Political parties, formal selection criteria, and gendered parliamentary representation

Abstract

Political parties sometimes set up formal criteria to define the pool of potential candidates. This article represents the first large-scale comparative analysis of potential unintended gendered consequences of these formal selection criteria for parliamentary representation. Using unique data on 101 political parties in 32 African, Asian, and postcommunist European countries, we find that there is indeed a relationship between formal selection criteria and men’s and women’s political representation. Criteria that concern ethnic or geographic background and intraparty experiences are harmful to women. On the other hand, gendered consequences are not as pronounced as a result of criteria concerning qualifications or requirements in relation to electability. Taken together, the analysis points to the need to pay increased attention to formal selection criteria and how this under-researched aspect of candidate selection shapes the parliamentary representation of underrepresented groups.