Gendered Electoral Financing: Money, Power and Representation in Comparative Perspective(Gender and Comparative Politics)

Illustrated by in-depth empirical research from six country studies, Gendered Electoral Financing: Money, Power and Representation in Comparative Perspective is the first cross-regional examination of the nexus between money, gender and political recruitment across the world. Money is assumingly one of the greatest barriers to women in the political recruitment process. The financial disadvantage of women is expected to constitute an obstacle for women’s entry into politics everywhere and especially in developing countries where women’s socio-economic status is disproportionately low relative to men’s. This line of reasoning has caused a global upswing in both candidate- and party-directed financial schemes introduced to enhance gender balance in political office. This book develops a typology of different kinds of gendered electoral financing schemes and builds theories about its causes and consequences. By comparing how gendered electoral financing affects political recruitment processes in both established and emerging democracies, the authors identify whether and how the funding mechanisms incentivize a shift in political behavior. Gendered Electoral Financing is a timely, informative and well-written book that does an excellent job of explaining, in language accessible to students and researchers alike, the cost of elections, gender imbalance in political office and the effects of financial incentive mechanisms to increase women’s representation in politics.

Table of Contents:
List of Figures List of Tables List of Contributors Acknowledgments Foreword: Understanding the Interplay Between Gender Equality and Electoral Financing Magnus Ohman 1 Introduction: Introducing the Concept of Gendered Electoral Financing Ragnhild Louise Muriaas, Vibeke Wang, and Rainbow Murray PART I Party-Directed Gendered Electoral Financing 2 France: Parity Sanctions and Campaign Financing in France: Increased Numbers, Little Concrete Gender Transformation Catherine Achin, Sandrine Lévêque, Anja Durovic, Eléonore Lépinard, and Amy G. Mazur 3 Ireland: Gendering Candidate Selection in Ireland: Incentivizing Parties Through State Funding Fiona Buckley and Rachel Gregory 4 Cabo Verde: Legislated Candidate Quotas With Reward for Compliance in Cabo Verde: Victory for No One? Aleida C. Borges, Ragnhild Louise Muriaas, and Vibeke Wang PART II Candidate-Directed Gendered Electoral Financing 5 For Us by Us: Women’s Training Organizations in the American Political Process Matthew K. Gichohi 6 Malawi: Relieving Women’s Costs of Standing for Election: Malawi’s 50:50 Campaigns Vibeke Wang, Happy M. Kayuni, Asiyati Chiweza, and Samantha Soyiyo 7 Ghana: "Some Money Has to Be Going . . .": Discounted Filing Fees to Bring More Women Into Parliament in Ghana Gretchen Bauer and Akosua K. Darkwah 8 Conclusion: Does Money Talk? An Initial Comparative Analysis Ragnhild Louise Muriaas and Amy G. Mazur Index

About the Author :
Ragnhild L. Muriaas is Professor in Comparative Politics at the University of Bergen, Norway. Her key research interest is explaining variation in the inclusionary aspects of regimes. She has led international research projects and published extensively on topics related to representation, political decentralization, traditional authorities and gender equality in Cabo Verde, Malawi, Uganda, South Africa and Zambia. Her works appears in Comparative Political Studies, Democratization, International Political Science Review and Political Studies. Vibeke Wang is a Senior Researcher at Chr. Michelsen Institute and a coordinator of rights and gender research at the institute. Wang’s research concerns questions of politics and gender with a focus on political representation and recruitment, law reform and policy outcomes in the Global South. She has extensive field research experience and has published widely, including in journals such as Comparative Political Studies, Politics & Gender, Political Studies, among others. Rainbow Murray is Professor of Politics at Queen Mary University of London and a visiting research fellow at CEVIPOF (Sciences Po, Paris). Her primary research interests lie in political representation, gender and politics, candidate selection, French and comparative politics, political parties, parliaments and elections. She has published widely in books and journals including the American Political Science Review, Politics & Gender, Political Research Quarterly and the European Journal of Political Research.

Review :
"This book fills a gap. Financial incentives to empower women in politics is a new trend in tandem with or as an alternative to gender quotas. Gendered Electoral Financing tells us when and how this new strategy is successful."—Drude Dahlerup, Professor, Stockholm University