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Research paper submitted for the pre-master of spring class 2021. This paper got graded with an 8.5
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2021Political Participation for Women
Research project Pre-Master Sociology
May 30th, 2021
Spring Class
Supervisor:
, Research project
Pre-Master Sociology Spring
Political participation for women
Tilburg School of Social and Behavioral sciences – Tilburg University pre-master Sociology:
Research project
Abstract
The aim of this study is to examine the relationship between sex and political participation in
Western Europe. In order to do so, theories on traditional gender roles and socialization come
forward to explain differences for men and women. Sex differences are the main focus in the
first hypothesis of the study, where it is found that women participate less in politics than
men. Next in the research, the concept of traditional gender roles and socialization are
introduced to be examined as a mediator, both of these concepts are explained in the
theoretical framework of the research. Because of the theory presented, it is expected that
socialization will have a negative effect on political participation for women. However, this
result is found to be very little and not significant. The study uses data from the European
Values Study of 2017 with, after deleting missing values, consists of a sample of 19373
respondents.
Introduction
During the second wave of feminism in the late 1960s, women intended to raise awareness
for women’s rights with the slogan ‘Personal is political’ (Nicholson, 1981; Molony &
Nelson, 2017). With this movement it was argued that private aspects and gender roles are
politically relevant and should therefore be addressed on the political agenda, which it later
successfully became part of (Molony & Nelson, 2017). Even though the second wave of
feminism happened in the late twentieth century (Molony & Nelson, 2017), as of today
women are still faced with unequal representation in politics (Ballington et al., 2005). This
can be found problematic because unequal participation can lead to unequal representation,
meaning that women’s needs might not be considered in creating policies (Holoma, 2019).
Taking a step back and looking into the General Assembly of the United Nations Sixty-sixth
session in December 2011, one of their agenda points was addressing the political
participation of women (United Nations, 2012). In this document it is made clear that all men
and women should have the right to partake in national governments, and that discrimination
against women in the political and public life had to be eliminated using appropriate
measures (United Nations, 2012). Furthermore, all States of the United Nations need to assist
in creating equality between men and women in political situations, encouraging to appoint
women to be represented within all levels of government (United Nations, 2012). In this
study the focus will be on examining female political participation in Western European
countries.
This study will build further upon the already existing knowledge on the topic of participation
of women in politics, using recent data to shed light on the social issue presented. Previous
studies into this topic have been done, however, there has been found contradictory results
(Wolak, 2019; Welch, 1977), with this newer data it is attempted to draw conclusions about
1
, Research project
Pre-Master Sociology Spring
the current state of women on political participation, and to raise awareness for the issue at
hand; the consequences of lower political participation for women.
Studies in the past have shown the gender gap that is present when it comes to the
participation of women in politics (Lombardo & Meier, 2019; Fraile & Gomez, 2017; Wolak,
2019; Welch, 1977). To give some insights, using data from the United Nation shows that in
2020 around 25 percent of the share in national parliaments around the world were female,
whereas the other 75 percent were male (Coi & Hirsch, 2021). When looking into data on the
members of the European Parliament, it can be found that women make up around 39 percent
of the share, whereas the majority, around 61 percent, are male (Coi & Hirsh, 2021). The
most commonly held ministries for women ministers are family, children, youth, elderly and
disabled (UN Women, 2021), showing the ‘care giving’ aspect that gender roles attribute to
women. The research question that will be answered here is “What does female political
participation look like?”
In trying to explain the lower participation rate for women in politics, previous studies have
given some possible theories first being differences in resources (Welch, 1977; Ballington et
al., 2005) such as little education or income (Welch, 1977), secondly, political obstacles such
as party support, being that the selection process within political parties is biased against
women (Ballington et al., 2005), and lastly socialization (Fraile & Gomez, 2017; Wolak,
2019; Welch, 1977). Here the main focus will be on the impact of attitudes on traditional
gender roles as an independent variable, with socialization as the main theory. With this the
research is aiming to provide support for socialization as the main explanation for the lower
political participation for women, when compared to men. Lombardo and Meier (2019) made
clear that the under participation of women comes from existing power relations, because of
this, women are excluded from contributing to politics. In accordance with Waylen (2012)
politics is still thought to be a male dominated territory, whose statement is still found
relevant today, among others by Mügge (2021), who reports that due to unconscious gender
roles in society male characteristics are the norm for political participation, and therefore
creating inequalities. Because of this, the research will go into an explanation of traditional
gender roles. In mind with the socialization process, Welch (1977) notes in her research that
women participate less in politics due to socialization, which does not stem from inabilities,
but rather because of norms that have been imposed on women to not participate in ‘a men’s
game’. This idea is seconded by Fraile and Gomez (2017), who clarify that gendered
socialization processes promote a passive role for women in politics. An example of this is
given by Mügge (2021) in her article on inequalities for women in politics, where she states
that because of unconscious gender roles in society, women are perceived to be “too soft” to
be in politics. The reason for this being that expectations for young boys and young girls are
different and are formed by the norms of society (Mügge, 2021). The research question that
will be answered here is ‘What is the effect of traditional gender roles on the female political
participation?’
Even though the second wave of feminism was years ago, in the late 1960’s, still today
women participate less in politics in our contemporary society (Fraile & Gomez, 2017). To
get a better insight in the cause of this inequality a closer look will be taken upon the
2
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