WILL LEGISLATIVE GENDER QUOTAS INCREASE FEMALE REPRESENTATION IN IRELAND? A FEMINIST INSTITUTIONALISM ANALYSIS

Abstract

Informed by insights from feminist institutionalism, this article considers the effect of various aspects of the Irish political system on women's candidate selection and election, and discusses the extent to which the new gender quota law will be facilitated by these processes. In studying Ireland the article highlights a relatively under-studied case in the comparative literature on gender and politics. It also contributes to the burgeoning field of feminist institutionalism research by examining the mechanisms surrounding female candidate recruitment, selection and election to assess the likely impact of gender quotas on women's political representation in Ireland. Taking Ireland's relatively unique PR-STV electoral system as the primary institutional context, we argue that the electoral system interacts with cultural factors to determine female candidacy opportunities and suggest that the biggest challenge to the effective implementation of legislative gender quotas in Ireland are informal mechanisms such as masculinised party cultures, societal gendered legacies and pre-existing informal rules surrounding incumbency and localism. However, we advise if party leaders and selectorates are willing to fully embrace gender quotas and integrate them into their candidate nomination processes, there is evidence to suggest that this will have a positive effect on increasing women's political representation in Ireland.

Notes

1 TD – Teachta Dála – a Gaelic term for Member of Dáil Éireann

2 Since the February 2011 general election there have been four by-elections, three of which came about as a result of the deaths of sitting TDs. In three of these by-elections, women were elected, two of whom are related to the deceased TDs. In March 2013 Helen McEntee was elected to the seat previously held by her father Shane McEntee until his death in December 2012. In May 2014 Gabrielle McFadden was elected to the seat previously held by her sister Nicky McFadden until her death in March 2014.

Additional information

Fiona Buckley is a lecturer in the Department of Government, University College Cork. Her research focuses on the gendered nature of political institutions, in particular cabinet government in Ireland, and the gendered dynamics involved in candidate selection. She is currently completing her PhD at Queen's University Belfast under the supervision of Prof Yvonne Galligan. Recent publications include Politics and Gender in Ireland: The Quest for Political Agency (2015, Routledge, contributing co-editor with Y. Galligan).

Mack Mariani is an Associate Professor of Political Science at Xavier University in Cincinnati, Ohio. Mariani earned his BA at Canisius College (1991) and his MA and PhD at the Maxwell School of Citizenship and Public Affairs at Syracuse University (1992, 2006). Mariani is co-author of Diverging Parties (Westview Press, 2003) and co-editor of the Insider's Guide to Political Internships (Westview Press, 2002). His research has appeared in Legislative Studies Quarterly, Political Science Quarterly, PS: Political Science and Politics, Politics and Gender and the Journal of Political Science Education. Email: [email protected]

Timothy J. White is Professor of Political Science at Xavier University. White's research has mostly been on Irish politics and his articles on gender and politics in Ireland have appeared in the New Hibernia Review and Études Irlandaises. He has two forthcoming co-authored book chapters and another co-authored article that will soon be published in the Journal of Women, Politics and Policy. White has won a grant from the Political Studies Association of Ireland to fund a seminar on gender and politics that took place in Ireland in the summer of 2014. Email: [email protected]