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Lessons from Catalonia and Spain

Lessons from Catalonia and Spain. Tània Verge (tania.verge@upf.edu) Universitat Pompeu Fabra (Barcelona, Catalonia ). Constitutional Futures Seminar Session II: Constitutions , Quotas and Women’s Political Representation University of Edinburgh 14-15 February 2013. Outline.

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Lessons from Catalonia and Spain

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  1. LessonsfromCatalonia and Spain TàniaVerge (tania.verge@upf.edu) UniversitatPompeuFabra (Barcelona, Catalonia) ConstitutionalFuturesSeminar Session II: Constitutions, Quotas and Women’sPoliticalRepresentation University of Edinburgh 14-15 February 2013

  2. Outline • Quotas and trends in women's representation in Catalonia and Spain • How were gains achieved? • Constitutional change as a window of opportunity

  3. Quotas and trends in women's representation in Catalonia and Spain • Socioeconomic and cultural explanations on levels of women’s representation: Bad projection • Still, women’s representation has raised from 5% (late 1970s) to parity levels (2011). “Incremental track”:

  4. Women’s representation in parliament 2007 state-wide statutory quota

  5. Frompartyquotasto electoral quotas

  6. Constitutionalchange as a window of opportunity (I) • Parity is notyettaken for granted. • Strenght of feministdemands: • Left-wing parties make 40% of seats in currentparliament. • Women’smovementnotmobilisedyet. • Cross-sectionalplatforms? • Short-term “nationaltransition” political agenda: • Council for theNationalTransition: Gendercomposition? • Electoral law: Districtsize? Mixedsystem? Open lists? • Equalitylaw: Feministdemands?

  7. Howweregainsachieved PARITY Source: Based on Krook (2009); Kenny & Verge (2013); Verge (2012).

  8. Constitutionalchange as a window of opportunity (II) • Introduce parity as a public good in the new constitution and laws • Expand reach on cabinets, corporate boards… • Influence on which electoral engineering (type of system, district size, type of lists + type of quota!) grants more positive gender outcomes. • Establish a whole set of progressive gender equality policies + mainstreaming through all new legislative corps • Yet, “new” policies “nested” in “old” institutions… (Kenny and Mackay 2009).

  9. The Catalan “nationaltransition” 11 Sept 2012

  10. Catalans’ support for secession

  11. Left-wing parties’ votersandsupport for secession

  12. References • Kenny, Meryl, and Fiona Mackay. 2009. “Already Doin’ It for Ourselves? Skeptical Notes on Feminism and Institutionalism.” Politics & Gender 5(2): 271-280. • Kenny, Meryl, and Tània Verge (2013). “Decentralization, Political Parties and Women’s Representation: Evidence from Spain and Britain”. Publius: The Journal of Federalism 43(1): 109-128. • Krook, Mona L. (2009). Quotas for Women in Politics: GenderandCandidateSelectionReformWorldwide. New York: Oxford University Press. • Verge, Tània. 2012. “Institutionalising Gender Equality in Spain: Incremental Steps from Party to Legal Quotas.” West European Politics 35(2): 395-414. • Public opinion data: Centre d’Estudisd’Opinió (2012) <http://www.ceo.gencat.cat>.

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