of topics related to culture, including Scandinavian political culture, marianismo, Catholicism, nationalism, and women in Confucian thought. We also address political and structural matters such as gender quo- tas at the local level in Southeast Asia and the family law system in the Middle East and North Africa. Similar to the theories outlined in Chapter 6 that influence women’s political outcomes in myriad ways, we also discuss the 08-Paxton.qxd 2/6/2007 6:35 PM Page 219 All Regions Are Not Created Equal—— 219 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 Number of Female Leaders 1 0 Western Latin America Sub- Eastern Asia Middle East Industrialized and the Saharan Europe and and the and Caribbean Africa Central Asia Pacific North Africa Truly Powerful Head of State Prime Minister in Presidential System Figure 8.2 Total Number of Women Ever Serving as a Truly Powerful Head of State or Prime Minister in a Presidential System, by Region complex and contradictory impact of colonialism. This chapter also identifies inroads to the political realm that are more commonplace in particular regions, such as women’s politicization in democratic movements in Latin America or the family route to political leadership in Asia. Western Industrialized Countries “Daddy, on television today they said that a man was prime minister. Is it possible that a man can be prime minister?” —Reportedly asked by the child of a news correspondent after Gro Brundtland, Norway’s former female prime minister, was ousted from office (Solheim 2000:75) In no Western industrialized country are women fully excluded from political representation in national politics. In recent years, no head of state in the 08-Paxton.qxd 2/6/2007 6:35 PM Page 220 220—— Women, Politics, and Power region has appointed an all-male cabinet, and by 2006 women held a mini- mum of 9% of parliamentary seats in all countries (Central Intelligence Agency 2006b; Inter-Parliamentary Union 2006a). However, across the West, substantial differences in women’s political representation and leadership remain. As depicted in Map 8.1, one country, Sweden, has more than 40% women in its parliament, nine countries have reached at least 30% women, and eight countries have more than 20% women. But several countries—France, Greece, Ireland, Italy, Malta, San Marino, the United States, and the United Kingdom—also have less than 20% women in their national legislatures. Even among these lower performers, there is variation in the histories of female political leadership: The United Kingdom elected a truly powerful female head of government, France elected a female prime minister in its presidential system (a position with moderate power), and Ireland elected two women to a largely symbolic national leadership position. Alternatively, Greece, Italy, San Marino, and the United States have not been led by a woman throughout their entire histories. We further explore women in U.S. politics in Chapter 9. Although women’s political representation has increased significantly in a number of Western countries in recent years, it is important to note that since the 1970s, Scandinavia has led the world (see Figure 8.3). Scandinavia is a region of northern Europe that includes Denmark, Finland, Iceland, Norway, and Sweden. With slightly more than 20 million people, Scandinavia com- prises “small, homogenous societies with relatively high standards of living, a fairly common historical tradition and culture, and emphasis on Protestantism, democracy, and social welfare” (Solheim 2000:29). During the 1970s, increasing education, declining birth rates, and a higher cost of living pushed many women into the workforce. But unlike other Western countries, women’s political progress in Scandinavia proceeded faster than improve- ments within the family or the workforce (Solheim 2000). As of 2006, Nordic countries held four of the top five positions in the world rankings of women’s parliamentary representation. Ranging from a low of 33.3% in Iceland to a high of 45.3% in Sweden, the average percent- age of women in parliament in Scandinavia is more than 15% higher than the rest of the West (Inter-Parliamentary Union 2006b). This pattern is also evident in the executive branch of government, where by the early 1990s, 37% of cabinet members in Scandinavia were women, whereas the average figure in Western Europe was 9% (Karvonen and Selle 1995). Another impressive political accomplishment of women in Scandinavia is that they have been able to break out of the areas traditionally staffed by women, such as education and family policy, holding cabinet positions in industry, energy, defense, environmental affairs, and justice (Karvonen and Selle 1995). 08-Paxton.qxd 2/6/20076:35PMPage221 221 Map 8.1 Women’s Parliamentary Representation in Western Industrialized Countries, 2006 SOURCE: Data from Inter-Parliamentary Union (2006a). 08-Paxton.qxd 2/6/2007 6:35 PM Page 222 222—— Women, Politics, and Power 40% 35% 30% 25% 20% 15% 10% % Women in Parliament 5% 0% 1950 1952 1954 1956 1958 1960 1962 1964 1966 1968 1970 1972 1974 1976 1978 1980 1982 1984 1986 1988 1990 1992 1994 1996 1998 2000 2002 Scandinavia Other Western Countries Figure 8.3 Women’s Parliamentary Representation for Scandinavia and the West, 1950–2003 SOURCE: Data from Paxton, Hughes, and Green (2006b). So why are the Nordic countries so different? A number of explanations have been put forth to justify women’s exceptional political involvement in Scandinavia, and many of them are discussed in previous chapters: Protestantism, a high level of education and labor force participation for women, the dominance of leftist parties, a proportional representation elec- toral system, and a well-organized women’s movement (Bystydzienski 1995; Haavio-Mannila and Skard 1985; Matland 1993; Norris 1985; Solheim 2000). But scholars also argue that political culture in Scandinavia is different from the political culture in other parts of the world. Scandinavians value equity, consensus, and integration, making politics an arena of accommodation and deference (Solheim 2000). Following social democratic principles, Scandinavians emphasize the collective good, not individual rights or privileges. And since the early 1970s, the new feminist movement in Nordic countries has argued for women’s political representation in terms of the collective good (Skjeie 2002). Therefore, the notion of electing women in substantial numbers became integrated with existing ideas about the collective good, democracy, and fair governance. 08-Paxton.qxd 2/6/2007 6:35 PM Page 223 All Regions Are Not Created Equal—— 223 Not only is the political culture conducive to including women, but also the tradition and culture of the region places value on the feminine. For example, anthropologist David Koester (1995) noted that compared with the Hebrew, Greek, and Roman traditions that serve as the foundation for many modern European societies, women are more highly regarded in Icelandic literature. Although women in Icelandic sagas were not equal to men, they were given “relatively authoritative and influential positions” (Koester 1995:574).

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