Diversity Challenges for Parliaments. Exploring the Role and Scope of Parliamentary Organisations in Promoting Diversity

The issue of diversity in political (under)representation has preoccupied political studies as debates evolve from a sole focus on gender, race or ethnicity to intersectional approaches. Whilst the significant body of evidence around factors affecting political representation in parliaments has grown, and our methods of investigation have improved, so has evolved the normative discourse around diversity in political representation. Research on supply and demand factors underpinning political representation significantly advanced the field and enhanced our collective understanding of the role of political institutions (political parties in particular and the electoral systems) in affecting the demand and supply of diverse candidates standing for political office. The field has also seen important contributions about the role procedures, norms, culture play in promoting gender diverse parliaments. Palmieri (2011) as well as Childs (2016) really open up the conversation about how institutional norms may shape the behaviour of individual actors and political parties with the aim of achieving gender and diversity sensitive parliaments. However, we know less about how parliamentary organisations strategise around diversity and about the effectiveness of specific tools they have at their disposal to either eliminate barriers detering a diverse range of individuals to run for office, or to incentivise a wide range of individuals to stand for elections. For instance, remuneration packages and workplace conditions are important determinants for job attractiveness in every other sector. But how different is the elected political office in this regard? How significant are remuneration packages for attracting diverse potential candidates? And more importantly, how do parliamentary organisations use remuneration packages, and specific features of the job and workplace environment to make the prospect of becoming an elected representative attractive to a wide range of individuals? This paper investigates these questions and explores institutional strategies targeted at reducing barriers to diversity in representation. The paper is based on a research study commissioned by the Remuneration Board of the National Assembly for Wales in 2017 and conducted by the Wales Governance Centre and London Metropolitan University. Our research design consisted of a rigorous mix of quantitative and qualitative data collection methods supported by an ambitious engagement exercise with a wide range of individuals across Wales. Our review of existing practice covered more than 25 parliaments. Our survey, targeted at membership organizations across a number of sectors (public affairs, trade unions, professional bodies, community based organizations, business and voluntary sector groups), received 197 responses from individuals with an interest in political office. We conducted 8 focus groups and 25 in depth one to one interviews with individuals across Wales. Our research provides significant insights into deliberate strategy of the Remuneration Board of the National Assembly for Wales to understand issues affecting diversity and address specific barriers encountered by individuals from a wide range of backgrounds on their journey of becoming politically active and standing in parliamentary elections for the National Assembly for Wales.