Women and Political Representation in Japan and Korea

Session Submission Type: Organized Panel Proposal Application

Abstract

Inter-parliamentary Union (www.ipu.org), which classifies countries by the percentage of women in the national parliament, currently ranks Japan and Korea at 119th and 89th from a total of 148 countries. This is surprising, particularly because Japan and Korea are two of the most developed democracies in the world today. What structural factors explain women’s political underrepresentation in these two countries? How does women’s representation vary across national and local legislatures? What efforts have been undertaken to increase the number of women in politics, and in what ways have they contributed to women’s political representation more broadly?

The panel brings together scholars from around the world (i.e., Japan, Korea, Australia, and the US) and explores central themes related to women and politics research in Japan and Korea. Specifically, the panel examines structural and cultural barriers that fundamentally limit women’s political representation, such as the prevalence of masculine political culture, as well as electoral dominance of conservative parties uninterested in recruiting women. At the same time, the panel looks into a number of strategies within and outside political parties that have been adopted to improve women’s political representation and assesses their overall impacts. Finally, the panel explores whether female legislators contribute to representing women’s interests in politics and policymaking. In this regard, the panel will shed light on the conditions shaping women’s access to political power, as well as the representation of women’s policy interests in the two East Asian democracies in both national and local politics.

Area of Study

• Northeast Asia

Session Organizer

• Jiso Yoon, University of Kansas

Individual Presentations

• Self-claimed Feminist Politicians: Exploring the Alliance of Feminist Representatives (Femiren) - Emma Dalton, La Trobe University

• Women inside the Conservative Party in Japan - Yuki Tsuji, Tokai University

• Empowerment of Women in Local Politics in Japan: How Parties Recruit Female Candidates in Legislative Election - Naoko Oki, Ochanomizu University

• Manhood, Power, and Politics in Korea: The 2016 General Election Case Study - Jiso Yoon, University of Kansas; Kyoung-hee Moon, Changwon National University

• Representing Women’s Interests in Local Politics: Substantive Representation in Japan and Korea - Jiso Yoon, University of Kansas; Kimiko Osawa, Yonsei University

Discussant

• Mizuho Tsuchino, Ochanomizu University