Sheri Kunovich

Women's Political Representation: The Importance of Ideology

Womens low rate of participation at the highest levels of politics is an enduring problem in gender stratification. Previous cross-national research on women in national legislatures has stressed three explanations for differences in womens political representation: social structure, politics, and ideology. Despite strong theory suggesting the importance of ideology, it has not found support in previous cross-national statistical studies. But ideology has not been as well measured as structural and political factors. In this article, we demonstrate that gender ideology strongly affects the number of women in national legislatures. We do so by introducing a newly available measure of national gender ideology into a cross-national model of women in legislatures. We demonstrate that ideology, when measured more precisely, strongly predicts differences in womens political representation.

Pathways to power : The role of political parties in women's national political representation

The authors extend previous research on women’s participation in politics by examining the role of female elites in political parties in selecting and supporting women as political candidates. They hypothesize that political parties, in their role as gatekeepers, mediate the relationship between country‐level factors, such as women’s participation in the labor force, and political outcomes for women. The article focuses on three outcomes for women: the percentage of female political party leaders, the percentage of female candidates in a country, and the percentage of women elected. New cross‐national measures of women’s inclusion in political parties are developed and analyzed in a cross‐national, path‐analytic model of women in politics to find that (1) women’s position in party elites translates into gains for women as candidates only under proportional representation systems, (2) women’s position in party elites increases the likelihood that female candidates will be elected only in nonproportional representation systems, and (3) parties may be overly sensitive to the perceived liability of women as candidates, when in fact, women have success as candidates across all regions of the world.

The Representation of Polish and Czech Women in National Politics: Predicting Electoral List Position

Womens participation in legislatures has significant policy consequences.1 In transitional societies, like postcommunist countries, where policy decisions determine economic and political structures, low levels of female representation can have longterm ramifications for womens opportunities. For example, policies enacted early in the transitional period in both Poland and the Czech Republic negatively affected the economic and personal security of women.2 Prior to 1989 the Communist party used ideology and gender quotas to overcome cultural barriers to womens participation in politics. During the Communist period 20-25 percent of nationally elected representatives in eastern Europe were women, and their levels of participation in local and regional politics were among the highest worldwide. Even though many conditions under Communism shaped and limited womens influence in national politics, adherence to Marxist-Leninist ideology insured women a minimum level of participation in national and local party politics.3 Across all the former Communist countries, the first competitive and free elections in 1989-1992 resulted in a marked decrease in the proportion of women serving in national parliaments. However, in almost all of these countries the percent of womens representation has increased slightly with each successive election.4 After the first democratic election women comprised 10 percent of representatives in Poland and 10 percent in Czechoslovakia. Currently, women comprise 20 percent of representatives in Poland and 15 percent in the Czech Republic. Polish and Czech womens participation in politics is a function of the degree to which political parties are willing to place women in electoral list positions that improve their chances of being elected.

Unexpected Winners: The Significance of an Open-List System on Women's Representation in Poland

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Gender Dependence and Attitudes toward the Distribution of Household Labor A Comparative and Multilevel Analysis

We use comparative and multilevel methods to examine attitudes toward the distribution of household labor in 32 countries. We test hypotheses derived from Baxter and Kanes (1995) gender dependence theory, which suggests complex relationships between societal-level gender dependence, individual-level gender dependence, and gender attitudes. Country-level data are from the United Nations and survey data are from the International Social Survey Programmes 2002 Family and Changing Gender Roles III module. Our analysis is among the first to combine societal and individual indicators of gender dependence using multilevel modeling and to test for cross-level interactions between societal and individual gender dependence. Results provide mixed support for gender dependence theory and suggest several revisions — especially pertaining to mens attitudes.

Voting Rates 1989 to 2007

Prior research highlights the relevance of gender in determining who is elected in postcommunist countries, yet there has been only limited work examining the relevance of gender in understanding voter participation. I examine the extent to which a gender gap in voting is present among Polish citizens. I use a model of voter participation previously found to predict differences in mens and womens rates of participation in established democracies. Findings show that, controlling for family structure, socioeconomic resources, religious attendance, and political interest, women were less likely to vote in Poland in 1989 and 1991 but more likely to vote in 1993. Since 1993, however, there are no significant gender differences in voting. Gender differences in the effects of other factors did emerge beginning in 2007. The emergence of differences in the effects of marital status, children, and work hours mirrors what is found in other European democracies. This finding suggests that as more voters without direct experience under communism begin to vote, important gender differences in voting may be emerging.

Occupational Diversity in Polish Politics, 1991–2011

Candidates running for the Polish Sejm are increasingly drawn from a wider group of occupations (1991–2011). As the percents of intelligentsia and farmers decline in the candidate pool they are replaced by candidates from middle- and low-level nonmanual occupations and business owners and the self-employed. In spite of the increased occupational diversity among candidates, the occupational diversity of elected Members of Parliament (MPs) has declined significantly. Between the 1991 and 2011 elections, intelligentsia went from 78 percent of elected MPs to 83 percent and farmers declined from 9 percent to 1 percent. At the same time, there was an increase in elected MPs who are self-employed or business owners. Data from the 2011 election clearly show that list placements by parties explain the overrepresentation of intelligentsia. Even though the advantages for intelligentsia can be found in all parties, they are greatest in parties seeking to appeal to a broad base, for example, Civic Platform, while parties that appeal to a narrow constituency are more likely to place candidates with diverse occupational backgrounds in top positions.

Internet Autobiographies: Female Politicians' Representations of Gender

We examine the extent to which female politicians highlight their status as women by identifying with women as a group and using female roles and experiences to describe themselves. Based on a qualitative content analysis of female members’ congressional web pages, we find that sex-group identification and gender roles are selectively used in discussions of their personal lives, their paths to Congress, and their experiences within Congress. Variation among the female politicians suggests they are responding to a range of normative gender beliefs among the electorate. There is also evidence that some of the women use online forms of communication to change the discourse about women in politics.