The Causes and Consequences of Male Over-Representation

Nearly every legislature worldwide has a male majority, generating significant research on women’s political under-representation. While male over-representation might be explicitly acknowledged, it is usually problematised in terms of its impact on women, and is seldom the central focus of study. This workshop will open up new research agendas focusing explicitly on male over-representation, studying the causes and consequences of having male majorities (as opposed to female minorities) within legislatures. Shifting the focus from women to men invokes a number of new questions and research areas within the field of gender and politics. For example, how have men maintained their privileged position in politics? What is the role of male networks for accessing and wielding political power? Do clientelism, nepotism, sexism and other mechanisms giving men an unfair advantage all facilitate the selection of inferior men, resulting in lower quality representation for all? Are factors facilitating and constraining legislative careers different for men and women? How have men reacted to attempts to level the playing field, and to the presence of more women? Do men modify and tone down their behaviour in the presence of women, or do they feel even greater pressure to perform certain types of masculinity? Is the effect of having more women in parliament liberating or threatening for men? Do men feel empowered or constrained by the cultures of masculinity within male-dominated institutions? What are men’s interests, and how well are they met by male representatives? Are any men excluded from the representative process, and are some men’s interests overlooked by masculinised legislatures? Is male over-representation damaging for both men and women? Might male citizens benefit from a better gender balance in parliaments? The many questions raised when shifting the focus towards male over-representation indicate that this is fertile terrain for research, requiring much greater exploration.