Fighting for the Seats: Gender Quota and State Feminism in South Korea and Taiwan
Chang-Ling Huang Department of Political Science National Taiwan University
Gender Quota
• Major Institutional Design to Increase Women’s Representation, Electoral as well as Non-Electoral • Electoral Representation: Widely Adopted, over 90 Countries (Constitution, Election Laws, Party Rules) • Non-Electoral Representation: Less Discussed, but no Less Important (Norway)
State Feminism
• When Feminists Enter the State, Femocrats • International Trend/Post-Cold War Politics • The 4th World Conference on Women ( Beijing 1995) • Gender Mainstreaming/Policy Tools • Target 30%
Argument
• gender quota literatures focus on electoral representation, but non-electoral representation is also, if not more, important. • In comparison to South Korea, Taiwan performs better in electoral representation, but worse in non-electoral representation. • The reason: different institutional environment for the development of State Feminism
Gender Quota and Electoral Representation
• Global Trend • Electoral system matters: PR most compatible, Single-member district, least compatible • South Korea and Taiwan: mixed system, single-member district plus party list
Global Trend: Women in National Parliaments
60
50
40
%
30
20
10
0
1 2 3 4 5 Rank 2002 2007 6 7 8 9 10
Rank Country 1 Sweden 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 Denmark Finland Norway Costa Rica Iceland Netherland Argentina Mozambique South Africa
Women % Country 45.3 Rwanda 38 37.5 36.4 35.1 34.9 34 30.7 30 29.8 Sweden Finland Costa Rica Norway Denmark Netherland Cuba/Spain Argentina Mozambique
Women % 48.8 47.3 42 38.6 37.9 36.9 36.7 36 35 34.8
Fem e M i n Sout h Kor ea and Tai w al Ps an
35 30 25 20
%
15 10 5 0
85 88 96 00 20 54 60 48 78 67 71 73 81 92 19 19 19 19 19 19 19 19 19 19 19 19 20 04
Year
Korea
Taiwan
19
0%
1%
2%
3%
4%
5%
6%
7%
8%
9%
50 53 56 59 62 65 68 71 74 77 80 83 86 89 92
19 19 19 19 19 19 19 19 19
Taiwan
19 19 19 19 19 19 19 20 20 20
Female Members in Local Assemblies
S.Korea
95 98 01 04 07
Female County Magistrates
16% 14% 12% 10% 8% 6% 4% 2% 0%
95 01 89 03 97 99 05 20 85 87 91 93 20 19 19 19 20 19 19 19 19 19 20 07
Year
Taiwan
S.Korea
Femal City Council Members : Seoul and Taipei
40% 35% 30% 25% 20% 15% 10% 5% 0%
19 69 19 71 19 73 19 75 19 77 19 79 19 81 19 83 19 85 19 87 19 89 19 91 19 93 19 95 19 97 19 99 20 01 20 03 20 05
Year
Taipei
Seoul
Taiwan has more female representatives because………
• Pre-existed institutions. Reserved Seats for Women since the 1947 constitution. The quota remains 10% for years and became ceilings. • Major momentum appeared in the mid1990s. Demanded by feminist organizations. Target 25% • Party adoption. Quota is gender neutral. Less resistance from male politicians.
Quota Type National Legislature (Party List) National Legislature (District) Local Assembly (Party List)
South Korea 50% (9.35% of total seats) 30% Nomination encouraged. No Penalty. Financial Incenctives) 50%
Taiwan 50% (15% of total seats) 0
Local Assembly (District)
30% Nomination encouraged. No Penalty. Financial Incenctives)
SNTV: For every four elected, one must be a woman. (15%-25%)
Female Parliamentary Members (Political Family)
70
62.5
60
51.5
50
41.1
40
%
30 20
10.3
30
10
3.4
0 Total District
Korea
Party List
Taiwan
Democracy and Non-electoral Representation
• The Changing State-Society Relations in South Korea and Taiwan • Mutually embedded and mutually constituting • Proliferation of Government Committees and Public Commissions • The institutional barriers of elections
Women in Government Committees
40 35 30 25 20 15 10 5 0 Total Central Government
South Korea
Taiwan
%
Local Government
State Feminism in South Korea and Taiwan
• South Korea: 2001 Ministry of Gender Equality • Taiwan: 1997 Cabinet level Commission on the Promotion of Women’s Rights • Femocrats Led vs. Commissions Led
Gender Quota in Education
Taiwan Commission on Gender Equality Education, Ministry of Eduation Gender Equality Education Law 30% Gender Quota in Teachers Review Committee (gender neutral, all levels)
Gender Quota in Education
South Korea A Femocrat in Ministry of Education 200 out of 1000 new faculty positions Controversies and criticism
Tentative Conclusion
• Gender and democracy • The goal of quota: implementing the quota to make quota eventually meaningless • more attention should be paid to nonelectoral representation, whether from the research agenda of democratization or state feminism