Sharing Power Women, Parliament, Democracy [Hardcover]

The representation of women in parliament is a subject of extensive research and a focus for political action in the last decade. The wide variation in women's parliamentary presence contradicts the expectation that established or consolidated democracies are more supportive of the presence of women in political life than emerging democracies. This volume explains this variation through a series of closely investigated case studies from the post-Communist transition democracies of Eastern Europe and emerging democracies in Asia and the Middle East to the long-established liberal democratic states. The volume examines the history of women's legislative involvement, clearly addressing the issue of equal opportunities for women in political life on a cross-national basis. It also identifies innovative solutions to redress the power-sharing balance between women and men. Offering a unique comparative perspective, Sharing Power will appeal to students and scholars of politics, women's studies, history and legislative studies.Contents: Introduction, Yvonne Galligan and Manon Tremblay; Indonesia, Sharon Bessell; Hungary, Elisabeth Kardos Kaponyi; Italy, Alisa del Re; France, Mariette Sineau; Ireland, Yvonne Galligan; Sub-Saharan Africa, Mi Yung Yoon; Peru, Stephanie Rousseau; United Kingdom, Fiona MacKay; Croatia, Smiljana Leinert Novosel; Canada, Manon Tremblay; Switzerland, Thanh-Huyen Ballmer-Cao; Australia and New Zealand, Sandra Grey and Marian Sawer; Spain, Celia Valiente, Luis Ramiro and Laura Morales; Scandinavia, Jill M. Bystydzienski; Netherlands, Monique Leyenaar; Conclusion, Yvonne Galligan and Manon Tremblay; Bibliography; Index.Dr Yvonne Galligan is from Queens University Belfast, Northern Ireland. Manon Tremblay is from University of Ottawa, Canada.