Suchergebnisse

Gender equality is not fully realised when it is restricted to ethnic majority men and women. This article examines how gender quotas as a form of equality policy affect ethnic minority groups, in particular, the gender balance among ethnic minority candidates for political office. Our analysis focuses on the selection of ethnic minority candidates in Belgium, where legally binding quotas exist, and in the Netherlands, where they do not. Drawing on 23 interviews with central actors in four main parties in each country, we find that the process of ethnic minority candidate selection is highly gendered: in both countries, ethnic minority women are represented in larger numbers than ethnic minority men. But gender quotas play a lesser role in this than the more general concern for diversity on electoral lists, the institutionalisation of gender/ethnicity within political parties and the strategic choices of party leaders.

Political parties throughout Europe are witnessing a significant professionalization of their daily functioning. Professionalization refers to an institutional process "by which professionals become more central to an organization, in this case a party" (Webb & Kolodny 2006: 338). The centrality of professionals is most obvious in parties' reliance on an expanding body of professional staff members and experts with specialized skills (a.o. marketing professionals, consultants, spin-doctors and public relations experts) performing traditional party functions and supporting the leadership in the management of the party. These professionals replace – or at least complement – member-volunteers and party bureaucrats in the party apparatus (Norris 2000). Although party professionalization is a phenomenon that has received considerable academic attention, research on the professionalization of Belgian political parties remains scarce. In this paper, we will study –in an explorative way– to what extent and how professionalization has taken/is taking place in the Belgian parties, focusing on gender equality. On the one hand, we will 'map' the presence of "gender professionals" in Belgian parties: who are they, what are their main tasks, to what extent is their presence institutionalized in the party and how has this changed over time? On the other hand, we will reflect on the consequences of the presence of "gender professionals" for the internal dynamics and power relations within parties. We conduct an in-depth case study of one particular policy domain, but we will reflect on the broader implications for processes of party professionalization in other domains as well. We explore the professionalization of gender equality in 11 Belgian parties based on new and original data (including document analysis and interviews) gathered by the authors in 2006 and 2014. The results show that party professionalization is overall limited. Although parties have included gender experts in their organization (for instance in study centres or through intra-party women's groups), this gender expertise is often not structurally embedded: in many parties in Belgium its existence is not recognized by any formal rules and its functioning is not supported by any paid administrative staff.

Political parties throughout Europe are witnessing a significant professionalization of their daily functioning. Professionalization refers to an institutional process "by which professionals become more central to an organization, in this case a party" (Webb & Kolodny 2006: 338). The centrality of professionals is most obvious in parties' reliance on an expanding body of professional staff members and experts with specialized skills (a.o. marketing professionals, consultants, spin-doctors and public relations experts) performing traditional party functions and supporting the leadership in the management of the party. These professionals replace – or at least complement – member-volunteers and party bureaucrats in the party apparatus (Norris 2000). Although party professionalization is a phenomenon that has received considerable academic attention, research on the professionalization of Belgian political parties remains scarce. In this paper, we will study –in an explorative way– to what extent and how professionalization has taken/is taking place in the Belgian parties, focusing on gender equality. On the one hand, we will 'map' the presence of "gender professionals" in Belgian parties: who are they, what are their main tasks, to what extent is their presence institutionalized in the party and how has this changed over time? On the other hand, we will reflect on the consequences of the presence of "gender professionals" for the internal dynamics and power relations within parties. We conduct an in-depth case study of one particular policy domain, but we will reflect on the broader implications for processes of party professionalization in other domains as well. We explore the professionalization of gender equality in 11 Belgian parties based on new and original data (including document analysis and interviews) gathered by the authors in 2006 and 2014. The results show that party professionalization is overall limited. Although parties have included gender experts in their organization (for instance in study centres or through intra-party women's groups), this gender expertise is often not structurally embedded: in many parties in Belgium its existence is not recognized by any formal rules and its functioning is not supported by any paid administrative staff.

To date, research on gender and political representation has predominantly centered on women. The assumption that men as a privileged group automatically gain representation is nevertheless problematic. Not only are some (dominant) groups of men better represented than others, we simply do not know what men's interests are. Up until today, however, no study has actually explored the nature of men's interests in an empirical way. This paper offers a first attempt to conceptualize and operationalize the notion of men's interests in empirical research. Based on new and original data from the 2014 PARTIREP voter survey organized in Belgium on the occasion of the 2014 federal and regional elections, we study men and women along political themes, their political visions and their voting behavior. The main question that guides our research is the following: What do gender differences in political themes and visions tell us about male (and female) interests in politics? Next to offering empirical insights into women and men's political interests, this paper also provides a theoretical contribution to broader debates on group interests. We reflect on our observation that men and women attach importance to the same political themes but have different visions about them, and what this teaches us about "male interests" and "female interests". We also launch a call for new empirical and theoretical research into men and their interests in politics.

To date, research on gender and political representation has predominantly centered on women. The assumption that men as a privileged group automatically gain representation is nevertheless problematic. Not only are some (dominant) groups of men better represented than others, we simply do not know what men's interests are. Up until today, however, no study has actually explored the nature of men's interests in an empirical way. This paper offers a first attempt to conceptualize and operationalize the notion of men's interests in empirical research. Based on new and original data from the 2014 PARTIREP voter survey organized in Belgium on the occasion of the 2014 federal and regional elections, we study men and women along political themes, their political visions and their voting behavior. The main question that guides our research is the following: What do gender differences in political themes and visions tell us about male (and female) interests in politics? Next to offering empirical insights into women and men's political interests, this paper also provides a theoretical contribution to broader debates on group interests. We reflect on our observation that men and women attach importance to the same political themes but have different visions about them, and what this teaches us about "male interests" and "female interests". We also launch a call for new empirical and theoretical research into men and their interests in politics.