Introduction: Quotas, Parties and Electoral Design – Mechanisms and Effects of Ethnic Representation in Diverse Societies
In: Representation, Volume 58, Issue 3, p. 339-346
ISSN: 1749-4001
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In: Representation, Volume 58, Issue 3, p. 339-346
ISSN: 1749-4001
In: Democratization, Volume 27, Issue 6, p. 1073-1091
ISSN: 1743-890X
In: Journal of current Southeast Asian affairs, Volume 39, Issue 1, p. 124-143
ISSN: 1868-4882
Singapore's People's Action Party (PAP) is one of the longest ruling parties in the world. The PAP's ability to avoid overt factionalism over the years is exceptional, especially compared to the region's personalistic or cadre parties. In recent years, the defection of former PAP cadre Dr. Tan Cheng Bock and the formation of the Progress Singapore Party (PSP) and PM Lee Hsien Loong's family rivalry, which involved PAP elites, have challenged the cohesion of the PAP. This study examines a set of incentives and constraints institutionalised at the party and national levels to foster elite cohesion. It is argued that the critical junctures in the PAP's early years led to the adoption of a cadre party model and a centralised candidate selection process that co-opts like-minded elites into a core that promotes elite unity. Nationally, party switching and factional alignments based on ethnicity or ideology have been systematically banned. Given the lack of credible alternatives that seriously challenge the incumbent PAP, ambitious party cadres would do better toeing the party line and staying loyal. (JCSA/GIGA)
World Affairs Online
In: Pacific affairs: an international review of Asia and the Pacific, Volume 89, Issue 2, p. 369-393
ISSN: 1715-3379
In: Pacific affairs: an international review of Asia and the Pacific, Volume 89, Issue 2, p. 309-323
ISSN: 1715-3379
In: Pacific affairs, Volume 89, Issue 2, p. 369-393
ISSN: 0030-851X
In Singapore, the percentage of elected female politicians rose from 3.8 percent in 1984 to 22.5 percent after the 2015 general election. After years of exclusion, why were gender reforms adopted and how did they lead to more women in political office? Unlike South Korea and Taiwan, this paper shows that in Singapore party pragmatism rather than international diffusion of gender equality norms, feminist lobbying, or rival party pressures drove gender reforms. It is argued that the ruling People's Action Party's (PAP) strategic and electoral calculations to maintain hegemonic rule drove its policy u-turn to nominate an average of about 17.6 percent female candidates in the last three elections. Similar to the PAP's bid to capture women voters in the 1959 elections, it had to alter its patriarchal, conservative image to appeal to the younger, progressive electorate in the 2000s. Additionally, Singapore's electoral system that includes multi-member constituencies based on plurality party bloc vote rule also makes it easier to include women and diversify the party slate. But despite the strategic and electoral incentives, a gender gap remains. Drawing from a range of public opinion data, this paper explains why traditional gender stereotypes, biased social norms, and unequal family responsibilities may hold women back from full political participation. (Pac Aff/GIGA)
World Affairs Online
In: Pacific affairs, Volume 89, Issue 2, p. 309-323
ISSN: 0030-851X
In the last two decades, more than 118 countries and political parties around the world have introduced gender quotas to guarantee women's political representation. While the study of gender quotas and electoral systems is an exciting field, few studies have focused on East Asia. Why do traditionally male-dominated parties engage in gender reforms? Have gender reforms improved women's political representation and participation? To address these questions, this introductory article offers an overview of the electoral rules, gender quotas, and candidate selection methods adopted in three broadly similar cases with different outcomes in Taiwan, South Korea, and Singapore. Taiwan and South Korea introduced mixed electoral systems and legislated candidate quotas to improve women's legislative representation at the local and national levels. Singapore resisted legislating gender quotas while the ruling party voluntarily introduced a party quota in 2009. These gender equality strategies have brought slow and uneven results. Based on qualitative and quantitative methods as well as survey and electoral data, this paper offers new evidence showing why the effects of electoral systems and quota strategies are not automatic or mechanical, but dependent on the degree of party system institutionalization, electoral competitiveness, legal enforcement, and social-cultural attitudes toward women. (Pac Aff/GIGA)
World Affairs Online
In: Politics & gender, Volume 11, Issue 1, p. 171-175
ISSN: 1743-9248
In convergence with the global norm toward more proportional representative electoral systems, many countries in East Asia have adopted quota strategies to address women's political underrepresentation (Franceschet, Krook, and Piscopo 2012; Krook 2009). Taiwan, South Korea, Singapore, and Japan provide ideal case studies to investigate the impact of these efforts. While these countries share similar economic development, educational levels, and Confucian communitarian ethos, their experiences and progress on empowering women vary. For example, the level of women's legislative representation in the region ranges from a low of 8.1% in Japan to a high of 33.6% in Taiwan. And while Taiwan and South Korea embarked on constitutional reforms in the 1990s and introduced candidate quotas or reserved seats to guarantee women's legislative representation at all levels, Singapore and Japan have resisted legislating quotas but instead set 30% women parliamentarians as targets of party strategies. This collection of papers explores this intraregional variation with a comparative view on the origins and impact of quotas on women's political life. Specifically, we trace the origins of quota adoption and how they interact with the existing electoral and party institutions to improve women's legislative numbers.
In: Politics & gender: the journal of the Women and Politics Research Section of the American Political Science Association, Volume 11, Issue 1, p. 196-207
ISSN: 1743-923X
World Affairs Online
In: Politics & gender, Volume 11, Issue 1, p. 196-207
ISSN: 1743-9248
Women were severely underrepresented in Singapore's early politics. From 1970 to 1984, not a single female member was found in the Parliament. Unlike the experiences of Taiwan and South Korea in this issue, the ruling People's Action Party (PAP) of Singapore faced no similar pressure from the opposition parties or feminist groups to adopt gender quotas to "fast track" women into politics (Dahlerup and Freidenvall 2005). Yet, the total number of women candidates increased from 0 in 1980 to 32 by 2011. And women's legislative representation reached a high of 23% after the 2011 general election.
In: Electoral Studies, Volume 35, p. 374-378
In: Electoral Studies, Volume 35, p. 374-378
For the first time in Singapore's history, two elections were held in a year. In 2011, Singaporeans voted in a general election on 7 May and in another competitive presidential election on 27 August. Faced with a stronger opposition force and an emboldened electorate, the ruling People's Action Party won the elections but achieved the worst results since the country's independence. [Copyright Elsevier Ltd.]
In: International political science review: the journal of the International Political Science Association (IPSA) = Revue internationale de science politique, Volume 35, Issue 1, p. 27-40
ISSN: 1460-373X
This article examines the effects of ethnic quotas on women's political representation in Singapore. The 1988 electoral reform requires at least one minority ethnic candidate to be fielded in the multimember constituencies based on the party list plurality bloc vote system. Based on elite interviews, party publications and electoral data, this article argues that the increases in the district magnitude of the multimember constituencies have had the unintended effect of improving women's political participation. More broadly, the article shows the conditions under which electoral rules shape behaviour and focuses on how the ruling party leaders in Singapore act as gatekeepers through centralised candidate selection methods that have a direct impact on legislative diversity.
In: International political science review: IPSR = Revue internationale de science politique : RISP, Volume 35, Issue 1, p. 27-40
ISSN: 0192-5121
In: Electoral studies: an international journal, Volume 35, p. 374-378
ISSN: 0261-3794