Understanding political skills and leadership styles on public satisfaction in women politicians

Abstract

Women’s presence in the Indonesian parliament is an opportunity to be involved in the democratic processes. Their political skills and leadership styles can be studied through the gender equality, disability and social inclusion (GEDSI) approach. This research aims to investigate the effect of political skills and leadership styles of women politicians who implement the GEDSI on public satisfaction. This study based on a quantitative, the quantitative stage held a survey of 188 respondents which were then analyzed using PLS-SEM. To strength information, we derived from interviews and focus group discussions with stakeholders and women politicians. The research shows that social astuteness, especially political skills, directly and indirectly, influenced public satisfaction with the partial mediating role of achievement leadership. Political skills through apparent sincerity had interactions with public satisfaction, where the directive leadership could be a partial mediation role. Finally, cognitive social capital as political skills influenced public satisfaction with the partial mediating roles of supportive leadership, participative leadership and achievement leadership. This study also found that network ability and interpersonal influence had no significant effect on public satisfaction. Women politicians who apply the GEDSI approach become their political skills that benefit a leadership style as well as encourage more accommodative and substantial political decision-making.

IMPACT STATEMENT

• Social astuteness influenced public satisfaction, both directly and indirectly.

• Political skills through apparent sincerity had interactions with public satisfaction, whereas directive leadership could be a partial mediation role.

• Leadership style had a significant and direct interaction on public satisfaction.

• Women’s network ability and interpersonal influence had no significant effect on public satisfaction.

Keywords:

• GEDSI
• leadership style
• political skills
• public satisfaction
• women politicians

REVIEWING EDITOR:

• Robert Read, Economics, University of Lancaster, Lancaster, UK

SUBJECTS:

• Politics & Development
• Asian Politics
• Political Behavior and Participation
• Sociology & Social Policy

1. Introduction

Women’s political participation is a fundamental prerequisite for gender equality and true democracy as it facilitates their direct involvement in public decision-making and also ensures foster accountability (Khelghat-Doost & Sibly, 2020). UN-Women encourages women’s political participation and good governance, to ensure that decision-making processes are participatory, responsive, fair and inclusive. Each country needs leaders who can implement Gender Equality, Disability, and Social Inclusion (GEDSI) as an indicator to measure the progress of human resources and their sustainability (van der Vleuten & van Eerdewijk, 2020). According to Pratiwi et al. (2022), the GEDSI approach is an effort to ensure that every individual from all backgrounds – including women and people of diverse gender, persons with disabilities as well as people who face other marginalization – can access, use and contribute fairly.

Women’s involvement in politics should be a great opportunity to participate in the democratic ecosystem in this country, as stated in Law Number 2 of 2011 about Political Parties which stipulates a minimum of 30% for women’s representation in parties establishment and formation, also Law Number 7 of 2017 about General Elections stipulates that each political party must have women representation of 30% parliament candidate. Women politician cadres often do not have qualified political skills thus they are still trapped in cultural and social assumptions in society (Håkansson, 2021; van der Pas & Aaldering, 2020). In the 2019 elections in Indonesia, women’s representation in the National Parliament (DPR-RI) is 120 (20.8%), this showed that the minimum target of their representation has not been achieved (Mazrieva, 2022; Prihatini, 2020; Salviana & Soedarwo, 2019).

The unfulfilled allocation emphasizes that women political cadres seem affirmative action in achieving the quota, despite the problem of knowledge and skills are still weak (Asmorojati, 2019). Indirectly, this shows the impression that women are not yet ready from their knowledge aspects such as education, experience, political attitudes and political skills. In another hand, the demand to achieve 30% women representation become gender biased. Women are often perceived as inferior figures who are feminine and gentle thus they are considered unsuitable for leadership in organizational ecosystems despite strongly patriarchal views in the country (Nurbayani et al., 2019; Nurbayani, Dede, & Malihah, 2022; Nurbayani, Malihah, et al., 2022).

To create strong women leaders, political skills and leadership style are aspects that need more attention in women caders’ education. Women must represent themselves through knowledge, skills and performance to get satisfaction from the public (Schwarz et al., 2020). Political skills are the ability to navigate politics effectively through negotiation and influence, through developing, maintaining, as well as improving interpersonal and social reputations (Chen et al., 2022; Ferris et al., 2007). Meanwhile, leadership style denotes an individual’s unique manner of guiding, encompassing distinct problem-solving (Chikazhe et al., 2023; Farhan, 2022). Political skills and leadership style are important in shaping public satisfaction based on expectations and actual outcomes (Zhou et al., 2021).

Personal political skills are reflected in their actions either to influence and advance self or organizational agendas (Gansen-Ammann et al., 2017; Zaman et al., 2019). Political skills can be seen from network ability, social astuteness, apparent sincerity, interpersonal influence, and cognitive social capital (Ferris et al., 2007). Women’s political skills individually who are skilled and resilient to the social dynamics. This is different from leadership styles which in knowledge and practical skills to influence society (Alblooshi et al., 2021; Garfield et al., 2019). Furthermore, the leadership approach is used by women politicians in creating and influencing society (Saleem et al., 2020). To measure political leadership style can refer to directive leadership, supportive leadership, participative and achievement leadership.

Research on political skills and leadership style is generally associated with public satisfaction (Salajeghe & Faramarzi, 2016; Zulkifli et al., 2017). Political skills are also used as a practical basis for leadership styles (Frieder et al., 2019; Sawitri et al., 2021). Without qualified political skills, women politicians would fail and be considered weak because they were confined to the patriarchal culture (Sumbas, 2020). In contrast to previous research, this research discusses how female politicians use the GEDSI approach with their political skills and leadership style to give satisfaction to society in Indonesia as a novelty. Women’s participation dynamics do not only occur in Indonesia, but also in other countries with Muslim-majority populations. Their participation in public spaces, let alone political contestation, remains far from being a societal norm. In Middle Eastern countries, it is few for women to hold important positions in government and parliament (Shalaby, 2018). Therefore, this research aims to investigate the effect of political skills on women politicians who implement the GEDSI approach to public satisfaction. Our research can be an inspiration for analogous studies in Muslim-majority countries, particularly within the countries that have democratic and semi-democratic governments, where entrenched patriarchal social structures persist.

2. Methodology

This study referred to a quantitative approach to know women’s political skills and leadership styles on public satisfaction. A quantitative method is explaining and revealing the deep interaction phenomena between complex variables (Dede et al., 2024; Guetterman et al., 2019; Oflazoglu, 2017). Quantitative analysis in this study used Partial Least Square-Structural Equation Modeling (PLS-SEM) to know the variables’ interactions, also mediating variables both direct and indirect relationships. PLS-SEM is useful to understand the feasibility of operationalized theoretical models by causal relationships between variables (Shiau et al., 2019). The research respondents were selected using a non-probability sampling technique (Nurbayani et al., 2023), taking their perceptions and expectations of women politicians according to women’s political skills and leadership style. A survey was conducted online using Google Forms to 188 respondents, the demographic description is presented in Table 1 with conceptual interactions depicted in Figure 1.

Figure 1. Relationship between the research variables.

Table 1. Profile of research respondents.

Attribute		Frequency	(%)
Sex
1	Female	121	64.4
2	Male	67	35.6
Domicile
1	West Java	163	86.7
2	DKI Jakarta	5	2.7
3	West Sumatra	3	1.6
4	Banten	8	4.3
5	Others (Borneo and Celebes)	9	4.8
Age
1	Less than 20 years	38	20.2
2	21–30 years	43	22.9
3	31–40 years	28	14.9
4	41–50 years	21	11.2
5	More than 50 years	58	30.9
Education
1	Higher Education (D1, D2, D3, S1, S2, S3)	149	79.3
2	Senior high school	39	20.7
Ocupation
1	Civil servant, military, and police	83	44.1
2	Teacher and lecturer	27	14.4
3	Private workers	19	10.1
4	Student	46	24.5
5	Enterpreuner, housewife, and others	13	6.9

We used a questionnaire (Likert’s scale) which contains answer choices from strongly disagree to strongly agree (1–5 points). The political skills variable was developed from indicators according to Ferris et al. (2007) which consisted of network ability, social astuteness, apparent sincerity, interpersonal influence, and cognitive social capital. Each item of the political skill variable is stated to be valid and reliable with Cronbach’s alpha of 0.951. The leadership style variable was developed from indicators of directive leadership, supportive leadership, participative and achievement leadership (Saleem et al., 2020). Each item of the leadership style variable is declared valid and reliable with Cronbach’s alpha of 0.961. Finally, public satisfaction variables consist of job commitment, job performance, service quality and policy implementation (Schwarz et al., 2020). Each item for women’s leadership style is declared valid and reliable with Cronbach’s Alpha 0.968. All Cronbach’s alpha is very high with a 95% confidence level because the values are up to 0.80 (Ismail et al., 2022).

We continued with a descriptive analysis that explores interview and focus group discussions (FGD) data from women stakeholders and politicians both from national and religious-based parties. This analysis was useful for seeing the extent to which women’s political skills and leadership styles affect public satisfaction, as well as data triangulation (Nurbayani, Dede, & Widiawaty, 2022). Data findings from these processes are useful in strengthening statistical analysis and revealing latent constructs that are unique, complete, and coherent (Muñoz-Pascual et al., 2019; Newman & Constantinides, 2021). Our research hypothesizes that political skills (X1) and leadership style (X2) have an influence on public satisfaction (Y). This significance status refers to the t-value and p-value with a confidence level of 95%.

3. Results

Before doing structural path analysis, a study requires a measurement model to determine the reliability and validity of each construct. Individual constructs were tested to know reliability items, it needs standardized loading factors to reveal the correlation of construct variables. The construct reliability test referred to the comparison of the average variance extracted (AVE) value. Correlation between construct variables with the reliability value (latent variables) can be compared with the composite reliability (CR), considered reliable if the value was greater than 0.50 (Achjari, 2004; Hair et al., 2011). The measurement model displayed the factor loadings (FL), alpha values (t-statistics), AVE, and CR (Table 2). FL showed all constructs have values of 0.673–0.938 (good) as well as the t-statistic indicated value of 0.713–0.94, whereas AVE has values of 0.641–0.809 > 0.50 (reliable) (Dede et al., 2022). TCR showed all constructs have a value of 0.841–0.955 > 0.60 which means that they have sufficient high internal consistency for the measurement model.

Table 2. Measurement model.

Construct	Items	FL	Alpha	AVE	CR	Construct	Items	FL	Alpha	AVE	CR
NA			0.864	0.786	0.917	PL			0.909	0.785	0.936
	X1.N.1	0.862					X2.P.9	0.893
	X1.N.2	0.918					X2.P.10	0.898
	X1.N.3	0.880					X2.P.11	0.843
SA			0.713	0.641	0.841		X2.P.12	0.910
	X1.S.4	0.839				AL			0.909	0.786	0.936
	X1.S.5	0.875					X2.A.13	0.852
	X1.S.6	0.673					X2.A.14	0.895
AS			0.767	0.685	0.867		X2.A.15	0.884
	X1.A.7	0.825					X2.A.16	0.914
	X1.A.8	0.904				JC			0.924	0.815	0.946
	X1.A.9	0.748					Y.JC.1	0.902
II			0.875	0.728	0.914		Y.JC.2	0.889
	X1.I.10	0.877					Y.JC.3	0.933
	X1.I.11	0.884					Y.JC.4	0.886
	X1.I.12	0.854				JP			0.903	0.775	0.932
	X1.I.13	0.794					Y.JP.5	0.901
CSC			0.895	0.763	0.928		Y.JP.6	0.906
	X1.C.14	0.854					Y.JP.7	0.853
	X1.C.15	0.904					Y.JP.8	0.860
	X1.C.16	0.923				SQ			0.880	0.739	0.918
	X1.C.17	0.807					Y.S.9	0.900
DL			0.824	0.656	0.884		Y.S.10	0.893
	X2.D.1	0.798					Y.S.11	0.882
	X2.D.2	0.883					Y.S.12	0.755
	X2.D.3	0.724				PI			0.941	0.809	0.955
	X2.D.4	0.829					Y.P.13	0.905
SL			0.853	0.695	0.901		Y.P.14	0.938
	X2.S.5	0.865					Y.P.15	0.916
	X2.S.6	0.832					Y.P.16	0.850
	X2.S.7	0.786					Y.P.17	0.885
	X2.S.8	0.849

Note. Network ability (NA); Social astuteness (SA); Apparent sincerity (AS); Interpersonal influence (II); Cognitive social capital (CSC); Directive leadership (DL); Supportive leadership (SL); Participative leadership (PL); Achievement leadership (AL); Job commitment (JC); Job performance (JP); Service quality (SQ); Policy implementation (PI).

The discriminant validity revealed no high correlation based on cross-loading, this meets the prerequisites in Fornell-Larcker and cross-loading values (Hair et al., 2011). In these criteria, the square root of AVE must be higher than the correlation value in the model (Table 3). This shows that each value has fulfilled the prerequisite criteria in the discriminant. The coefficient of determination (R2) of the measurement model shows 85.6%, which meant that public satisfaction can be explained by political skills and leadership style (Figure 2). R2 value also explains the total variance of leadership style consisting of 63.4% directive leadership, 61.3% supportive leadership, 65.9% participative leadership, and 66.5% achievement leadership. The R2 value is quite high and thus it can explain the variable interactions (Dede et al., 2023; Rachmadita et al., 2023; Susiati et al., 2022; Widiawaty et al., 2022).

Figure 2. Interaction in the measurement model.

Table 3. Discriminant validity of construct.

Constructs	AL	AS	CSC	DL	II	JC	JP	NA	PL	PI	SQ	SA	SL
AL	0.886
AS	0.690	0.828
CSC	0.769	0.689	0.873
DL	0.831	0.709	0.719	0.810
II	0.725	0.733	0.817	0.732	0.853
JC	0.831	0.68	0.707	0.835	0.701	0.903
JP	0.854	0.697	0.782	0.791	0.756	0.833	0.881
NA	0.530	0.511	0.528	0.529	0.599	0.574	0.584	0.887
PL	0.881	0.679	0.769	0.79	0.737	0.801	0.803	0.559	0.886
PI	0.794	0.623	0.715	0.704	0.655	0.712	0.780	0.525	0.782	0.899
SQ	0.817	0.665	0.743	0.768	0.704	0.817	0.869	0.571	0.808	0.851	0.859
SA	0.729	0.726	0.763	0.69	0.716	0.718	0.735	0.664	0.688	0.678	0.690	0.801
SL	0.879	0.673	0.733	0.810	0.710	0.830	0.834	0.490	0.847	0.745	0.801	0.689	0.834

3.1. Political skills on public satisfaction

The direct influence on structural path analysis in Table 4 showed that political skill from social astuteness (β = 0.144, t = 2.071, p = 0.038), apparent sincerity (β = 0.198, t = 2.809, p = 0.005), and cognitive social capital (β = 0.326, t = 4.015, p = 0.000) has a significant effect on public satisfaction. On the other hand, political skill variables for network ability (β = 0.047, t = 0.905, p = 0.366) and interpersonal influence (β = 0.172, t = 1.398, p = 0.001) have no significant effect on public satisfaction.

Table 4. Direct relationship between variables.

Relation	β-value	t-value	p-value	Information
Political skills on public satisfaction
NA → S	0.047	0.905	0.366	Not supported
SA → S	0.144	2.071	0.038	Supported
AS → S	0.198	2.809	0.005	Supported
II → S	0.172	1.398	0.001	Not supported
CSC → S	0.326	4.015	0.000	Supported
Political skills on the leadership style
NA → DL	0.052	0.867	0.386	Not supported
NA → SL	−0.006	0.090	0.928	Not supported
NA → PL	0.122	1.832	0.067	Not supported
NA → AL	0.031	0.497	0.619	Not supported
SA → DL	0.125	1.498	0.134	Not supported
SA → SL	0.179	2.053	0.040	Supported
SA → PL	0.043	0.476	0.634	Not supported
SA → AL	0.209	2.318	0.020	Supported
AS → DL	0.269	3.254	0.001	Supported
AS → SL	0.192	2.112	0.035	Supported
AS → PL	0.180	2.410	0.016	Supported
AS → AL	0.175	2.046	0.041	Supported
II → DL	0.236	1.296	0.002	Not supported
II → SL	0.191	1.093	0.003	Not supported
II → PL	0.161	1.776	0.076	Not supported
II → AL	0.128	1.501	0.133	Not supported
CSC → DL	0.218	1.929	0.054	Not supported
CSC → SL	0.311	2.953	0.003	Supported
CSC → PL	0.416	4.522	0.000	Supported
CSC → AL	0.367	3.829	0.000	Supported
Leadership style on public satisfaction
DL → S	0.221	3.356	0.001	Supported
SL → S	0.229	3.248	0.001	Supported
PL → S	0.220	3.036	0.002	Supported
AL → S	0.314	3.880	0.000	Supported

3.2. Political skills on the leadership style

Structural path analysis showed that the political skill variable for network ability (β = 0.052, −0.006, 0.122, 0.031, t = 0.867, 0.090, 1.832, 0.497, p = 0.386, 0.928, 0.067, 0.619) has no significant effect on leadership style directive leadership, supportive leadership, participative leadership, and achievement leadership. Meanwhile, social astuteness (β = 0.179, 0.209, t = 2.053, 2.318, p = 0.040, 0.020) is known to have a significant effect on supportive leadership style and achievement leadership. This is different from social astuteness (β = 0.125, 0.043, t = 1.498, 0.476 p = 0.134, 0.634) which was not significant to the influence of directive leadership and participative leadership styles. Significant interaction appeared in the apparent sincerity indicator political skill variable (β = 0.269, 0.192, 0.180, 0.175, t = 3.254, 2.112, 2.410, 2.046, p = 0.001, 0.035, 0.016, 0.041) on directive leadership, supportive leadership, participative leadership, and achievement leadership.

Political skills variable, precisely on interpersonal influence (β = 0.236, 0.191, 0.161, 0.128, t = 1.296, 1.093, 1.776, 1.501, p = 0.002, 0.003, 0.076, 0.133) showed no significant interaction with directive leadership, supportive leadership style leadership, participative leadership, and achievement leadership. Slightly different conditions appear in cognitive social capital (β = 0.311, 0.416, 0.367, t = 2.953, 4.522, 3.829, p = 0.003, 0.000, 0.000) which had a significant effect on supportive leadership, participative leadership, and achievement leadership styles. This study also showed that cognitive social capital (β = 0.218, t = 1.929, p = 0.054) did not have a significant relationship to the influence of directive leadership style.

3.3. Leadership style on public satisfaction

Referred to the structural path analysis, the leadership style variable for directive leadership (β = 0.221, t = 3.356, p = 0.001), supportive leadership (β = 0.229, t = 3.248, p = 0.001), participative leadership (β = 0.220, t = 3.036, p = 0.002), and achievement leadership (β = 0.314, t = 3.880, p = 0.000) had a significant effect on public satisfaction. This means that leadership style is highly considered by society through policy implementation and women politicians’ appearances.

3.4. Leadership style on public satisfaction

The indirect influence on the structural path result in Table 5 showed that the female leadership style for directive leadership (β = 0.012, t = 0.777, p = 0.437), supportive leadership (β = −0.001, t = 0.086, p = 0.931), participative leadership (β = 0.027, t = 1.453, p = 0.146), and achievement leadership (β = 0.010, t = 0.466, p = 0.641) were not mediated by the relationship between political skills (network ability) and public satisfaction. The female leadership style for leadership achievement (β = 0.066, t = 2.004, p = 0.045) was able to mediate the relationship between political skill (social astuteness and public satisfaction). Different things can be seen from the female leadership style for directive leadership (β = 0.028, t = 1.295, p = 0.195), supportive leadership (β = 0.041, t = 1.629, p = 0.103), and participative leadership (β = 0.010, t = 0.441, p = 0.659) which was not mediated by the relationship between political skills as an indicator of social astuteness and public satisfaction.

Table 5. Indirect relationship between leadership style mediated political skills and public satisfaction relation.

Relation	β-value	t-value	p-value	Information
NA → DL → S	0.012	0.777	0.437	Not supported
NA → SL → S	−0.001	0.086	0.931	Not supported
NA → PL → S	0.027	1.453	0.146	Not supported
NA → AL → S	0.010	0.466	0.641	Not supported
SA → DL → S	0.028	1.295	0.195	Not supported
SA → SL → S	0.041	1.629	0.103	Not supported
SA → PL → S	0.010	0.441	0.659	Not supported
SA → AL → S	0.066	2.004	0.045	Supported
AS → DL → S	0.059	2.437	0.015	Supported
AS → SL → S	0.044	1.724	0.085	Not supported
AS → PL → S	0.040	1.732	0.083	Not supported
AS → AL → S	0.055	1.874	0.061	Not supported
II → DL → S	0.052	1.922	0.055	Not supported
II → SL → S	0.044	1.711	0.087	Not supported
II → PL → S	0.036	1.627	0.104	Not supported
II → AL → S	0.040	1.333	0.183	Not supported
CSC → DL → S	0.048	1.538	0.124	Not supported
CSC → SL → S	0.071	2.116	0.034	Supported
CSC → PL → S	0.092	2.500	0.012	Supported
CSC → AL → S	0.115	2.538	0.011	Supported

In the women’s leadership style, the directive leadership indicator (β = 0.059, t = 2.437, p = 0.015) was able to mediate the relationship between political skill variables, especially in apparent sincerity and public satisfaction, whereas for supportive leadership (β = 0.044, t = 1.724, p = 0.085), participative leadership (β = 0.040, t = 1.732, p = 0.083), and achievement leadership (β = 0.055, t = 1.874, p = 0.061) were not mediated by a relationship between political skill variables (apparent sincerity and public satisfaction). The same thing can be seen in the leadership style variable for directive leadership (β = 0.052, t = 1.922, p = 0.055), supportive leadership (β = 0.044, t = 1.711, p = 0.087), participative leadership (β = 0.036, t = 1.627, p = 0.104), and achievement leadership (β = 0.040, t = 1.333, p = 0.183) which was not mediated by the relationship between political skills as an indicator of interpersonal influence and public satisfaction.

Meanwhile, the women’s leadership style for supportive leadership (β = 0.071, t = 2.116, p = 0.034), participative leadership (β = 0.092, t = 2.500, p = 0.012), and achievement leadership (β = 0.115, t = 2.538, p = 0.011) was able to mediate the relationship between political skill variables as cognitive social capital indicators and public satisfaction. Besides that, the female leadership style variable for the directive leadership indicator (β = 0.048, t = 1.538, p = 0.124) was not mediated by the relationship between the political skills variable – cognitive social capital indicator and public satisfaction.

4. Discussion

The research findings showed that network ability and interpersonal influence have no relationship with leadership style or influence on public satisfaction. Network abilities and interpersonal influence cannot be as important elements in providing satisfaction to the public regarding political skills (Munyon et al., 2015). This is supported by interviews that network abilities are carried out by women politicians who are more supportive of personal interests than those of society. In building networks with groups that support their rights and interests, they need to manage relationships with groups that do not support them in an appropriate way (Goertz & Mazur, 2008). Network ability is usually determined by social capital, which ultimately supports political promises to become true. The GEDSI approach taken by women politicians has not shown satisfactory interpersonal influence on the public, where women often do not use the proper strategy in campaigning for GEDSI as their political vision and mission. Female politicians have not realized that these skills are effective for understanding other people in the workplace and using that knowledge to influence others as well as to enhance one’s personal and/or organizational goals (Thompson et al., 2017).

In social astuteness as political skills, there were direct and indirect effects on public satisfaction with the partial mediation of achievement leadership. Women politicians often show social astuteness in their leadership (Harp et al., 2016; Kwon, 2020; Treadway et al., 2013). The FGD showed that the criteria for women leaders need to have intelligence and the ability to influence others, also have policies that are applied in society. In this case, with the achievement leadership style, women politicians are judged to focus on political goals. Women politicians are capable to formulate GEDSI-based policies, this is evidenced by their success story in promoting public policies such as the sexual violence law and gender issues. This policy is part of the women’s leadership style by implementing achievement leadership, which is proof that they are empowered and implement gender-responsive policies. Women’s representatives are considered to have an important role in producing each policy according to the perspective of gender sensitivity, needs and experience (Agustyati, 2020).

Apparent sincerity in political skills, directly and indirectly, affects public satisfaction with the partial mediation of directive leadership (Kimura, 2015; Robinson et al., 2019; Todd et al., 2009). Sincerity is very necessary in Indonesian politics which still involves a lot of money practices and handing out public positions or projects. Women politicians with apparent sincerity cannot be separated from their perception of femininity thus they are considered to have more sensitivity than men. FGD showed that women’s representatives are not only sensitive to differences in sex and gender, but also to constraints in various political-cultural arenas and political processes or real achievements from feminist intervention. This directive leadership style is effective in situations where there is a goal of achieving a political policy, it is necessary to consider the skills and expertise to complete that issue (Cwalina & Drzewiecka, 2019). Political skill practice for women politicians is considered capable of providing satisfaction with apparent sincerity that is implemented on how to create knowledge related to inclusive policies and their capability to reform policy governance according to GEDSI.

Cognitive social capital as the political skills, directly and indirectly, influence public satisfaction with the partial mediating role of supportive leadership, participative leadership, and achievement leadership. Women need to have potential political abilities that refer to knowledge and cognitive aspects. These can have an impact on influencing political policies and actions for society (Bashir & Jan, 2021; Kwon, 2020). The interviews revealed that women politicians are considered to increase their potential political ability by helping to understand issues related to rights and interests that are equal, fair and without discrimination. Cognitive social capital is considered to support various types of leadership styles (supportive leadership, participative leadership, and achievement leadership). In the supportive leadership style, cognitive social capital can show a sense of responsibility in the community. Supportive women politicians often look to society’s welfare and create a sense of belonging. In this case, women politicians are encouraged to implement GEDSI in a twin-track approach, they should provide opportunities to provide equal rights and opportunities, including those from all minority and disabilities groups (Opoku et al., 2021).

In the participative leadership style, cognitive social capital can create good interactions with society, especially to formulate political visions and missions according to public satisfaction. Women’s political leadership can ensure that their perspectives and experiences are included in decision-making (Gordon et al., 2021). Finally, leadership styles such as achievement leadership, cognitive social capital should be resources for women politicians who may focus on performance to create accountability. Women’s political participation and good governance are considered to ensure that the decision-making process is participatory, gender-responsive, fair and inclusive. These efforts are focused on strategic points that can advance women by catalyzing broad and long-term impacts (Pratiwi et al., 2022).

Women’s political participation in Indonesia is more flexible than those in other Muslim-majority countries, It has even been definitively demonstrated that a woman can ascend the highest leader and head of state, Megawati Soekarnoputri (5^th President of Indonesia from 2001 to 2004). In Iran, especially Kurdish women, the patriarchal social framework has created injustice for women to participate in politics from voicing political ideals to realizing their collective rights (Shakiba et al., 2021). The inequality of political rights for Kurdish women can actually be traced to other minority ethnic groups as well, especially non-Persian ones, which emerged as an implication of long-standing social, economic, and cultural disparities in Iranian society (Ahmady et al., 2023). All non-Persian ethnic groups felt unequal and dissatisfied with government policies that favored the dominant ethnic group there, which ultimately triggered demands for justice, equitable development, and national solidarity (Ahmady, 2023). However, in Türkiye, women’s grassroots activism and attempts to enter high-level politics often don’t lead to seats at the decision-making table. Their political engagement is marked by high voter turnout, involvement in voter recruitment, and active campaigning for conservative and pro-religious parties, especially in pro-Kurdish parties (Drechselová, 2020; Tajali, 2023). This political inequality is suspected to be rooted in a sense of Turkish racial superiority over other races due to their role in building Islamic civilization until 1924 (Azzam, 2023). On the other hand, economic inequality resulting in fierce competition for jobs has also triggered hate crimes against minority groups extending into the political realm. This contrast arises from political regulations in Indonesia mandating that every institution must ensure up to 30% representation and inclusion of female members (Law Number 2 of 2011), coupled with women’s freedom to pursue higher education and careers that implied increasing women’s representation in government from 1987 to 2019 elections (Aspinall et al., 2021; Nurbayani & Dede, 2022). The ideal role played by women in politics is born in a deeply rooted social and cultural context if they are capable of leading, formulating policy and executing programmes. Indonesia is interesting because in its history female political figures have emerged as leaders of past kingdoms such as Kalinga (Queen Shima), Majapahit (Queen Tribhuwanatunggadewi Jayawishnuwardhani), and Samudera Pasai (Sultanah Nihrasyiah).

5. Conclusion

Women’s political participation ensures that the decision-making process is participatory, responsive, fair and inclusive. Research on women politicians based on GEDSI is an evaluation to understand the benefits and resources targeted while preventing side effects from development interventions. The research showed that political skill, especially social astuteness, directly and indirectly, influenced public satisfaction with the partial mediating role of achievement leadership. Political skills for apparent sincerity also influence public satisfaction with the mediating role of partial directive leadership. Political skills reflected in cognitive social capital influenced public satisfaction with the partial mediating role of supportive leadership, participative leadership, and achievement leadership. This study succeeded in revealing that network ability and interpersonal influence have an insignificant effect on public satisfaction. Thus, the research hypothesis cannot be fully accepted because only some components of political skills and leadership style influenced public satisfaction. Women politicians who apply the GEDSI approach become political skills that benefit a leadership style for them because that encourages more accommodative and substantial political decision-making. Further research is needed with a gender-comparative perspective related to GEDSI.

Acknowledgments

The authors are grateful to Moh. Dede (UPI and UNPAD) and Millary Agung Widiawaty (University of Birmingham and CIGESS) for their beneficial discussion in the manuscript preparation.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Additional information

Funding

This research received funding support from ‘Badan Riset dan Inovasi Nasional’ and ‘Universitas Pendidikan Indonesia’ through ‘Hibah Publikasi Internasional Bereputasi’.

Notes on contributors

Elly Malihah

Elly Malihah is a professor at the Faculty of Social Sciences Education (FPIPS), Universitas Pendidikan Indonesia (UPI). Elly completed a PhD degree at Universitas Padjadjaran (UNPAD). She is focused on policy studies, education and family, gender politics, and social development. She is also active as a secretary at the university senate and a member of the UPI’s Center of Excellence.

Siti Nurbayani

Siti Nurbayani is an associate professor at the FPIPS UPI. She completed a PhD degree in social science education from. Siti focuses on development studies, family and women, local wisdom, and community empowerment. She is known as the Vice Dean of FPIPS UPI for student empowerment.

Siti Komariah

Siti Komariah is an associate professor at the FPIPS UPI. She got a PhD degree from Universiti Malaya, Malaysia. She was the head of Sociology Education Program, both undergraduate and postgraduate in FPIPS UPI. Siti Komariah focuses on sociology and sociology education as the main research subject.

Etty Sisdiana

Etty Sisdiana in a senior researcher at the National Research and Innovation Agency of Indonesia (BRIN). Etty worked as a staff in the Indonesian Ministry of Education and Culture with specialize in education and policies. She completed a Ph.D. degree from Universitas Negeri Jakarta.

Yendri Wirda

Yendri Wirda in a researcher at the National Research and Innovation Agency of Indonesia (BRIN). She got the higher education degrees from IPB University. Yendri focuses on education, inclusiveness, and disabilities research.

Lingga Utami

Lingga Utami graduated from post-graduate program in sociology education at UPI. She involved in several projects from the Indonesian Ministry of Education and Culture. Lingga, currently, active in the Solve Education.

Rengga Akbar Munggaran

Rengga Akbar Munggaran is a researcher from ‘Asosiasi Pendidik dan Peneliti Sosiologi Indonesia’ or AP3SI. He graduated from Sociology Education at UPI, also Sociology at Universitas Indonesia. Rengga focuses on social development, gender studies, and social movement.