ARE WOMEN WANTED IN POLITICS AT ALL? WOMEN AND POLITICS IN HUNGARY(RESEARCH IDEAS) that being a woman did not necessarily harm the chances of candidates running in individual constituencies, and could in fact improve them. 21 Analyses of individual(especially visible, highly influential) female politicians form a separate category. One example from the past decade is Judit Varga, who was the Minister of Justice between 2019 and 2023. When she entered the government, opposition-affiliated analysts used her to illustrate the claim that the presence of women in prominent political roles does not necessarily mean a change in social policy, in terms of the social position of women. 22 Katalin Novák, who previously held high positions in the government in the field of family policy, and was sworn in as President of the Republic in 2022, is also spoken of in a similar manner by the opposition, though analysts close to the government paint a completely different picture of her; an example of the latter can be found in the publications of the Nézőpont Institute, which evaluate Katalin Novák’s mandate as President of the Republic. 23 1.3. INTERNATIONAL RANKINGS/ INDICES When discussing the social position of women and men(relative to each other), it is common to refer to international rankings and indices created specifically in order to raise awareness. Hungary usually performs very poorly in these, especially in terms of the division of political power. As regards these indices, the first concern that may arise is whether they really measure what they should, as well as the extent to which data forced into uniform categories for the sake of comparability really provides an accurate picture of the situation.(In addition, it is not always entirely clear what data the indices are based on.) The European Institute for Gender Equality(EIGE), operated by the EU, has been publishing a“Gender Equality Index” for Member States of the European Union since 2013; in the 2023 report, Hungary scored only 26.2% in the“power” category. 24 This result is made up of several elements, essentially a range of indicators of economic, social and political power. The index determines the degree of women’s share of political power based on the following: the proportion of women in the government(at the ministerial level), the proportion of female representatives in the national Parliament, and the proportion of female representatives in regional legislative bodies. Concerning the latter, in countries – such as Hungary – where no such regional elected assemblies exist, the figures for“politics at the local level” are used as a basis for comparison. It is not clear what kind of ambit EIGE interprets this as covering in the case of Hungary, only that the proportion of women in this circle is 15%(which is very low compared to the – equally unclearly delineated – EU average). The other frequently referenced international ranking, the Global Gender Gap Index, is issued by the World Economic Forum, a lobby organization: this(given its economic focus) focuses primarily on the role of women in the labour market, but also takes into account the prevailing gender ratios in the field of“political representation”, particularly in relation to the following: the proportion of women ministers, the proportion of women members of parliament, and the gender of the head of state. According to the 2023 report, 25 Hungary is ranked 99 th out of the 146 countries based on its overall index(in 2022, Hungary was ranked as low as 114 th , but in 2023 it probably moved up due to the inauguration of a female head of state). To better illustrate the question around the accuracy of the data that forms the basis of the comparison, as well as the problem of comparability itself, here are two figures from this report regarding when women won the right to vote. The year given for Hungary is 1919.(This is not quite correct: legislation did indeed pass in that year giving women the right to vote, but not under conditions of universal suffrage, nor on the same terms as men). Meanwhile, in the case of Armenia the report indicates 1991 as the year women were first given the vote. This is of course the year when independent Armenian statehood was first established after the dissolution of the Soviet Union, though Armenian women had actually been granted the vote(in a context of universal suffrage) as early as 1919, before the Soviet era even began. 9