Political participation of women in Central and Eastern Europe: comparative analysis

Abstract

The paper describes the process of transformation of political participation of women under the influence of various factors in the form of the comparative analysis. The aim of the study is to identify and systematize the factors influencing the level of political participation of women in developing economies. The relevance of the topic is determined by the necessity to include women as active participants in the political process of the countries of developing economies, and the creation of mechanisms that promote the growth of the role of women in authorities as a valid condition of representative democracy. The research methodology is based on the theoretical approaches to the analysis of political representation and women’s participation in authorities, and also on the concept according to which the state of political participation of women is determined by a complex of socio-economic, cultural and political factors. The western researchers find that socioeconomic factors (women’s employment, women’s educational level, the level of the state economic development, the strength of women’s movement), cultural factors (dominant religion, ratification of CEDAW, abortion rights) and the political factors (electoral system, left party government, degree of democracy) play a role in the accounting for the variation in the degree of gender inequality in the political representation around the world. The empirical basis of work is made by the wide circle of statistical materials. While working with it the author used the elements of the statistical analysis, and computer methods of data processing (in a standard package SPSS). Statistical analysis of the trends of women’s political participation in Slovakia, Poland, Ukraine and Russia has shown that the level of social-economic development, the relevant cultural environment and institutional factors are important mechanisms, determining the level of political participation of women in transition countries.