Since the end of Soviet era quotas, the number of women in Russian politics has declined. What will bring them back?

After Soviet quotas were abolished in the early 1990’s, women disappeared from the politics in Russia; today, a traditional view of gender roles has replaced the Communist ideal of gender equality. According to Olga Kryshtanovskaya, a sociologist who focuses on politics at the Institute of Sociology at the Russian Academy of Sciences, women trying to make it in politics fall into one of two categories: Those who have been placed there by a man who wishes to look at a pretty doll, and those who have achieved their positions by talent and hard work.

The opinion poll was conducted on 16-17 July 2011 in Russia about the participation of women in politics. 1,600 respondents in 138 villages from 46 regions of Russian Federation participated in the survey.

According to the survey, only 37 % of respondents would like to see more women participating in Russian politics while in 1998,  there were 45 %. On the contrary, the proportion of those who believe that Russia has enough women politicians increased from 27% in 1998 to 33% in 2011.

Interestingly, 50 % off respondents supports the idea of ​​quotas to guarantee women's representation in government. On the other hand, only 18 % respondents would vote for the Women candidate for the presidential election vs. 44 % for the male candidates.  A third of the respondents would not consider a sex of a candidate while selecting the presidential candidate.

 

Politics is another way for women to achieve self-fulfillment, a woman deputy in Russia's parliament told Xinhua Monday.

In an interview ahead of the International Women's Day, which falls on Tuesday, Tatiana Voronova, a 36-year-old member of the ruling United Russia party serving in the State Duma, or lower house, first recalled her political career.

"My career brings me a sense of tremendous accomplishment," said Voronova, in a gray business suit and always with a smile.

She said that her wish is to make the envisioned future come true. "If a politician is not able to create an image of future and make the image possible, then he or she is not a politician," she stressed.

Out of the creative, pitiless turmoil that was Russia in the early 1990s a remarkable political force emerged and, briefly, flowered: a party that entered the 1993 parliamentary elections with a list made up entirely of women. "We relied on women's groups all over the country, and they waged a powerful word-of-mouth campaign. Women told women, families told families. And people were convinced. Politics will never be the same here again,” Women of Russia leader Alevtina Fedulova said after the elections.