It's the Party, Stupid! Why the Success of Female Politicians Depends on the Intra-Party Democracy

It’s nothing new that women in politics throughout the entire world are underrepresented. In addition to numerous other factors, this phenomenon is often explained by macro-structural factors such as party affiliation. A central theme in regard to the effect of parties on the representation rate of women is that the odds of women in political parties on the left side of the spectrum are particularly high. Furthermore, the effectiveness of the proportion of women in politics is discussed. It is also necessary to realize that, in the studies, particularly female politicians are observed and the nomination perspective is spared. But the nomination perspective is very important; on this level especially, women must overcome the barriers placed within certain parties, which are often higher than in others. That’s why focus on the nomination perspective can explain the underrepresentation of women in the various parties. The aim of this paper is therefore to examine this question in an analysis of the nomination processes and electoral successes of women in 15 countries at 18 national elections with data from the Comparative Candidate Survey (CCS). The analysis shows that party affiliation provides a key contribution to explaining the underrepresentation of women in politics. However, it is also clear that the electoral system in particular, or the question whether the candidates compete on a constituency or on a party list, provides another key contribution to this explanation.