Contagion, Socialisation, or Kinship? Quotas and Gendered Careers in Parties

• In Event: New Research on the European Parliament

Abstract

Does the use of quotas spread within party families actively or does it simply occur naturally? We investigate this question by examining gender equality in candidate selection practices over time, asking whether and how political parties learn from one another in the presence of gender quotas. Focussing on the European Parliament’s (EP) political groups (EPGs), where national parties have the unique opportunity to collaborate in transnational party blocs, we use career data to trace the spread of gender-equal selection practices from parties and states that use quotas to those who do not. Drawing upon the literatures of quota contagion and socialisation, we posit that the entry of “quota women” within EPGs may also encourage gender equality among legislators from non-quota states. Novel quantitative data on MEP careers and EPG electoral and membership lists from 1979-2022 is complemented by qualitative interview and archival data, to explore how career data can be used to trace the spread of gender equality among legislators. Given the transnational nature of EP political contestation, this may also have ramifications for the promotion of gender equality in the candidate selection processes across of the European national political systems.

Authors

• William Thomas Daniel, University of Nottingham

• Andrea Stephanie Aldrich, Yale University