Internationale Politikanalyse International Policy Analysis Unit European Politics Eurokolleg 49 Gesine Fuchs& Beate Hoecker Without Women merely a Half-Democracy The Political Participation of Women in the East European Accession States April 2004

The Series Eurokolleg addresses important aspects of the process of European unification. The aim is to illuminate the problems and policy options of complex European issues. This editon contains the translation of“Ohne Frauen nur eine halbe Demokratie – Politische Partizipation von Frauen in den osteuropäischen Beitrittsstaaten” (Reihe Eurokolleg 49, 2004). It draws on an international workshop on the political situation of women in the accession countries organised by the Friedrich Ebert Foundation in September 2003 in Berlin. Its contents are fundamentally based on the findings of the authors – both women – while working on their“Handbuch politische Partizipation in Europa II: Die Beitrittsstaaten”(Handbook of Political Participation in Europe II: the Accession States). The Authors: Dr. Gesine Fuchs is assistant lecturer at the Institut für Politische Wissenschaft(Institute of Political Science), University of Hanover, and teaches gender equality both at the University of Basel and the canton BaselLandschaft. PD* Dr. Beate Hoecker is substitute professor for political science at the Universität der Bundeswehr (Armed Forces University) in Munich. Editing: Anne Seyfferth,(German edition), Sarah Eberle (English edition) Department for International Dialogue, Friedrich-Ebert-Foundation Translation: Madhulika Reddy. The English version of this edition of Eurokolleg has been translated and published by the India office of the Friedrich-EbertStiftung. ________________________________________________ * Lecturer at German universities eligible for professorship ISBN: 81-7440-057-5 Friedrich-Ebert-Stiftung K-70 B, Hauz Khas Enclave New Delhi- 110016 Internet: www.fes.de/indexipa.html E-mail: info@fesindia.org

Gesine Fuchs& Beate Hoecker Without Women merely a Half-Democracy The Political Participation of Women in the East European Accession States Introduction and Problem Delineation Alongside the institutionalisation of the rule of law and democratic procedures, a balanced political participation and representation in a society constitutes a fundamental prerequisite for a vibrant democracy. Therefore, the fact that women’s participation in the political decision-making and opinion formation processes is only marginal, or at best mediocre, is a core problem for the theory and practice of democracy. However, an enhanced or even equal representation of women in political decision-making bodies does not automatically mean that gender equality has been achieved. For this, the issue must enter the mainstream of political discussion and become an indispensable standard for every political decision. The problem exists both in the older member states of the European Union as well as in the 10 new states that will accede to the Union in 2004: thus, the average representation of women in the present EU-15 states is 23%, while the corresponding figure in the European Parliament is 31%. These figures have hardly risen since the nineties. The political participation of women in the accession states is lower than in the EU-15 states, this being true both for the respective parliaments(16%) as well as governments(13%). Among the observers from the new member states in the European Parliament, women constitute a 15% minority. The political culture and mentality in these countries is not exactly conducive to the political participation of women. Besides, only a small section of the political elites of the accession countries perceive equality for women as a political responsibility. For the majority of them, gender constitutes a biological and not a social category. In 1995, with Sweden, Finland and Austria – all countries with a tradition of gender equality policies – acceding to the EU, women’s participation and the gender equality policy received a push(larger number of women commissioners, establishment of the Task Force of the Commission for Equal Opportunities etc.). Hence in an inversion of the same argument it may be feared that the accession of the 10 new states will induce a setback in the political participation and representation of women, and in the policy of gender equality. In its Copenhagen Criteria, the European Union set down the basic prerequisites for future accessions. Apart from stable institutions and a functioning market economy, new accession states are also required to commit themselves to compliance with the targets set down by the EU and to adopt common rules, standards and policies that make up the body of EU law. An integral component of this body of law(acquis communautaire) is equality between men and women and its active promotion, to which the EU had committed itself in the Treaty of Amsterdam of 1997. With this, the accession countries must on the one hand adopt and implement the directives on gender equality passed by the Council of the European Union, while at the same time build up institutional and administrative structures enabling the actual application and implementation of the principle of equal rights. In theory there is to be no accession without equality of opportunity. However in practice there have been and still are considerable problems in adopting and implementing the body of common EU law. If this was complicated enough in other policy areas, in matters pertaining to gender equality, resistance has to an extent been truly stubborn. Could one expect the new members to adopt the"gender acquis" when this is often realised only fragmentarily or to a merely modest degree even in the 15 older member states of the EU? And what can we hope for from the accession with regard to the political representation of women? Unlike in the area of employment, the European Union has so far refrained from adopting strong policies and directives in this area, confining itself instead to non-binding recommendations and resolutions. In the following, the factors influencing the political participation of women are outlined and the situation in the Central and Eastern European accession states is presented. The latter constitute the majority of the accession countries, and are distinguished by their common history of the so-called real socialism. In addition, reference is also made to Bulgaria and Romania, which will be acceding only in a subsequent round of enlargement.

Gesine Fuchs& Beate Hoecker Without Women merely a Half-Democracy European Politics | Eurokolleg (04/2004) 2 What are the reasons for these developments? What argument goes – is a necessary, though not sufficient, political possibilities and scenarios exist for a balanced prerequisite for women-friendly policies. On the one representation of men and women in politics? hand, emancipative arguments refer to overcoming patriarchal power structures, while on the other point to Political Participation of Women: Modes of the fact that the increased participation of women would Argumentation and Factors of Explanation improve the quality of democratic decisions, enable a better balance between participation and representation, There are various arguments as to why it is important as well as establish better links with the"grassroots". and indispensable for women to influence political Generally, current definitions understand"political decisions. In political practice there is seldom a single participation" as all actions undertaken by citizens, both argument that is advanced; rather, one encounters a male and female, either individually or in groups, to mixed array of arguments. influence political decisions at all levels of the political Arguments invoking justice point to the fact that system, or to make such decisions themselves. Today democracy also includes the right and consequently the one distinguishes between" formal(or opportunity for all groups in a society to participate in institutionalised) participation" such as participation relevant decisions. Equality in political participation, in elections or activities in parties and parliaments, and they maintain, is an important criterion for assessing " informal participation", such as involvement in social democracies, and in doing so, the systematic undermovements or participation in political protests. The representation of certain groups is considered a problem. following remarks refer to the formal aspect of political Besides there is no argument to support male participation, that is, participation in parties, domination in elected assemblies. The argument parliaments and governments. However, it is important revolving around women’s interests suggests that the to bear in mind that informal participation in social interests of women in male-dominated bodies are being movements and in civil society is essential for formal suppressed, obscured and marginalised. Irrespective of participation, for it sets issues on the political agenda, whether one could speak of"objective women’s legitimises the presence of women in politics and can interests" or whether these interests evolve in a concrete exert political pressure for increasing the representation process, the presence of women in political bodies – the of women in political institutions. Table 1: Arguments in favour of the political participation of women Argument Possible political strategies Equality and justice Women’s interests Emancipation and change in the political process Women and men have equal rights to participate in political decisions and to influence them. It is unfair for one sex to monopolise the other. Since women have interests that differ from those of men, they must be involved in the political decisionmaking process to improve its quality. Since the patriarchal society produces a stark imbalance of power between men and women, these structures must be overcome through political actions to promote the development of a selfdetermined society. - positive measures for promoting women - quotas for seats and candidate lists - creating awareness also with men, changing pre- set gender roles - gender mainstreaming - building a women's organisation and working in it - double strategy: engagement in movements and organisations against patriarchal patterns generates political pressure and is backed by parliamentary activity

Internationale Politikanalyse International Policy Analysis Unit Figure 1: The magic triangle explaining the political participation of women Socio-economic Factors Education, gainful employment, civil marital status etc. Institutional Factors System of government, party system, electoral system and career patterns, nomination practices Female political actors Political Culture Values, views, norms on politics and political behaviour, gender stereotypes Source: Compiled by the authors after Hoecker, Beate(ed.), Handbuch politische Partizipation von Frauen in Europa, Opladen: Leske& Budrich 1998. From the early 1970's until present feminist political The assumption that countries with more scientists have criticised individualist approaches traditional values typically have low female explaining the under-representation of women as being representation in their parliaments while on the other inadequate. Mainly they use a"magic triangle"(Fig. 1) to hand countries with a more egalitarian culture show a identify systematic linkages and factors that determine relatively high level of female representation is now political behaviour. They argue that socio-economic largely confirmed by statistical evidence(see Table 2). structure, political culture and institutions are three The Nordic countries in particular are characterised by interlinked factors that determine political participation. an egalitarian political culture that has paved the The actual line of action undertaken by female political way for women’s entry into politics as well as into actors will be influenced by these factors. Conversely, influential decision-making positions. Only in the women politicians can, for a start, work to improve these Scandinavian countries, with the exception of Norway, conditions in order to enhance their representation and full civil rights were granted to both men and women achieve their goals. at the same time. Consequently, from the very beginning democratic politics in these countries could not develop into a purely male domain. Moreover, the Political Culture influence of the Catholic Church, which is generally hostile towards emancipation, is nearly absent in The political culture of a country represents a core factor these countries since the Nordic countries are that influences the political participation of women. As predominantly influenced by Protestantism. This is the"subjective dimension of politics" political culture also true of the party landscape: women are far better encompasses the entire body of politically relevant represented, both as members and deputies, in the left, opinions, attitudes and values of the members of a liberal and social democratic parties than in the right nation, which are moulded and passed on in the course wing and christian democratic parties, which have of political socialisation. Embedded therein are social conservative gender roles also embedded in their policy orientations towards the political role of women and – programme. linked thereto – views on women’s participation in Whereas the political culture in the Netherlands as politics. well as in Germany is increasingly egalitarian in 3

Gesine Fuchs& Beate Hoecker Without Women merely a Half-Democracy European Politics | Eurokolleg (04/2004) 4 character, the remaining EU Member States reveal a Table 2: Representation of women in the national political culture that continues to be rather patriarchal. parliaments of the EU-I5 Especially Portugal(franchise for women: 1974), Greece (1952) and Belgium(1948) stand out with their traditional attitudes towards women in politics. Country (Election Year) Total number of parliamenNumber Percentage of women of Women among MPs tarians them Socio-Structural Factors Sweden(2002) 349 157 45,0 Other important factors influencing political participation are individual prerequisites from the sociostructural realm, particularly education and The"socioeconomic standard model" for political participation valid until today states a positive correlation between individual resource endowment and political participation. In other words: the higher the level of education, the more skilled the profession and the higher the income, the greater the chances of political involvement. European surveys have shown that with an increasing level of education, the"gender gap" in interest in institutionalised politics decreases significantly. At the same time, subjective political competence is enhanced. Furthermore, employed women and men show a greater interest in political participation. Similarly, the representation of women in parliament is positively linked to the extent of gainful employment among women. The Nordic countries show a generally high level of employment among women, whereas countries with a medium or low level of representation of women in parliament are characterised by a medium or low level of female employment. However, even with an equal level of education and employment, women tend to show lower levels of political interest and subjective competence. Denmark(2001) 179 68 38,0 Finland(2003) 200 75 37,5 Netherlands (2003) 150 55 36,7 Belgium(1999) 150 53 35,3 Germany(2002) 603 194 32,3 Spain(2000) 350 99 28,3 Austria(1999) 150 38 27,9 Portugal(2002) 230 44 19,1 Great Britain (2001) 659 118 17,9 Luxemburg(1999) 60 10 16,7 Ireland(2002) 166 22 13,3 France(2002) 577 70 12,1 Italy(2001) 630 62 9,8 Greece(2000) 300 26 8,7 EU-15 4753 1091 23 European Parliament 626 194 31 Source: Compiled on the basis of data provided by the InterParliamentary Union Institutional Factors Finally, institutional conditions also play an important role. This for one has to do with the party system (two- or multi-party system) and particularly with patterns of political recruitment and career advancement as well as with the electoral system. Thus, numerous studies have since demonstrated that systems of proportional representation foster the candidature and electoral prospects of women, whereas majoritarian electoral systems on the other hand, are less favourable. The above ranking of parliamentary representation of women in the EU-15 again confirms this result: the three countries in which the national parliaments are elected on the basis of majoritarian systems of voting, namely Great Britain, Ireland and France, rank among the countries with the lowest proportion of women. Lesser chances of women being nominated in the case of majoritarian electoral systems are generally attributed to a strong candidate-centred orientation of the system. Contrary to the list system, the electorate in majoritarian voting has to decide directly on one candidate, male or female, from the constituency concerned and unfortunately doubts

Internationale Politikanalyse International Policy Analysis Unit about the political competences of women still exist. In addition, the severe intra-party rivalry for safe constituencies reduces the chances of women for being nominated as candidates in the first place. Nevertheless, without the political will backing it, even a system of proportional representation does not guarantee a strong presence of women in parliament. To be sure, systems of proportional representation provide the advantage of a quota system guaranteeing a certain number of nominations on party lists for women, but these quotas have to fix a relevant proportion of the seats, have to furthermore be binding and explicitly reserve promising places on the party list for women. Unfortunately, these conditions are far from always being fulfilled by European parties; insofar even this form of positive discrimination does not automatically result in a higher proportion of women in parliament. France’s experience with its Parité Law is thought-provoking. This law obliges the parties to nominate as many women as men for single-member constituencies. Yet the proportion of female candidates in the last elections only reached about one fourth: the parties preferred to pay the penalties set down in the law rather than to nominate a sufficient number of women. On the other hand, countries such as Finland and Denmark demonstrate that the renunciation of quotas does not necessarily result in marginal female representation. Thus, extreme differences in the level of political participation and representation of women may be attributed to the distinctively national mix of cultural, institutional and socio-structural factors influencing the process. Nevertheless, in comparative analysis, political culture turns out to be the most important predictor of participatory opportunities for women. A look at the accession states duly confirms this. This insight offers an important starting point for pursuing a successful policy of gender equality both at the national and European levels, namely by contributing to a change in attitudes among both women and men, which implies greater receptiveness towards social justice and political equality. Even though the relevance of equal political participation of women for democracy has been recognized as being of essential importance, only half-hearted and mainly symbolic policies attempting to promote the participation of women have been accomplished so far. The Development of Women’s Participation in Central and Eastern Europe after the regime change In the course of the regime transformation, when parliaments and governments in Eastern Europe gained real decision-making powers and the old power centres in the communist parties disintegrated, the relatively high representation of women in these bodies was no longer guaranteed by reserved quotas and unified lists of candidates. The wave of free elections at the beginning of the nineties brought a distinct decline in women’s participation in elected political bodies. Since the mid-nineties however, the proportion of women in the legislative bodies is on the increase again, though their proportion has remained static at around 10% in some countries such as Hungary or Romania(cf. Fig. 2). Still, politics in this region is often regarded as a dirty, corrupt and therefore useless business that is unsuitable for women. To a certain extent this may be attributed to the political culture characterised by the traditional antagonism of"state vs. society" that prevailed during the period of real socialism, namely the division into state and society, WE and THEY. Partially, this impression is owed to the dynamic political circumstances in the course of the transformation. Parties Party systems in Central and Eastern Europe are still in a state of flux and heavily fragmented. Party identification and membership numbers are generally low. Party politics appears to attract only a few. Data on party membership in Table 3: Women in political parties in Central and Eastern Europe Country Czech Republic Estonia Slovakia Slovenia Proportion of women in political parties 25 – 50% 29 – 57% 25 – 26% 18 – 33% Source: Country reports in Hoecker/Fuchs, forthcoming 5

Gesine Fuchs& Beate Hoecker Without Women merely a Half-Democracy European Politics | Eurokolleg (04/2004) 6 the region is scattered and incomplete. However, where fulfilling the low quota, but never extending the data is available, the proportion of women participating proportion of women beyond that. varies between one-fourth and one-third(cf. Table 3). In some Eastern European states, women's parties In some countries such as Slovakia and the Czech Republic, have been established. This is primarily true of the christian democratic parties report 50% women among succession states of the Soviet Union("Women of their members. In general, liberal, left-wing and postRussia" is perhaps the best-known and most successful communist parties are more attractive to women than party with a traditional, non-feminist agenda). right-wing or nationalist parties. Structural factors such as the presidential system and Compared to their share of membership, women are the personalised electoral system encouraged women to under-represented in top party positions or party establish a new channel of influence in the form of executives. We can observe the typical funnel effect: their own party. In Lithuania, the first Prime Minister the higher the position, the lower the proportion of Kazimiera Prunskiene founded a women’s party after women represented. Where stable party structures are she was stripped of influence by her former colleagues still lacking, there are for the most part no formalised, from the opposition; however she only succeeded in transparent nomination procedures for candidate lists. winning a direct mandate. In Bulgaria, Czar Simenon Women’s quotas for electoral lists only exist in some Sakskoburgotski entered into an alliance with the antileft-wing parties in Lithuania, Poland, Slovakia and establishment Party of Bulgarian Women in order to Slovenia as well as for party posts in the Czech quickly build up a nation-wide structure of well-known Republic and Hungary. They were to an extent male and female candidates in 2001. In Poland, the introduced under pressure from the Socialist coalition"Women against the Difficulties of Life" International, yet constitute for the most part only a temporarily won a parliamentary seat. In Hungary, the low proportion(for instance 25%). In addition, it is women’s party with its vague party manifesto and not determined in advance as to where female without any clearly defined target group is but a candidates are to be placed on the list. Furthermore, marginal phenomenon. The more the political parties Czech women from the Social Democratic Party report are open to women and the more they provide that women predominantly only stand against one opportunities to women for political involvement, the another while competing for party posts, thereby lower the need – so it seems – for a women's party. Figure 2: Women in the parliaments of the Czech Republic, Hungary and Poland since 1989 (in percentage) 30 28 25 21 20 20 15 15 15 13 11 10 14 11 10 9.5 13 8.5 5 7 20 17 9 0 before 1989 1990 1991 1989 1992 1993 1994 1995 1996 1997 1998 1999 2000 2001 2002 Poland Czech Republic Hungary

Internationale Politikanalyse International Policy Analysis Unit Parliaments On average, the percentage of women in the national parliaments of the new Eastern European Member States as well as Romania and Bulgaria currently stands at 16% - higher than in the new Southern Member States, Malta and Cyprus, but lower than the average of 23% in the 15 older EU-states. All the same, these figures are relative: Bulgaria has as many women MPs as Austria, Estonia as many as Great Britain and Hungary as many as Italy. Where relevant data is available it can be seen that women parliamentarians tend more towards social or, so to say,"soft" commissions, or rather that they are pushed into these commissions, whereas committees for economic affairs or those dealing with basic state functions are dominated by men. Generally, there is an over-representation of women parliamentarians in the left or post-communist parties, but there also is a noteworthy percentage of women represented in populist or christian-fundamentalist parties – the League of Polish Families with women making up one-fourth of the party’s total number of parliamentarians being a case in point. A change of government can open up possibilities for women. As mentioned earlier, the Bulgarian Czar Simeon Sakskoburgotski co-opted the "Party of the Bulgarian Women" into his own movement "Simeon II" in order to win the elections. It however remains to be seen whether Bulgarian women politicians will succeed in seizing this opportunity to secure real and effective power. In the case of the regional parliaments and municipal councils(cf. Table 4) no discernable pattern has emerged in the region yet. But we can certainly observe the well-known funnel effect: the larger the community or town, the less likely it is that a woman will be elected mayor. Often it is the smaller rural communities that show a marginal proportion of women in their legislatures, while in the larger, more progressive cities, women sometimes achieve "Scandinavian" proportions of the seats. Governments If we compare the situation of women in the national governments with that in the parliaments of Eastern Europe, then certain contradictions come to light (cf. Table 5). On the whole, the participation of women in governments is somewhat lower than in the parliaments. Nevertheless, there are some countries with a strong minority of women parliamentarians – Figure 3: Percentage of women in the parliaments of the accession states 30 26,2 25 23 21 20,6 20,2 20 19,3 18,8 17 15,9 15 12,2 10,7 10,7 10,6 9,8 10 7,7 5 0 Bulg aria EU-15 Latvia EU-25 Poland Slovakia C Estonia zech Repub lic Ne w Ea E s u tern ro Slov pe enia Cyprus Rom ania Lithua nia Hungary Malta 7

Gesine Fuchs& Beate Hoecker Without Women merely a Half-Democracy European Politics | Eurokolleg (04/2004) 8 such as Slovakia and Estonia – where no or just one object of severe criticism from women academics in the ministerial post is occupied by a woman. At the other individual countries, yet it must also be brought to mind end of the spectrum is Bulgaria with a relatively strong that stereotyping in the EU-15 is far stronger and that it representation: one-fifth of all ministerial posts in this is very seldom that women there secure prestigious country are occupied by women. Is there no systematic ministerial posts. connection between parliamentary and government elites? One could hypothesize that the nomination of women as ministers serves as a good instrument of Explanatory Approaches under Scrutiny "symbolic politics"("we are doing something"). Without any political crisis looming ahead and without any political pressure worth mentioning from below, there is no need to appoint women to government – equal share of political power for women can remain a mere lip service. This could perhaps also explain the On the whole, the political role of women in the new Member States is only marginal and far away from a state of balanced representation. To what extent do the factors mentioned in the"magic triangle" introduced earlier account for this situation? strange decline in the percentage of female ministers by 20% since the beginning of 2003. Political Culture A good 50% of female ministers head "typically feminine" departments such as social affairs, health or culture. The other 50%, however, occupy posts like that of Foreign Minister, Minister for European Integration, Finance or Law. It indeed appears that gender competence stereotypes do not have as much of an impact when a woman is to be appointed minister as in parliament when women are nominated to committees. The representation of women in the Eastern European countries may be ever so meagre and the The political culture in Central and Eastern Europe is often described as being predominantly paternalistic and elitist, this posing a tremendous obstacle to the political participation of women. Traditional gender roles are very much accepted in the region, but they also coexist with the image of the working woman. Socialism did not effect a change in gender roles but instead added the female socialist worker to the image of the traditional mother. Male roles in turn remained untouched or were strengthened by the image of the strong socialist industrial worker. All this converged into the reality of the‘Super-Woman and the Double Table 4: Proportion of women in regional politics Burden’(as the title of a book published in 1992 goes). Today, traditional gender roles are for the most part reCountry Bulgaria Regional parliaments 23% conjured by the media and by popular culture. Strong religious ties, particularly with the Catholic Church, have a negative influence on women being accepted in Estonia Latvia 28,3% 63% political roles. What is more, a liberal-individualistic discourse impedes the discussion on the structural disadvantages faced by women. Lithuania 21,8% But on the other hand, traditions, values, and Poland 14,4% opinions are also always contended, they can contradict each other and extremely divergent norms can exist side Romania 5% by side in a society. In cases where extremely Slovakia Slovenia n. a.(4,4% women mayors, 17,5% female village heads) 11,8% conservative values prevail, ways and means to confront them politically could occur. The egalitarian traditions widely prevalent in the region could contribute to this end. In large parts of society, social equality is a Czech Republic Hungary 13,9% n. a.(5,8% women mayors, 12,8% female village heads) recognised value. Moreover, with the exception of Bulgaria, in all the countries with an above-average representation of women in parliament, the right to vote was granted to men and women at the same time after Source: Country reports in Hoecker/Fuchs, forthcoming World War I in the course of national independence.

Internationale Politikanalyse International Policy Analysis Unit Table 5: Women in the national governments of the accession states, November 2003 Country Estonia Lithuania Romania Hungary Slovenia Latvia Bulgaria Proportion of women represented in the government 7,1%(1 out of 14) 21,4%(3 out of 14) 9,1%(2 out of 22) 11,1%(2 out of 18) 17,7%(3 out of 17) 16,7%(3 out of 18) 23,8%(5 out of 21) Czech Republic Poland 11,8%(2 out of 17) 12,5%(2 out of 16) Slovakia Total Eastern Europe 0%(0 out of 16) 13,3% (23 out of 173) Turkey Cyprus Malta Total(combined) 4%(1 out of 25) 8,3%(1 out of 12) 7,7%(1 out of 13) 11,7% (26 out of 223) Department Social Affairs Finance, Social Affairs, Culture Law, Labour Home Affairs, Gender Equality Culture, Regional Development, Economic Affairs Foreign Affairs, Culture, Social Affairs European Integration, Social Affairs, Environment, Economic Affairs, without portfolio Education, Health Education, European Integration -One half traditional, the other half spanning the entire spectrum Without portfolio Health For the island of Gozo There are … women than in parliament a lot less more somewhat more somewhat more more somewhat less somewhat less less less a lot less less as many somewhat less as many less This, again, points to the importance of historical periods of training and early retirement, so that traditions. employment levels in the meantime have dropped below the average for the EU-15. The gender gap in employment and unemployment is Socio-Economic Factors generally less pronounced than with the EU-15 since the activity rate for men in the new Member States is below Women in the post-communist countries have profited average(cf. Table 6). On the whole, as regards the immensely from the expansion in education in the post"socio-economic standard model", this provides good war period, and this even earlier than their counterparts preconditions for the political participation and in Western Europe. Since the 1960s, young women are representation of women. But on the other hand, the equally or even better qualified than men. Further, what employment structure in these countries is highly genderwas typical of the real socialist countries was the high segregated, with women clearly dominating in the badly rate of employment. This rate, however, fell for both paid professions with low prestige in the health, men and women in the course of the far-reaching education and social welfare sectors. Income differences economic transformation, for instance due to longer between women and men are far higher in Central and 9

Gesine Fuchs& Beate Hoecker Without Women merely a Half-Democracy 10 Table 6: Activity rates and unemployment rates among women and men in the accession states (in percent)* European Politics | Eurokolleg (04/2004) Country Bulgaria Estonia Latvia Lithuania Poland Romania Slovakia Slovenia Czech Republic Hungary The New Ten** EU-15 EU-25 Activity rate Women Men 57,5 66,4 64,4 74,6 63,9 74,1 65,8 62,7 58,7 70,6 56,6 70,4 63,2 76,7 63,0 72,5 62,8 78,7 52,9 67,7 59,5 72,3 60,9 78,4 60,7 77,4 Unemployment rate Women Men 17,4 18,7 8,4 9,8 11,8 13,7 13,0 13,3 20,9 19,1 6,6 7,3 18,8 18,4 6,4 5,7 9,0 5,9 5,1 6,0 15,6 14,2 8,7 6,9 9,9 8,0 * For women and men between 15 and 64 years. Source: Commission of the European Communities: Employment in Europe 2003, Luxembourg 2003. ** Without Bulgaria and Romania, but including Malta and Cyprus Eastern Europe than in the West. Women here more often lack professional resources they can mobilise as well as important networks that come along with top professional management posts. Yet, where women succeed in reaching the top professional levels, they can make the transition to top political positions through the practical recruitment policies of political parties. This has been demonstrated in the case of Bulgaria. On the whole the point to be noted is: although women in the region are well-educated, they are at a disadvantage due to other socio-economic factors. Institutional Factors The region has witnessed the development of multi-party systems with systems of proportional representation. Comparative analyses from the 80s and 90s have shown that the system of proportional representation supports the representation of women. In elections under the system of proportional representation, it is more the party that is elected rather than the person, therefore the parties have an interest in presenting a balanced ballot that draws votes from various sections of society. It is more for this reason that women are nominated. However, a fair and transparent process of nomination is only possible where party structures are stable. The usual party practice is to assign the top positions on the ballot predominantly to men, even if women constitute a relatively high proportion of the members. Women, if at all nominated, often find themselves relegated to less secure positions towards the bottom of the list. In some countries it is possible to cast a preferential vote, that is to say, voters can vote for a certain person on the list. This way, voters can make a more specific choice. This practice of preferential votes has varying consequences for women: while women in Latvia, for instance, are"pushed down" the list, they are often"moved up" in Poland and their chances of being elected are greater than those of their male colleagues. Recent research comparing the effects of the varying electoral systems – majoritarian and proportional representation – in the countries of Eastern Europe (Hungary, Ukraine, Russia) shows that women need not necessarily fare worse than men in majoritarian voting where the personality component plays a dominant role.

Internationale Politikanalyse International Policy Analysis Unit This constitutes an important argument in favour of women’s organisations and progressive party members, preferential votes. Thus, it is not left to the parties to this task cannot be achieved. Parties can make an decide through their nomination procedure – however active contribution essentially in a second area relating transparent and formal it may be – which of the to institutional factors: apart from mobilising and candidates has realistic chances of being voted in. supporting women politicians, they can contribute to Rather it is left to the electorate to decide. Fixed quotas an increased involvement and election of women by may provide a solution, but they have only been binding quotas. Likewise, statutory regulations for adopted in a few left or social democratic parties as designing lists and nominating a certain percentage of watered-down versions. Apparently, in the other women are also useful mechanisms. Negotiations for political camps they still stand discredited, with acceptance into the European Union illustrate quite references being made to experiences with quotas in real well the struggle of the implementation of institutional socialism. rules that pertain to gender equality policy. On the Besides the electoral system, political recruitment whole, the adoption of the"gender acquis" is expected and career patterns constitute another important to improve the socio-economic position of women, institutional factor. Such patterns also discriminate strengthen their social and political engagement and against women in the Eastern European accession states formulate political measures for both women and and favour men. Thus, availability is an important men in a way that ensures greater gender equality prerequisite for full-time political activity. But women (cf. Fig. 4). are not always available, for they have a double burden The following sections are devoted to the experience to bear and must show their party colleagues and the gained so far with these avenues of action. In view of general public that their children- or their husbands’ the forthcoming elections to the European Parliament, laundry for that matter- do not suffer neglect on they will also highlight possible prospects. account of their political engagement. Informal male networks have considerable power and are exclusive. A blatant form of sexism can be observed in political conflict which often seeks to The Accession Process and the Gender Equality Policy of the European Union damage personal integrity. In this connection, further studies on the divergent career paths of male and female politicians in the states undergoing transformation are desirable. To date there are no legal instruments that make a balanced political representation of women and men mandatory within the EU and its Member States. For this reason, the accession will not have a direct impact on the political participation of women. Scope for Political Action to Increase the The situation, however, is different in the case of Political Participation of Women the gender equality policy, which rests on three pillars and is of a binding nature primarily in the area of At all levels of the magic triangle there are avenues for action open to political actors, both male and female, that are aimed at increasing women’s participation in politics. In this process, short and long-term measures are combined to advantage. Without doubt, the task that is widest in scope and most long-term in its intent is contributing to a change of attitude to encourage potential female political actors, thereby positively influencing political culture. Measures to break down stereotypes in the media, campaigns to create gender sensitivity and focused political education are among the courses of action needed to achieve this end. gainful employment(cf. Fig. 5). Today 10 directives form part of this policy in the area of the so-called secondary law: the directive against discrimination, access to employment and to social security, maternity protection and parental leave, whereas the European Court of Justice has first and foremost addressed the issues of equal pay and indirect discrimination in concrete terms. At present a draft for a new directive is being discussed, which is to ban discrimination in the access to services. Relevant here are, among others, insurance services. The second pillar is constituted by various action programmes such as the framework programmes for equal opportunities or the programme for combatting violence against women, Daphne. However, without social pressure and the Finally, the third pillar consists of gender promotion of these new values from civil society, by mainstreaming, which the Commission in 1996 declared 11

Gesine Fuchs& Beate Hoecker Without Women merely a Half-Democracy 12 Figure 4: Measures for enhancing the political participation of women European Politics | Eurokolleg (04/2004) Socio-economic Factors A policy of gender equality for women’s empowerment: education and training; social security; independent and secure livelihood; combating violence against women; better reconciliation between politics, professional life and family(also within parties). Institutional Factors Quotas in parties for lists and posts; electoral system of proportional representation; parity regulations for electoral lists and posts in parliaments and ministries. More women in politics! Political Culture/Change of Attitude Parties: active support to female members; civil society: coalitions for the election of women politicians; training of female politicians; better media presence; improved political education for all without gender stereotypes; reduction of prejudices of both women and men. to be a binding obligation across the entire range of its policies. Gender mainstreaming is the systematic integration of gender-related issues(priorities, needs, impacts) in all policy areas and government institutions in order to support equality between men and women. The concept is demanding and requires several preconditions. Its implementation in the individual countries and its integration into the policies of the EU varies greatly. "Gender mainstreaming entails the re-organisation, improvement, development and evaluation of decision-making processes in all policy areas and fields of work of an organisation. The objective of gender mainstreaming is to bring in the gender perspective into all processes of decision-making and utilise all decision-making processes for the realisation of equality between the sexes"[Barbara Stiegler: Wie Gender in den Mainstream kommt: Konzepte, Argumente und Praxisbeispiele zur EUStrategie des Gender Mainstreaming(How Gender enters the Mainstream: Concepts, Arguments and Practical Examples of the EU Strategy on Gender Mainstreaming), Friedrich-Ebert-Stiftung, Bonn 2000, p.8]. Nevertheless, during the accession negotiations gender-related issues or gender mainstreaming neither appeared in important documents such as the Agenda 2000 nor in the so called Law-Screening, which was used to indicate beforehand the extent to which national legislation would need to be adjusted to EU law. If the candidates delayed adopting the"gender acquis" or even refused to adopt it temporarily, they were only mildly and briefly reproached, as has for instance been documented in the Progress Report 2001 for Poland: "Further work is also required to align Poland’s legislation with the acquis on equal treatment for women and men." Thus, though all EU directives have technically been transposed into national law, regulations for implementation are often either inadequate or altogether lacking. The implicit message of the accession negotiations was clear: equal rights for women and men, whether in politics or in the professional life, are not so important. This is, at least in part, attributable to the fact that gender mainstreaming and the principle of equal rights are poorly anchored in the Enlargement Directorate-General IA. Given the fact that the European Convention(the convention designing a constitution for Europe) had a 84% male component and that the standards represented by the Amsterdam Treaty were incorporated into the draft constitution only as result of lobbying by women’s organisations, it seems unwarranted to speak of"achievements" or an"acquis communautaire" in gender equality: nothing here may be taken for granted, nothing has been achieved for the long-term.

Figure 5: The pillars of the EU gender equality policy Internationale Politikanalyse International Policy Analysis Unit Equal rights for women and men EU-law Agreements EU directives on - Equal pay - Gainful employment - Access to social security - Maternity protection - Parental leave - Part-time Concept of direct and indirect discrimination Programmes for Women’s Promotion Action programme on equal opportunities Action programme DAPHNE for combating violence against women Integration of gender promotion into other programmes and strategies such as the European employment strategy Gender Mainstreaming Integration of gender equality efforts in all policy areas 1996 Resolution of the European Commission Treaty of Amsterdam On the other hand, negotiations for accession have gender equality policy available in the accession set off a process of politicisation of Eastern European states on the eve of their accession on 1 st May 2004 women’s organisations and women parliamentarians. (cf. Table 7)? Increasingly, these organisations have come to realise The resources a national"gender equality that the EU with its acquis and its policies could provide machinery" is actually endowed with are heavily a political opportunity structure for them to pursue and dependent on the political situation, with a change of legitimise their own agenda. Depending on what had so government having a disproportionately large impact on far been achieved in the respective country, the powers and structures, since gender equality institutions usefulness of the acquis has been variously assessed: are looked upon as some sort of"ideological thus Slovenian women tended to be more sceptical and battleground". Lack of funds and a low degree of feared an attack on the high social standards already authority can render institutions that technically exist achieved, whereas for Polish women, on the other hand, useless and ineffectual in practical implementation. the reference to standards prevailing in the EU proved to Even if what has actually been achieved does not be a core line of argumentation. measure up to the expectations, hopeful developments Only thanks to the political pressure and joint for a gender equality policy and gender mainstreaming action between NGOs, civil society and lobby groups of have emerged during the bilateral preparations for the accession states on the one hand and those of the participation in the action programmes, for instance EU-15 on the other, the implementation of the gender with the Joint Inclusion Papers and the Joint equality directives has not been postponed in favour of Assessment Papers on the European Employment a"quick accession". Women’s groups and organisations Strategy. now have the opportunity to utilize these existing The more the EU is perceived as a system of multinetworks for political demands and campaigns aimed at level governance, the easier it will be for women’s increasing the political participation of women. organisations and networks to set realistic goals. What were the strategies and mechanisms for a Infusing the existing regulations of the EU gender 13

Gesine Fuchs& Beate Hoecker Without Women merely a Half-Democracy 14 Table 7: Gender equality policy in the accession states as of early 2003 European Politics | Eurokolleg (04/2004) Romania Malta Cyprus Bulgaria Latvia Czech Republic Bulgaria Hungary Slovakia Estonia Poland Slovenia Lithuania Lack of or poor basic instruments The gender acquis has only been partially adopted(ROM) or adopted without any structures for implementation(MT, CYP); Only Malta has a gender equality secretariat in its Social Affairs Ministry, whereas Romania has a weak consultative body and a department in its Ministry of Social Affairs. Fairly strong instruments Concepts for an equal opportunity policy have been postulated by the government(Bulgaria: Gender Equality Act passed) but not implemented, or rather, no funds have been allocated to do so. Departments for consultation and coordination of gender equality have been set up primarily in the labour and social affairs ministries. Strong instruments for a gender equality policy A Gender Equality Law(LIT, SLO) exists or there are advanced drafts for the same(PL, EST). Non-partisan women’s groups in the parliaments(except for SLO). Departments for consultation and coordination of gender equality instruments have been set up primarily in the labour and social affairs ministries. A separate office for equal opportunities has been instituted with the government(in EST under the social affairs ministry). Factors considered: degree to which the"gender acquis" is implemented, existence of a government concept for equal opportunities, laws for gender equality, parliamentary institutions for equal opportunities, institutional anchoring, and powers vested in monitoring, coordination and implementation authorities as well as their cooperation with NGOs. Source: Hoecker/Fuchs, forthcoming. equality policy with life and insisting on their implementation will remain an on-going task. The greater the success in improving the structural conditions therewith, the greater the chances of ensuring balanced participation and representation of both sexes. "Vote for Women!" – Coalitions for the Election of Women In Eastern Europe, demands for an enhanced presence and participation of women in politics didn't come from female party members or politicians themselves, although their share had declined drastically after the transition. The issue was raised rather by women's organisations and movements in the region, which were slowly developing. In other words, the impulses emanated from civil society groups which sought to influence political society in a constructive way. In many cases, women’s organisations deal with practical gender needs, that is, issues of immediate concern in these countries, such as female poverty, the labour market, violence against women and women’s rights. Some organisations concluded from this work that direct influence on political decisions and correspondingly a better women's representation is necessary. Since the late 1990's, the region has witnessed the emergence of various committees for the election of women, as for instance in Poland, Romania, Slovakia, Slovenia and Estonia. The idea of a women’s election committee, which calls for the nomination and election of female candidates irrespective of their party affiliation, comes from Croatia where the non-governmental organisation "Babe – Be active, Be emancipated" initiated the first such action programme in 1997. After similar women’s election coalitions went into action, the percentage of women members in the Polish parliament rose from 13% to 20.2% in 2001, while in Slovakia there was an increase from 12.7% to 19.3% in 2002. The dissemination of this idea clearly shows the importance of international networking which is realised through regional coalitions such as KARAT and which receives at least start-up financing from foreign foundations. A feature of such coalitions is the strict division between coalition members and the female candidates in order to increase the integrity of the coalition and the credibility of its agenda. This is particularly important in a field such as politics which is often perceived as being

Internationale Politikanalyse International Policy Analysis Unit corrupt and where each is striving to secure the also employed by political parties. The demands made maximum possible benefit for him- or herself. by these coalitions are disseminated through various These coalitions raise demands on various levels. channels such as the Internet and publications, through They call upon parties to introduce quotas for intensive contacts with the media, through posters and nominations and for the arrangement of lists, and to stickers."Election touchstones" are also deployed: encourage women to take up party work in increasing voters are asked to grill their candidates and only vote numbers. Parliamentarians who are well-disposed for those who have proved to be pro-women and protowards such coalitions introduce bills for electoral laws gender equality. Then, finally, there is also the classic in parliament, which provide for a minimum presence of panel discussion during which the candidate is sounded both sexes on the list of candidates, or are modelled on out. And last but not least, there is the long-term and the French Parité Law. However, at the forefront of their enduring instrument of training(future) women efforts is the exceptionally strong appeal they send out politicians, particularly from distant areas or smaller to the voters, both male and female, to vote for women towns. The issues covered by this training range from and basically to vote for them irrespective of their party information on political institutions through preparing affiliations. Thus, if the electorate takes the matter into meetings to grooming future female politicians for an its own hands, it can get round party structures that are assured appearance before the media. Such measures of hardly conducive to the greater representation of classical political education are to be more vigorously women. A prerequisite for such a strategy are supported in future. personalised electoral systems or preferential voting, that is, the possibility of voting for specific individuals on the party list, of listing a female candidate even Prior to the European Elections of 2004 twice and striking another off the list etc. Such regulations are part of the electoral systems of the In June 2004, for the first time all 25 EU Member States majority of the Eastern European accession states.(In will come together to elect a parliament – a joint act that Germany such options are available only in some of the constitutes a significant step in the process of mental and federal states, the"Bundesländer", with the proportion political-cultural integration. The elections mark a first of women in parliament otherwise being decided by the test for the further development of equality between the party’s nomination assembly in conjunction with the sexes in an enlarged Union. With a share of 31% among results of the individual parties in the elections). the members of the European Parliament, the The arguments put forth by the women’s election representation of women here is on the whole better than coalitions reveal a combination of primarily two modes in the national parliaments. Thus, for instance, 40% of of reasoning in support of the political participation the French members in the European Parliament are of women(cf. Table 1, p.5). The election of women is a women as against 12% in the National Assembly. matter of equality and justice. But to achieve this, Although there is no uniform electoral system for the existing discriminations must be fought, which is why European Parliament, elections everywhere(except in certain gender-specific political demands have been Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland) are on the made. Thus, in 2001, the Polish women’s election basis of the proportional representation system. Way coalition, for instance, called for quotas for political back in 1998, the EP had adopted certain basic principles bodies, an anti-discrimination law, speedy harmonisation for a common electoral system. However, there has been of Polish law with EU legislation and effective opposition from Great Britain which does not want to be mechanisms against discrimination on the labour pressured into adopting the proportional representation market, adoption of a law to provide protection against system. Six countries – Germany, Greece, France, Great violence in the family, at the workplace and in social Britain, Portugal and Spain – only have closed lists life, protection of the family through the creation of whereas the other states have open lists that can be mechanisms for sharing and dividing family rights and changed by voters. The election procedures in the new obligations in a spirit of partnership, sex education, a Member States are still not precisely known, but it may be Pro Choice legislation or at least the re-introduction of assumed that they will be based on the proportional social grounds for an abortion. The methods of representation system. campaigning employed by these coalitions are for the Since May 2003 there are observers in the EP that most part tried and tested election campaign methods are delegated by national parliaments. With their 15

Gesine Fuchs& Beate Hoecker Without Women merely a Half-Democracy 16 Figure 6: Proportion of women in the national parliaments and as observers in the European Parliament 35,7 33,3 European Politics | Eurokolleg (04/2004) 40 35 30 25 20 15 10 5 0 21 11,1 20,2 16,7 19,3 18,8 17 12,5 12,2 10,7 10,6 7,7 9,8 12,5 7,7 15,9 14,8 Latvia Poland Slovakia Estonia 0 Czech Rep. Slovenia 0 Cyprus Lithuania Hungary Malta 0 Total National Observers experience, they will have good chances in the elections. However, women account for only 24(14.8%) of the 162 mandates(cf. Fig. 6). In this respect the national parliaments are obviously more conservative than their electorates who have voted in a larger percentage of women into their national parliaments. This is a bad omen for the European elections, which is why the European Women’s Lobby(EWL) has called for action. It launched its campaign in October 2003 with the declaration:"European Elections 2004: Women demand an equal share", and directs its demands to the parties, which can play a crucial role in improving women’s representation. These parties are called upon to nominate an equal proportion of men and women and place them in a way that also enables the female half to get elected. Further, the parties are also called upon to include the realisation of women’s rights in their election manifesto. An appeal has been sent out to the European Parliament(EP) to pass a new resolution for a uniform electoral law, which would include the principle of parity and also to adopt rules that ensure a fair and balanced access of women MEPs to high-level posts and chairmanships within the parliament. Here again, all types of arguments are put forth in support of the political participation of women: it is a question of justice, but additionally, men and women also have different interests which must be equally represented on behalf of both halves of the population. This, the EWL argues, would result in an overall improvement in the quality of political decisions. A much demanded lobbying kit brought out by the EWL provides its member organisations with facts and arguments so they can bring their influence to bear on the national parties. Already the EWL has official member organisations in Latvia, Bulgaria and Hungary and it expects to have partner organisations in all the new Member States in the course of the year 2004. Specific appeals to the electorate come from the national organisations since there is no uniformity in the election procedure. In Latvia an attempt to introduce quotas into electoral laws for the European Parliament failed. It may be assumed that most of the nominations for the electoral lists have already been made. The next step would be focussed lobbying for a larger number of women in the European Commission, especially from the accession states.

Internationale Politikanalyse International Policy Analysis Unit Future Prospects What do the coming years hold in store for the institutional political participation of women in the new Member States: what are the developments that are likely or probable? Let us bring to mind the fact that the merely marginal role women play in politics is the outcome of 1. social inequality which in turn is closely linked to the gender specific division of labour and traditional notions of gender roles related thereto; 2. the patriarchal political culture, that is to say, traditional views on the role of women in society and politics; 3. political career patterns oriented at the male biography, as well as the organisational and communication structures of political institutions that are shaped for men. Of the above three factors, the political culture has the greatest impact. It is for this reason that changes must first be effected here. Despite some recent initiatives for promoting the political participation of women, there is nevertheless no strong women’s movement that legitimises the gender equality issue and entrenches it in public consciousness. And since"pressure from below" – as experiences in the EU Member States have shown – constitutes a conditio sine qua non for democratising gender relations, it is unlikely that the obvious power imbalance between the sexes both in politics and society will undergo a fundamental change in the near future. Yet it could also be possible that the political participation and representation of women based on equality is achieved in the near future, even if only gradually. As a possible consequence of the obligation towards an active policy of gender equality and gender mainstreaming within the framework of the EU, equality between the sexes may be accorded far greater importance in future than has hitherto been the case. Specific measures for the promotion of women’s participation(such as the introduction of quotas) will change old patterns of elite recruitment, thereby ultimately also increasing the representation of women in parliaments and governments. However, this can only be achieved if the pressure of integrating into the EU, that is to say a top-down approach, is combined with the pressure from below, that is, a bottom-up approach. For this, what is needed is a networked European women’s movement and staying power. To change traditional conceptions of gender roles and role assignment and to render gender equality policy an unquestionable part of the political agenda, long-term processes of learning and change are needed. In any process, any resistance to the redistribution of power, influence and recognition should not be underestimated. Finally, there is also a third possible variant if European integration should evolve in the direction of a European confederation and the surrender of powers to European authorities: namely that women dominate political institutions at the national level. Due to the Europeanisation of politics, engagement in – progressively weakening – traditional institutions would hardly appear attractive to men, because of which they will quit the field and leave it entirely to women. It is obvious that this scenario would not only apply to the accession countries but to all EU Member States as well. Basically, what we are referring to here are longterm changes that go hand in hand with redistribution and therefore by their very nature are given to conflict. Women players who seek an equal share of political power must strive to achieve democratic equations at all levels of the magic triangle: at the level of the social structure, the political culture and the political institutions. Whether they wish to improve the economic, social or(party) political situation of women, their chances of success are all the greater, the better their networking, the more strategic and foresighted their action and the more they learn from each other or adapt successful action programmes to their own country, as in the case of the coalitions for the election of women. 17

Gesine Fuchs& Beate Hoecker Without Women merely a Half-Democracy European Politics | Eurokolleg (04/2004) 18 Useful Internet Links Relevant websites at the European level European Parliament NCEO- Network of Parliamentary Committees for Equal Opportunities for Women and Men in the European Union(with links to the websites of national parliaments and governments) European Commission, Directorate General for Employment and Social Affairs, Equality between Men and Women Inter-parliamentary Union, overview of the proportion of women in parliaments European Data Bank for women in management positions(data up to 2001, more up-to-date data for the Federal Republic of Germany) European Women’s Lobby Gender-Politik-Online Internet portal for the central issues of social scientific research in gender studies Relevant websites of regional networks and national women’s organisations Karat Coalition of South Eastern and Eastern European women’s organisations Network of East-West-Women B.a.B.e.(BE ACTIVE, BE EMANCIPATED) – Women's Human Rights Group Women’s Issues Information Centre Poland Aspekt Slovakia Gender Studies Czech Republic NANE – Women's Rights Association Hungary Women's Alliance for Development, Bulgaria Women's Issues Information Center Lithuania AnA – Society for Feminist Analyses, Romania Slovenian Women’s Organisations Women in Estonia www.europarl.eu.int/home/default_de.htm www.europarl.eu.int/comparl/femm/ccec/members/ default_en.htm europa.eu.int/comm/employment_social/equ_opp/ index_de.htm www.ipu.org/wmn-e/world.htm www.db-decision.de www.womenlobby.org www.fu-berlin.de/gpo/index.htm www.karat.org www.neww.org www.babe.hr www.oska.org.pl www.aspekt.sk www.feminismus.cz www.nane.hu www.women-bg.bg lygus.lt/ITC/ www.anasaf.ro/english/index(eng).html www.uem-rs.si/eng/non.html www.undp.ee/gender/

Europäische Politik | Eurokolleg Gesine Fuchs& Beate Hoecker Without Women merely a Half-Democracy The Political Participation of Women in the East European Accession States W omen have just marginal or average representation both in the EU-15 as well as in the new Member States: in the parliaments on the whole, they constitute an average of 23%, in the European Parliament a higher 31% and in the parliaments of the new members a mere 16%. In political practice there are three arguments that are time and again advanced in support of women in decision-making: firstly, justice and equality demand it; secondly, women must have the opportunity to assert certain interests specific to their sex; and, thirdly, the gap in power and position must be broken down in favour of women. Gender-sensitive research on participation uses a"magic triangle" of factors to explain the under-representation of women. These factors include socio-economic structures, political culture and institutional factors. Since the mid-90s, the percentage of women in the Eastern European parliaments is once again on the increase and currently ranges between 9.8% in Hungary and 26.2% in Bulgaria. The proportion of women in the governments was on an average 13.3% in November 2003, with one-half of the women heading"atypical" ministries. Studies have shown that an elitist-patriarchal political culture in particular poses an obstacle to the increased participation of women. Additionally, women politicians are put to further disadvantage due to gender specific divisions of labour, low incomes and political career and recruitment patterns conceived for men. Political courses of action for increasing women's share of representation are available at all levels. Among these is a consistent policy of gender equality in education and social security. Through the active promotion of women and through political education without gender stereotypes, parties and civil society can help bring about a change in attitude. The proportional representation system and quotas improve women’s electoral chances. In some countries, coalitions for the election of women- emerging from civil society- have drawn a good response with their appeals for votes for women. National and international women’s organisations and women politicians contesting the elections to the European Parliament can draw upon this tradition. Yet, gender equality in political positions of power and influence can only be gradually achieved. Top-down measures must be accompanied by pressure from below, coming from a networked European women’s movement.