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Electoral Systems and Laws

Choosing the type of electoral system is one of the most important institutional decisions for any democracy. Electoral systems can be classified into groups based on the processes by which they translate votes into seats. The three main groups are plurality/majority systems, mixed systems and proportional systems, as well as others that do not fit easily into these categories.

Different electoral systems and laws can result in different outcomes in terms of the representation of women. The type of electoral system is, therefore, a key variable in accounting for why some countries have higher levels of female representation than others do. This Web site contains documents explaining the advantages and disadvantages of different electoral systems and how they can be used in combination with quotas to increase the representation of women and facilitate their participation.

From the Library

Consolidated Response on Experiences in Implementing Parity Laws to Improve Women's Political Representation

The adoption of the parity law in Senegal is an important step on the way to increased political participation and equal political representation of women.  Senegal’s women were rightfully proud of this landmark achievement, but other countries’ experiences with parity laws show that there is long road between the adoption of such laws and their effective implementation. 

This consolidated response will detail how parity laws have been implemented elsewhere, what aspects of their implementation bring most difficulties, and how such potential stumbling blocks could be overcome.  It will focus in particular on current developments in the Arab states, where the recent revolutions have led to the revision of certain political and electoral systems.  

Empowering Women for Stronger Political Parties

How women participate in political parties – and how those parties encourage and nurture women’s involvement and incorporate gender-equality issues – are key determinants of women’s political empowerment. They are also key to ensuring gender-equality issues are addressed in the wider society. If strategies to promote women’s involvement in the political process are to be effective, they should be linked to steps parties can take across the specific phases of the electoral cycle – the preelectoral, electoral and post-electoral phases – and to the organization and financing of the parties themselves. 
 
The most effective strategies to increase women’s participation in political parties combine reforms to political institutions with targeted support to women party activists within and outside party structures, women candidates and elected officials. These strategies require the cooperation of a variety of actors and political parties from across the political spectrum.
 
The Guide identifies targeted interventions that political parties can take to empower women. It is structured according to four phases, following an electoral cycle approach.

Sierra Leone Query: Experiences with Sequencing PAR Reforms and Electoral Cycles

This report aims to assist UNDP/Sierra Leone in formulating strategies to reform different aspects of civil service, as it heads into upcoming elections. It begins with a discussion of the types of civil service reforms that may be useful, and methods of implementation. It was difficult to find examples of experiences correlating PAR reforms and electoral cycles.  However, we did find examples of reform programmes from a number of countries.  These programmes tend to be implemented over a minimum of four (4) years; at which time the country has often undergone some type of major election.  

The overwhelming trend across the international reports found seems to point towards avoiding election times when it comes to civil service reforms. Reforms in other countries have begun either before or after elections, but do not tend to be heavily implemented during election time frames. Although civil service reform is the main topic of the report, it would be difficult to have meaningful reforms without legitimate leadership, chosen through democratic elections. Because of the difficulty in maintaining fair elections in the past, it seems that electoral reform is a necessary precursor to civil service reform, especially given the temporal proximity of the next elections.

The report concludes with observations and questions for further study, which may aid UNDP/Sierra Leone as it attempts to reform civil service and public sector laws, while anticipating upcoming elections.

Designing for Equality: Best-fit, medium-fit and non-favourable combinations of electoral systems and gender quotas

This publication provides an overview of the ‘fit’ of the various electoral systems with different kinds

of quota and thereby assesses how increased women’s representation can be achieved under different combinations of electoral systems and quotas. It aims to serve as a reference tool for all those who work to increase women’s representation in politics.

Women in politics and decision making positions

Political party manifestos are a strategy to ensure women representation in all the political party structures. This is evident in manifesto of The African National Congress Party as an example. With such a provision in place women are covered in terms of numbers, though it does not automatically translate into their effective participation.

Voices of a Revolution: Conversations with Tunisia’s Youth

Based on a series of ten focus groups conducted in March 2011, this report explores young Tunisians‘opinions of the recent events that led to the overthrow of the Ben Ali regime and of the political transition underway. Main findings include the following: Tunisian youth are eager to participate in their country’s democratic transition, but skeptical about available channels.

The Road ahead Citizen Attitudes about Burundi in the Post-2011 Election Period

This report explores public opinion in Burundi. Based on 40 focus group discussions with nearly 500 Burundian participants, the report examines attitudes and concerns of Burundian citizens about the 2010 electoral period. As with all NDI public opinion studies, participants were asked about their views on government performance, security, human rights, and related issues. Principal findings are summarized below. The full results, along with selected quotations from participants, can be found in the Principal Findings section of this report.

Benchmarking National Legislation for Gender Equality: Findings from Five Asian Countries

The publication reviews the legal systems of Indonesia, Pakistan, the Philippines, Sri Lanka and Viet nam and assesses the extent of their legislative compliance with articles of the Convention on the Elimination of Discrimination agaisnt Women (CEDAW). The convention is an important international reference point for gender equality. The State Parties to CEDAW are legally bound to apply and enforce its articles in their legal systems. In this legislative assessment study only de jure compliance to CEDAW is assessed for the countries. But even for this, the findings reveal a varying level of legislative compliance. Overall, no country has achieved full compliance with CEDAW's articles. The extent of compliance ranges between 45 to 73 per cent, within de jure laws, with Viet Nam coming closest to the CEDAW benchmarks.

Women’s Representation in Local Government in Asia-Pacific: Going beyond National Targets in Monitoring Status for MDG 3 on Women’s Political Empowerment

More Asia Pacific countries than ever before have elected local governments and national parliaments. Despite the progress made in establishing democratic institutions in the Asia Pacifi c, women continue to participate unequally both as voters and as candidates. Equality of opportunity in politics is a human right. Despite international eff orts to strengthen the conduct of free and fair
elections throughout the world, insuffi cient attention and resources have been devoted to addressing the gap between male and female political participation.

By not measuring the percentage of women represented in sub-national governments with any MDG target, national strategies risk ignoring one of the most important arenas for women’s political participation. As part of the Millennium Project, the Task Force on Education and Gender Equality has identifi ed increasing women’s share of seats in national and local government bodies, as
one of the seven strategic priorities needed to achieve MDG 3 on gender equality2. To this end, the Task Force proposed the inclusion of an indicator (additional to the numbers of women in national parliament) on the percentage of seats held by women in local government bodies.

The local governments, through their national associations and global umbrella body, have expressed their commitment to the development, promotion and support of gender equality. The International Union of Local Authorities (IULA) sets out its Worldwide Declaration on Women in Local Government.

It is on this basis that the fi rst ever status report on Women’s Representation in Local Government in the Asia Pacific has been developed. This will contribute to the monitoring of the achievement of MDG 3 with the objective of deepening the understanding of the progress made towards goals set within the Millennium Declaration at all levels of government and all other commitments on gender equality, including international human rights obligations under the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR) CEDAW and BPfA.

Rwanda: Women Hold Up Half the Parliament

In October 2003, women won 4. percent of seats in Rwanda’s lower house of Parliament.  Having achieved near-parity in the representation of men and women its legislature, this small African country now ranks first among all countries of the world in terms of the number of women elected to parliament. 

The dramatic gains for women are a result of specific mechanisms used to increase women’s political participation, among them a constitutional guarantee, a quota system, and innovative electoral structures. This case study will describe those mechanisms and attempt to explain their origins, focusing in particular on the relationship between women’s political representation and the organized women’s movement, significant changes in gender roles in post-genocide Rwanda, and the commitment of Rwanda’s ruling party, the RPF, to gender issues. It will also briefly introduce some of the achievements and challenges ahead for women in Rwanda’s Parliament. 

To access the document, please click here.