Committees vs. Networks: Examining the Differing Impacts of Party Women’s Organizations Based on Formal Type

• In Event: Political Parties in Comparative Perspectives

Abstract

Women in political parties often choose to form intra-party organizations aimed at increasing their collective group power. These party women’s organizations (PWOs) can take many forms and have various goals, and therefore not all PWOs across all parties look the same. While some PWOs are formal – receiving full recognition from the party and given guaranteed seats at party meetings – others are loosely informal networks with fewer to no resources provided from the party establishment. The differences in these types of organizations remain under-recognized; this paper seeks to examine the varying impacts that different PWO types have on their political parties. I predict that while formal PWOs have the power to alter the party’s agenda or position by acting as a powerful internal party faction, informal networks do not have the same influence. I also predict that formal PWOs also increase female MP participation to a greater extant than informal networks. This paper introduces a new dataset on PWOs across 21 countries and over 100 political parties, including information such as formal status, explicitly stated goals, and membership.

Author

• Allison Bugenis, Binghamton University