Cultural Obstacles to Equal Representation

A fundamental problem facing the worldwide process of democratization is the continued lack of gender equality in political leadership. The basic facts are not in dispute: Today women represent only one in seven parliamentarians, one in ten cabinet ministers, and, at the apex of power, one in 20 heads of state or government. Multiple factors have contributed to this situation, including structural and institutional barriers. But what is the influence of political culture? Are attitudes toward women as political leaders a significant barrier to their empowerment? In particular, how important is culture as compared with structural and institutional factors? These are the questions that our study seeks to address. Despite moves toward gender equality in many spheres, barriers to the entry of women into elected office persist. In June 2000, the UN General Assembly held a special session entitled “Women 2000: Gender Equality, Development and Peace,” the latest in a long series of international conferences calling for the empowerment of women. The session focused on the need for full recognition of women’s rights and fundamental freedoms, as well as demands for progress toward gender equality in education, health care, work, the family, and the public sphere. Women have mobilized at the grassroots, national, and global levels to Pippa Norris is associate director of research at the Joan Shorenstein Center on the Press, Politics and Public Policy at the John F. Kennedy School of Government, Harvard University. She has published more than two dozen books, including A Virtuous Circle (2000) and Digital Divide (2001). Ronald Inglehart is professor of political science and program director at the Institute for Social Research at the University of Michigan. He helped to found the Eurobarometer surveys and directs the World Values Surveys. His recent books include Modernization and Postmodernization: Cultural, Economic and Political Change in 43 Societies (1997).