Theorizing Gendered Parliamentary Bodies: The Causes and Consequences of Institutional Design

Abstract

Scholars have begun analyzing the policymaking role played by intra-parliamentary or intra-legislative institutions that support women’s rights, namely standing committees, women’s caucuses, and party groups. Papers on this panel examine the institutional design of these bodies in different national contexts, in order to begin developing a common, comparative framework that would allow for generalizations across cases. By analyzing the creation, structure, purpose, and contributions of parliamentary committees or women’s caucuses in single or several cases, each paper addresses key questions in this emerging research area. How does the institutional design of these bodies facilitate—or hinder—collaboration among women lawmakers and their allies, inside and outside parliament? What arrangements constitute best practices for achieving substantive representation? Together, these papers emphasize the importance of examining institutional design inside parliaments and legislatures, as intra-parliamentary governance structures play key roles in promoting female legislators’ empowerment, advancing gender mainstreaming, and passing gender equality legislation.

Title	Details
Women’s Movements, Gender Mainstreaming and the Substantive Representation of Women: Where do Parliamentary Bodies Fit?	View Paper Details
Hostages to Fortune? The Representation of Women and Ethnic Minorities in the Committee Systems of Post-Communist Legislatures	View Paper Details
The Impact of Women’s Legislative Caucus Variation on Women’s Representation	View Paper Details
Changing Institutions, Changing Dynamics of Women’s Representation?	View Paper Details