In most political systems, political parties are the gatekeepers through which candidates are selected for parliament. Parties are therefore entrusted with one of the most strategic responsibilities in democracy – to prepare and select candidates for election and to support them in positions of leadership and governance. Political parties also formulate policy and set governance priorities and are therefore strategically placed to address the concerns of women. Yet political parties vary substantially in the number of women candidates they nominate, the platforms they adopt and the policies they promote. They also vary in their breadth of participation and centralization or decentralization of processes, and consequently, in their responsiveness to women’s issues and demands.

There are few documented examples of special measures that political parties have adopted to increase women’s participation aside from implementing quotas for women on lists of candidates.

Centre and centre-right parties usually subscribe to an ideology of meritocracy, and rarely are specific measures taken or policies formally adopted to promote the interests of one ‘group’ over another.

However, some parties have taken, or could take, some more reform-minded steps:

1. Adopt a party policy on women and ensure their participation in decision-making structures of the party (national executive committee, election nomination committees, etc), and set measurable targets. An example is found in Rule 14 of the African National Congress (South Africa) constitution: “In an endeavor to ensure that women are adequately represented in all decision-making structures, the ANC shall implement a programme of affirmative action, including the provision of a quota of at least one-third (1/3) in all its structures to enable such effective participation.”

2. Provide supportive programmes for women, such as providing skills building and training. Political parties could ensure that a proportion of funds received for training and polling could be directed to supporting the participation of women in party politics.

3. Annual public funding allocations to political parties in some Latin America countries aim to reduce the influence of special interest groups and help create a level playing field for all political actors in the electoral process. Public money is provided usually without any obligation for the recipients, but regulation could be considered so as to ensure that parties nominate a certain percentage of women candidates for election or that the money is used to provide assistance to the campaigns of women.

4. Political parties could adopt their own limits on campaign spending in primary election contests in order to ensure equality of opportunity for all candidates. Women are often unable to raise the same levels of funding as men just to win a party nomination, so setting a ceiling on primary campaign could promote the ability of all individuals to participate in political life on an equitable basis.

5. Political parties could form alliances with fund-raising networks, which have a huge effect on the flow of money to women candidates in some countries. Fund-raising groups in the USA have been very influential in raising and mobilizing funds for women. These fund-raising networks are particularly important where there is no public funding and candidates have to raise private funds to contest an election. Today local and international organizations often do more to support women candidates than political parties by providing training and skills development. Women’s fund-raising organizations have a huge effect on the flow of money to women candidates. These fund-raising networks are particularly important where there is no public funding and candidates have to raise private funds to contest an election.

6. Adopt a gender policy for gender mainstreaming, and ensure that party think-tanks and research services are gender ‘literate’.

7. Provide incentives to political parties to promote women candidates in election campaign adverts and in the media. Access to the state and privately run media is an instrumental part of campaigning to establish a connection between the candidates and the community. Media time free of charge is a subsidy in kind, and was used in East Timor as one way to help women candidates: Those parties that had women placed in high positions on party lists received additional media time. In Bosnia, the OSCE worked to increase the visibility of women in the media by developing standards of content in the media, and trained women politicians on media strategies.

8. Provide avenues for women’s participation within political parties through women’s wings: The IPU publication Equality in Politics: A Survey of Women and Men in Parliaments shows that women’s wings are important avenues for promoting women’s participation in political life, supporting women candidates during elections, and defending gender issues within the party. Overall, women’s wings were found to play a lesser role in mobilizing the women’s vote ahead of elections, providing support to elected women candidates and logistical support to the political party. Women’s wings objectives and functions include:

• providing a forum for women in parties to network, discuss challenges in carrying out their party activities and finding common solutions;
• Organizing grassroots women encourage their participation in political life;
• Prepare women to stand for election, provide training on electoral campaigns and liaison with the media.

However, women’s wings vary in their mandate and role within political parties. There are at least two different types of women’s wings in operation: In some parties, the women's wing is an important structure and provides substantive input. The women’s wing may contribute to policy development, have representation on the National Executive Committee of the party, have representation on the candidate nomination committees of the party (to select candidates for election), have representation at the sub-national level, and recruit new members to the party. In effect the women’s wing in an important component with significant influence in the party structure. The second type is the more ceremonial women's wing, providing a 'place' for women to meet but does not necessarily have any clout in the party. It may mobilize women to vote during elections and also organize social activities. It is also important to consider the operating budget: some women's wings receive a small operating budget for annual activities, say 10 percent of the party budget, while others receive no budget at all.

9. Instead of setting up a women’s wing, parties could also consider establishing equality committees within political parties. Unfortunately, as with the application of voluntary party quotas for electoral candidacies, these measure only work when properly implemented. Usually this is reliant upon the good faith compliance of political parties to uphold their own pledges.

*Julie Ballington, Programme Specialist, Gender Partnership Programme, Inter-Parliamentary Union

References IPU, Julie Ballington, Equality in Politics: A Survey of Women and Men in Parliament, Inter-Parliamentary Union, 2008. Julie Ballington “Enhancing Representative Democracy: Gender Equality in Political Party Funding” in International IDEA, Handbook on the Functioning and Funding of Political Parties, International IDEA, Stockholm, 2004. Julie Ballington and Richard Matland, “Political Parties and Special Measures: Enhancing Women’s Participation in Electoral Processes,” Presented at UN Expert Meeting: Enhancing Women’s Participation in Electoral Processes in Post-conflict Countries, Office of the Special Adviser on Gender Issues and Advancement of Women (OSAGI) & Department of Political Affairs Expert Group Meeting, New York, USA, 19 to 22 January 2004. “Gender Equality in Political Party Funding,” Presented at the Workshop: Is Financing an Obstacle to the Political Participation of Women? Inter-American Forum on Political Parties, OAS, Washington DC, USA, 16 December 2003.