Are (populist) radical right parties Männerparteien? Evidence from Bulgaria

Figures & data

Table 1. Gender gap (%): national elections 2014.

	GERB	BSP	MRF	RB	PF	BBTs	Ataka	ABV	Other
Men	31	14	15	9	7	6	5	3	10
Women	34	17	12	8	4	6	2	5	12

Note:

Tables 1 and 2 show figures as percentages of total men and women who voted in the election.

Source: Alpha Research: http://alpharesearch.bg/bg/socialni_izsledvania/socialni_publikacii/socialno-demografski-profil-na-glasuvalite-v-parlamentarnite-izbori-2014.829.html (accessed 6 February 2017).

Table 2. Gender gap (%): national elections 2013.

	GERB	BSP	MRF	Ataka	DBG	Other
Men	29	24	11	10	2	24
Women	31	29	9	5	4	22

Source: Alpha Research: http://alpharesearch.bg/bg/socialni_izsledvania/socialni_publikacii/socialno-demografski-profil-na-glasuvalite-v-parlamentarnite-izbori-2013.794.html (accessed 6 February 2017).

Table 3. Women in parliament by party, 2005–present.

	2005–2009 parliament		2009–2013 parliament		2013–2014 parliament		Current parliament
Political party	MPs	Women MPs	MPs	Women MPs	MPs	Women MPs	MPs	Women MPs
Patriotic Front	‒	‒	‒	‒	‒	‒	18	2 (11.1%)
Ataka	21	3 (14.3%)*	21	3 (14.3%)	23	5 (21.7%)	11	3 (27.3%)
BSP/Coalition	82	15 (18.3%)	40	7 (17.5%)	84	19 (22.6%)	38	4 (10.5%0
MRF	34	3 (8.8%)	38	3 (7.9%)	36	5 (13.8%)	30	3 (10.0%)
DSB	17	4 (23.5%)	15	2 (13.3%)	‒	‒	23	1 (4.3%)
UDF	20	4 (20.0%)
Law, Order, Justice	‒	‒	10	2 (20.0%)	‒	‒	‒	‒
GERB	‒	‒	116	32 (27.6%)	97	32 (33.0%)	84	30 (35.7%)
NDSV	53	20 (37.7%)	‒	‒	‒	‒	‒	‒
BPU	13	1 (7.7%)	‒	‒	‒	‒	‒	‒
ABV	‒	‒	‒	‒	‒	‒	11	1 (9.1%)
BBTs	‒	‒	‒	‒	‒	‒	14	1 (7.1%)
Parliament total		50		49		61		48
Total women %		20.8		20.4		25.4		20.0
RR women as % of total women		6.0		6.1		8.2		10.4

Note:

*Initially, ATAKA entered parliament with only one female MP. In the middle of the term, another female MP replaced a male MP. At the very end of the term a third female MP replaced a male MP. Thus, by the end of the term ATAKA had three female MPs. Highest proportion of women per parliament is reported in bold.

Source: http://www.parliament.bg (accessed 6 February 2017).

Table 4. Bulgarian women in the European Parliament.

Number of women (total MEPs)/% women Political Party	2007–2009	2009–2014	2014‒present
ATAKA	0 (3)/0%	0 (2)/0%	‒
GERB	3 (5)/60%	3 (5)/60%	2 (6)/33%
BSP	2 (5)/40%	2 (4)/50%	1 (4)/25%
MRF	2 (4)/50%	1 (3)/33%	2 (4)/50%
NDSV	1 (1)/100%	1 (2)/50%	‒
Blue Coalition/RB	‒	1 (1)/100%	0 (1)/0%
women/BBTs	‒	‒	0 (2)/0%
Total seats	18	17	17
Total women (number/%)	8/44%	8/47%	5/29.4%

Sources: Authors’ calculations, data from the Central Electoral Commission (http://www.cik.bg (accessed 6 February 2017)) and media sources.

Table 5a. Bulgaria radical right women’s parliamentary activity.

Politician’s name	Political party	Committees	Parliamentary activity (total)	Activity on women’s issues
Current parliament
Kalina Balabanova	Ataka	Agriculture and Food; Corruption	15	1
Magdalena Tasheva	Ataka	Energy; Overseeing the State Energy Committee	6	0
Miglena Aleksandrova	Ataka	Transport; EU Matters; Committee for the Absorbance of EU Funds	7	2
Polina Karastoyanova	Patriotic Front	Culture; Economic Policy and Tourism	0	0
Sultanka Petrova	Patriotic Front	Agriculture and Food; Healthcare	18	5
2013–2014 parliament
Denitza Gadjeva	Ataka	Environment; Transport & Information Technology	2	0
Kalina Balabanova	Ataka	Agriculture and Food; Corruption	5	0
Magdalena Tasheva	Ataka	Energy; Investment Projects	4	0
Margarita Nikolova	Ataka	Budget; Labour & Social Policy; Children, Youth & Sport	0	0
Miglena Aleksandrova	Ataka	Culture & Media; EU Matters and Control over the EU Funds	7	0
2009–2013 parliament
Denitza Gadjeva	Ataka	Transport & Information Technology; Internal Security & Social Order	19	0
Kalina Krumova	Ataka	EU Matters and the Absorbance of EU Funds; Labour	31	5
Tzveta Georgieva	Ataka	Labour & Social Policy; Health	36	4
Total			165	17

Note:

The totals are presented in bold.

Source: Authors’ coding, data from http://www.parliament.bg (accessed 6 February 2017).

Table 5b. Women’s parliamentary activity in RR and non-RR parties compared.

Politician’s name	Party	Committees (average)	Parliamentary activity (total/average)	Activity on women’s issues(total/average)
Current parliament
Non-RR parties
30 female MPs	GERB	2.6	86/2.9	9/0.3
4 female MPs	BSP	2.3	183/45.8	18/4.8
3 female MPs	DPS	3	2/0.7	0/0
1 female MP	RB	2	10	2
1 female MP	BDC	4	1	0
1 female MP	ABV	3	3	2
RR parties
3 female MPs	Ataka	2.3	28/9.3	3/1
2 female MPs	PF	2	18*	5*
42nd parliament
Non-RR parties
32 female MPs	GERB	2.8	667/20.8	59/1.8
19 female MPs	BSP	2.9	94/4.9	7/0.4
5 female MPs	DPS	2.4	4/0.8	2/0.4
RR parties
5 MPs	Ataka	2.2	18/3.6	0/0
41st parliament
Non-RR parties
32 female MPs	GERB	3	74/2.3	2/0.1
7 female MPs	BSP	4	594/84.9	14/2
4 female MPs	DPS	2.5	27/6.8	3/0.8
2 female MPs	BlueC	3	8/4	0/0
2 female MPs	RZS	2.5	0/0	0/0
RR parties
3 female MPs	Ataka	2	86/28.3	9/3
Total (non-RR)		2.9	1753	118
Total (RR)		2.1	150	17
Total		2.7	1903	135

Note:

^* The average statistic is excluded here because only one of the MPs listed was active.

Source: Authors’ coding, data from http://www.parliament.bg (accessed 6 February 2017).

Table 6a. Bulgaria’s radical right men’s parliamentary activity.

Politician’s name	Party	Committees	Parliamentary activity (total)	Activity on women’s issues
Current parliament
Volen Siderov	Ataka	Foreign Policy; Delegation on Orthodoxy	13	0
Desislav Chukolov	Ataka	Labour; Interior Policy; Delegation of Parliamentary Assembly to the CoE	11	0
Stanislav Stanilov	Ataka	Culture; Education; Bulgarians Abroad	39	0
Ivan Dimitrov	Ataka	Youth and Sport; Security	5	1
Ilian Todorov	Ataka	Army; Corruption	24	1
Lubomir Vladimirov	Ataka	Environment; Economics; Committee against Monopolies	23	0
Nikolai Alexandrov	Ataka	Regional Policy; Budget	19	0
Yavor Notev	Ataka	Judicial; Health	2	0
Valeri Simeonov	PF	Energy; Committee for Overseeing the State Energy Committee	2	0
Boris Yanchev	PF	Environment; Economics; Committee against Monopolies	13	0
Valentin Kasabov	PF	Control over Security Forces; Corruption	2	0
Iskren Veselinov	PF	Transport; Committee for Overseeing the State Energy Committee	10	1
Julian Angelov	PF	Foreign Policy; Religion; Bulgarians Abroad	1	0
Atanas Toyanov	PF	Youth and Sport; Environment	16	2
Valentin Nikolov	PF	Control over Security Forces; Corruption	15	0
Dimitar Bairaktarov	PF	Labour; Health	6	0
Emil Dimitrov	PF	Legal; Budget; Committee for the Accountability of the Public Sector	1	0
Krasimir Karakachanov	PF	Defence; Internal Security	9	0
Krasimiar Bogdanov	PF	Foreign Policy; Education	22	3
Milen Mihov	PF	Defence; Education	7	1
Petar Petrov	PF	Agriculture; European Affairs	8	0
Slavi Binev	PF	Culture; European Affairs; Regional Policy	45	1
Slavcho Atanasov	PF	Regional Policy; Energy	10	0
Hristian Mitev	PF	Judicial; Budget	14	0
2013–2014 parliament
17 male MPs	Ataka		128	5
2009–2013 parliament
18 male MPs	Ataka		348	9
Total			793	24

Source: Authors’ coding, data from http://www.parliament.bg (accessed 6 February 2017).

Table 6b. Bulgaria men’s parliamentary activity in non-RR parties.

Politician’s name	Party	Committees (average)	Parliamentary activity (total/average)	Activity on women’s issues(total/average)
Current parliament
54 male MPs	GERB	2.5	178/3.3	12/0.2
34 male MPs	BSP	2.4	640/18.8	26/0.8
27 male MPs	DPS	3	82/3	4/0.1
22 male MPs	RB	3	575/26	20/0.9
13 male MPs	BDC	2.9	108/8.3	1/0.1
10 male MPs	ABV	3.8	170/17	3/0.3
42nd parliament
65 male MPs	GERB	2.5	685/10.5	9/0.14
65 male MPs	BSP	2.3	403/6.2	3/0.05
31 male MPs	DPS	3.3	60/1.9	3/0.1
41st parliament
84 male MPs	GERB	2.9	172/2.1	5/0.06
33 male MPs	BSP	3.2	1724/52.2	23/0.7
34 male MPs	DPS	3	190/5.6	5/0.15
13 male MPs	BlueC	3.5	736/56.6	12/0.9
8 male MPs	RZS	4.1	139/17.4	2/0.25
Total		3	5862	155

Source: Authors’ coding, data from http://www.parliament.bg (accessed 6 February 2017).