Single-axis Politics, Resistance to Gender Quota Adoption, and the Political Dominance of Ethnic Majority Men Worldwide

• In Event: 308 - Section on Sociology of Sex and Gender Refereed Roundtable Session and Business Meeting
  In Refereed Roundtable 60min: Table 12. Medical/Mental and Physical Health: Session II

Abstract

In every corner of the globe, men from majority ethnic groups continue to dominate national politics. One of the ways the status quo of majority men’s political overrepresentation is maintained is through what I call single-axis politics. Political attention directed towards one axis of identity – e.g., ethnicity, gender – may deflect attention from other axes of inequality and help to stabilize majority men’s political dominance. In this paper, I consider one direction that single-axis politics might take, political emphasis on ethnicity at the expense of policies that reduce gender inequality in politics. I use event history techniques to analyze national gender quota adoption in 164 countries between 1989 and 2013, focusing on effects of ethnic heterogeneity, ethnic representation policies, and ethnic democracy. Results show that greater religious heterogeneity, long-standing ethnic representation policies, and ethnic democracy all reduce the likelihood that countries adopt national gender quotas. However, more recently adopted ethnic representation policies increase the likelihood of gender quota adoption. Overall, these analyses suggest that some (but not all) forms of political attention to ethnicity serve as substantial barriers to institutional change benefiting women, leaving majority men’s political dominance intact.

Author

• Melanie M. Hughes, University of Pittsburgh