EGM/EPWD/2005/EP.

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12 December 2005

United Nations
Department of Economic and Social Affairs (DESA)
Division for the Advancement of Women (DAW)
Economic Commission for Africa (ECA)
Inter-Parliamentary Union (IPU)
Expert Group Meeting on
Equal participation of women and men in
decision-making processes, with particular
emphasis on political participation and leadership
24 to 27 October 2005

Impact of women’s participation and leadership on outcomes*

Prepared by:

Rosa Linda T. Miranda

* The views expressed in this paper are those of the author and do not necessarily
represent those of the United Nations.

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 Impact of Women’s Participation in Decision-making*

by

Rosa Linda T. Miranda

“Equality between women and men is a matter of human rights and a condition
for social justice and is also a necessary and fundamental prerequisite for
equality, development and peace. A transformed partnership based on
equality between women and men is a condition for people-centred
sustainable development.” (Beijing Platform for Action, excerpt from
Mission Statement.)

Every human being has the right to participate in decisions that define her or his life.
This right is the foundation of the ideal of equal participation in decision-making among
women and men. This right argues that since women know their situation best, they
should participate equally with men to have their perspective effectively incorporated at
all levels of decision-making, from the private to the public spheres of their lives, from
the local to the global.

The UN Fourth World Conference on Women in 1995, recognizing this key condition for
women’s empowerment, which in turn is required for democratic governance, identified
as one of twelve critical areas of concern in its Beijing Platform for Action (BPA),
Women in Power and Decision-making. For this concern, the platform recommends two
strategies: First, “Take measures to ensure women's equal access to and full
participation in power structures and decision-making” and second, “Increase women's
capacity to participate in decision-making and leadership.” Both strategies are proposed
to be addressed by “Governments, national bodies, the private sector, political parties,
trade unions, employers' organizations, research and academic institutions, sub-regional
and regional bodies, and non-governmental and international organizations.”

Many initiatives have been attempted along the proposed actions under these two
strategies in the BPA. In many countries, the number of women elected and appointed at
different levels of public decision-making has increased although the goal of 30 %
representation (considered a level of critical mass for women to have an impact) in
Parliament have been reached only in 11 countries, according to the review reported in
the 49th session of the UN Commission on the Status of Women in February-March 2005.

This paper examines the related question that is being asked: as more women get into

*
Prepared for the UN Department of Economic and Social Affairs (DESA), Division for the
Advancement of Women (DAW), Expert Group Meeting on “Equal participation of women and
men in decision-making processes, with particular emphasis on political participation and
leadership,” 24 to 27 October 2005, Addis Ababa.

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positions of power, participating at various levels of decision-making, do they make a
difference? The question has two components, namely, the kind of difference that
women would make, and the ability of women to make a difference.

If more women participated in decision-making, what kind of difference would they

make?

Many women especially in developing countries when asked if they would consider
entering politics, i.e., consider becoming a candidate for an elective position in public
office or appointed to a decision-making position in government, answer in the negative.
Foremost among their reasons is that politics is reputed to be dirty, where methods
employed include the illegal and the unethical to win in elections and assume power, and
where the corruption of public service for personal and narrow group interests has been
the accepted norm. They say that they are intimidated and threatened by these dark sides
of politics which they are likely to be pressured to join as their entrance fee into
mainstream politics.

Through numerous dialogues and networking at various governance levels from local to
national, regional and international, many women in developing countries have come to
some consensus that politics has to be transformed, and that political transformation
needs the active involvement of women. Therefore, women who believe in serving the
public trust and can commit to public accountability should enter politics to effect this
transformation.†

What can we expect to be the political agenda of women in decision-making positions in

public office? Can we presume that women who participate in decision-making in the
public sector would be gender-aware and gender-responsive, and hence would espouse an
agenda on priority gender concerns and advocate for gender–responsiveness in their
political party platform and other decisions? Can we presume that women in politics
would be more predisposed than men to give priority to social concerns and to the
relatively disadvantaged population groups because women are usually socialized into
more nurturing values? Can we expect women to have a stronger sense of fairness and
justice, and to be less prone to corruption than men because women usually have a
greater role in rearing their children in the moral values of society and hence would try to
be models of morality, themselves? Can we presume that women, being nurturers, would
favor the use of peaceful means over force for resolving conflict? That they will not
only want to preserve human lives but also the natural environment that humans continue
to exploit without real regard for sustainability of life on earth?

Unfortunately, we cannot say "yes" for sure! There are indications for doubt, particularly
if we consider the following.

†
These views were consistently expressed by women who participated in several conferences and many
dialogues conducted by the Center for Asia-Pacific Women in Politics (CAPWIP) since its establishment in
1992.

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a) Most women have been socialized into traditional roles in a patriarchal society and
have integrated these traditional values of inequality between women and men. It
would be an exceptional woman who is a self-made, self-taught feminist. One or
two sessions to raise gender awareness as part of women’s leadership trainings may
not be adequate to undo the deep socialization in traditional values of most women.

b) Women do not form a homogeneous group defined by their sex alone. Their
interests would also be a function of their socio-economic class, race, religion,
ethnicity, and other demographic characteristics of age and location. This could
explain why there is hardly any clear evidence of a women’s vote in any country.
In addition there is a greater probability that women who make it into the political
mainstream are likely to come from the elite and hence may not be inclined to
challenge the interests of their class especially when reinforced by traditional values
of loyalty and gratitude to one’s family and patrons.

c.) When women become candidates for political office some of them and/or their
political parties purposely avoid getting perceived by men voters as a threat to the
interests of men. To get more votes, they decide it is not prudent to be perceived as
championing priority gender concerns or favoring women as their constituency.
They tend to choose commitments that appeal to the interests of the general public
as if the public is a homogeneous group. Politicians’ use of the rhetoric of national
interests often ignores or intentionally obfuscates the reality of conflicting interests
of various population sectors, making the differential impact of decision-making
conveniently less transparent especially to those who could be adversely affected.
Such lack of transparency or clarity enables a politician or political party to be held
less accountable, should they neglect the interests of certain groups, notably
women.

d.) Since women in most countries do not have a critical mass in decision-making bodies
including in their political party base, if any, then espousing a platform of gender
issues such as equal rights for women and men could be threatening to the male
majority and hence could discourage the women members from taking on such a
heroic advocacy or confrontation where the chances of winning is doubtful. Where
there is no strong constituency nor public opinion supporting such a gender agenda,
women members in such bodies may de-emphasize women's concerns just to gain a
stronger foothold on the political arena.

e) Most critical is how power has an almost absolute potential to corrupt. And its
potential to corrupt may be greater for people who had been marginalized,
subordinated and oppressed, in other words, who had no such power before - which
has been the lot of most women. Ideally, one’s experience of subordination could
transform one to reject becoming an oppressor or getting even with former
oppressors, and we would hope that women elected or appointed to public office
would choose this principled path.

The bottom line is we cannot be too hopeful and depend only on the increasing number of

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women in decision-making positions to transform the political agenda. The reality of
politics requires that there has to be a popular demand for the transformative goals
that we aspire for. These goals include equality (including gender equality and
equity), peace, sustainable development, democratic governance, and accountable
and efficient government, the often cited basic goals for a paradigm shift to
transform our society. There is no short cut to changing our societies’ core values
through a small, though increasing, number of women in politics. They can assist it
somewhat, or greatly, or they may not! What we will need is a critical mass of the
general public to want that agenda of change in our core values and demand it of
politicians and those sitting in public office! This is therefore the area of work where
effective and sustained strategies are urgently needed.

Women’s ability to make a difference

A most critical determinant of women’s ability to make a difference is the nature of

governance and the political mainstream where women are beginning to participate.
Decision-making in public offices are supposed to be positions of public trust, i.e., those
who assume these positions are responsible or accountable to the electorate or the
taxpayers or the general public. But the degree of observance of public accountability
varies among countries. The more feudal governance is with patronage well-entrenched
as a tradition, the more accountability will tend to be defined by narrower personal,
family or clan interests as well as those of one’s political group and patrons. The
interests of the greater public would be of lower priority, if not easily ignored, were it not
for security concerns and insuring peace and order which could compel those in power to
engage in the rhetoric of public service and welfare. On the other hand, the more
democratic governance is, the more likely developed are the mechanisms for public
accountability and the more politically mature are the citizens, who are aware of their
rights and demanding accountability from public officials, and the greater the sense of
accountability to the general public of those voted and appointed to public office.

The nature of the political mainstream also influences the nature of accountability of
elected or appointed public officials. In more politically developed countries, distinct
policy and program platforms of political parties are proposed and discussed as the bases
for voter’s choices in an election and those elected are held accountable for implementing
the platform of the winning party. If there is enough popular demand for given gender
concerns to be addressed then political parties would be sensitive to these needs and will
try to integrate these into their political platforms. Women party members and candidates
would have a better chance of negotiating the integration of such gender concerns into the
party platform which becomes a commitment of the whole party. There could also be a
positive multiplier effect on the platform of other competing parties who might be
encouraged or pressured to match the inclusion of the gender concerns in the platform of
a rival party thereby making the integration of gender concerns more pervasive in the
over-all political agenda for a given election. With a well-established culture of
accountability then those gender issues in the platform(s) of the winning party (ies) will
likely be addressed.

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But in many developing countries where the party system is not well developed nor the
citizens politically mature, voters tend to be presented choices of personalities rather than
distinct political platforms. Political parties and/or candidates for public offices may not
have a coherent policy and program platform but rather a hodge-podge of campaign
promises on which elected candidates could easily renege. Meanwhile, voters do not
usually feel empowered to demand accountability from elected public officials. In a
worst case scenario, the elected officials use the power of their position in public office to
serve personal, family, party and patrons’ interests above those of a wider constituency or
the general public while the voters feel powerless in changing this situation and resigned
to waiting out the completion of the officials’ terms of office. If there is no effective
culture of public accountability in public office, women's participation would not succeed
in the inclusion and implementation of a transformative agenda in the platform of their
political party.

The ability of women to make a difference may also be a function of what factors
propelled them to public office. The circumstances of women’s entry into positions of
power will determine whether they will be politically marginalized or become key
players in their political organization and in the decision-making positions in public
office that they assume. Were they thrust into politics by luck of a dynastic prerogative
when one carries the name and by some osmosis the reputation of a recognized national
leader or a renowned politician as a wife or a daughter? Are they tokens selected by
political parties, or the product of a calculation by political parties of the value that
women could bring to the party as a response to some advocacy or legislation for more
equal political participation by women? Or did they cut their teeth in political work and
rose through the ranks of political parties on merit to become effective recognized party
leaders? Or did they earn the confidence of a constituency with whom they have
effectively worked and their commitment tested which led to their selection as the
representatives of the said constituency?

Women who develop their skills in political work and prove their integrity and
commitment in public service are likely to have the greater ability to make a lasting
difference when given the opportunity to participate in decision-making positions in
public office.

For women who make it to the top-most political position in a country as head of State –
President, Prime Minister or Chancellor - their political clout in and support from their
party, as well as their capabilities, would determine their ability to make a difference.
Top political leadership could give a woman tremendous potential to make a difference.
However, if a woman gets intimidated by the position and becomes perceived by her
party and /or other powerful political players as lacking confidence then other men from
her family or clan and her party could become the real power, relegating her to a
figurehead.

For other public offices there is evidence in many countries that women tend to be given
opportunities in areas of decision-making that parallel their stereotype traditional roles as

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nurturers and caregivers in the domestic sphere of the family. In most parliaments, they
are usually given roles in committees for social concerns of family and disadvantaged
groups, and culture. Rarely would you find them heading committees for economic
concerns like the budget, local government (or interior), foreign affairs, justice and
defense, thereby giving them limited sphere of influence in the over-all concerns of a
nation. This is also echoed in the executive branch where cabinet positions for the social
sectors might be given to women but not for the other sectors. There is also a parallel
tendency in the judiciary where women justices may be appointed to head the court for
family and children but less likely to head or become members of the Supreme Court.
One therefore sees similar patterns of marginalization and subordination that characterize
women’s common experiences in patriarchy in most other power structures such as the
family, business enterprises, political parties, religious organizations, labor unions and
media establishments.

This pattern of sexism is often justified by men as due to the lack of qualified women for
the more important and powerful positions, long the domain of men, although we do see
less qualified men being elected and/or appointed to these positions that are not usually
accessible to women. In addition, men emphasize women’s natural abilities (which are
not natural but learned) and skills in this domestic-related work as if men cannot learn
these skills and women cannot and have not learned new skills apart from those
associated with the feminine gender.

In public offices where the number of votes determines outcomes as in legislative bodies,
then more women forming a critical mass could strengthen women’s ability to make a
difference. Some have put this level at 30% at least. But alliances should also include
like-minded men. As a matter of fact it is crucial for women in politics to work with or
network with men as a very critical means to political effectiveness, and this might be the
only viable strategy when women comprise a minority in a decision-making body.

The same review cited earlier also reveals that women tend to have better representation
in “more alternative structures” particularly NGOs and grass-roots organizations which
are at the periphery of the political mainstream and are often organizational attempts by
the marginalized to protect their interests by accessing power through power from
number – more translates to greater power.

These patterns continue to confirm the threat perceived by men and their resistance to
sharing equal power with women. We should therefore assume that power especially in
the public domain will not be willingly and voluntarily shared by men equally with
women.

Note, however, that women already committed to the transformative agenda may still
falter especially if the women and men politicians’ and their parties’ narrow vested
interests will prevail over that of the greater public. Therefore once again the ultimate
determinant for any transformative agenda to be implemented with commitment by
those in decision-making positions is for the general public to demand
accountability of those entrusted by the public to do this, a demand made effective

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by institutionalized accountability mechanisms with the culture appropriate for it.
This is not an easy task to develop but it is what is required in the long run. Its
development will have to be given more serious attention than before because it is a
condition for democratic governance which is a component of our transformative agenda.

Proposed directions for future work

Mainstream politics is where society’s governance happens. Women, comprising half of

any society, must exercise their right and responsibility to participate equally with men in
governance. The impact of women’s participation in politics can only be guaranteed by
two conditions: a popular demand for their transformative political agenda and a
developed system of public accountability in public office, two conditions that do not
exist in most if not all developing countries. Hence, the following measures are urgently
proposed:

1. We have to bring our transformative agenda of equality, sustainable development,

peace, democratic governance, and accountable and efficient government, to the
whole society for everyone to eventually take ownership of this agenda. This will
require creative sustained advocacy and training across the board especially for those
in their formative years.

Take the specific issue of gender equality included in the goal of equality. We have
been assuming wrongly, particularly in developing countries, that most women,
because they are women, agree with and want gender equality. We have neglected
the need for widespread continuing dialogues to enable women across the board to
reflect on their traditional roles and be convinced of the need to change these in favor
of equality with men. Women and men need to know how a society characterized by
gender equality might be like and whether it would really be preferable to the familiar
one of traditional unequal gender roles, and know that they have a say in designing
such a society. Women and men have to be convinced of such a vision because the
successful pursuit of this goal will depend on their commitment to internalize and live
by its values. Vigorous communication and education measures for the women will
have to be undertaken in each country so they can get a handle for personal
reflections towards committing themselves to this goal of gender equality.
Experiences of other countries more advanced in their goal for a more equal society
could help inform these reflections. The same will be needed for the men so that
instead of being threatened they would truly become equal partners of women on this
road to a transformed society. We could attain gender equality de jure but not de facto
unless these values get woven into the fabric of society.

2. The Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women,

which 180 member countries of the UN have signed to date, could be the main
instrument for promoting gender equality. Signatory countries to this Women’s
Rights Convention should be systematically assisted to enable the various sectors in
each country, starting with the state, to effectively undertake their respective
obligations under this Convention. Vigorous communication and education measures

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 should be undertaken for girls and women, and boys and men on the whys and hows
of the goal of gender equality so that every girl and woman will understand and
appreciate gender equality, internalize these rights and claim their rights, and every
boy and man will also understand women’s equal rights, promote and protect these
rights. Special training should be developed for parents and teachers on how to apply
and teach the values of human rights, equality, especially gender equality, and
democratic governance in the family and in schools. More work should be done to
also advocate to and assist relatively hierarchical institutions like religious
organizations on how the values of equality, including gender equality, can be
enhanced in their structures, procedures and programmes.

3. There has to be equal if not more work done to develop responsible citizenship
among women and men relative to the work done to promote women’s leadership and
participation in decision-making in public office. Democratic governance will not
evolve from just the good intentions of enlightened women and men politicians who
are constantly struggling with the unrelenting corrupting temptations of power among
others. The only guarantee for the development and/or maintenance of democratic
governance is the citizens’ commitment to their individual responsibility to
participate in governance, including constantly demanding transparency and
accountability of all those holding positions in public office to uphold the public trust
given to them.

Quality citizenship training materials should be developed and training made part of
all school curricula as well as in continuing adult education. These trainings should
include the basic human rights, the laws and international conventions enshrining
these, the responsibilities of citizenship in democratic governance and the culture of
public accountability for all those in public service. They should also include power
and politics as elements in human relations that need to be guided by fairness and
justice. Political participation should be taught as a wide range of activities beyond
registration and voting in elections.

Effective advocacy measures on human rights as the foundation for citizenship rights
and obligations have to be widely undertaken. The experience of UNICEF in its
vigorous information campaign on the Convention on the Rights of the Child could
provide some insights on this.

4. Promote and assist the development of a system of public accountability for positions
of public trust at all levels of governance especially in the less politically developed
countries. Effective public accountability mechanisms should be documented and
disseminated proactively and widely for possible adaptation in various countries.

5. Related to the strengthening of responsible citizenship among women as well as men

is the motivation of citizens to organize themselves into active interest groups or
constituencies. Organized, they can better define their priority agenda and influence
the political decision-making bodies in government to address these by ensuring their
representation in these bodies. Such organized constituencies would be working in

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 partnership with their representatives who will in turn be accountable to them. This
type of democratic process could be the basis for transforming politics to better serve
the interest of the greater public and can be promoted at local level governance with
the opportunities provided by the greater autonomy at local levels being encouraged
by government policy in many countries. Women’s greater participation in grassroots
organizations and NGOs could be assisted to develop into active political
constituencies that will strengthen public accountability as a culture in politics.

6. Modeling of creative mentoring of women who are suddenly thrust into positions of
power without enough training and preparations should be undertaken. These should
model a different type of politics characterized by the values of democratic
governance where the women political leaders will have a covenant with some
organized citizens’ groups or constituencies on an agreed transformative agenda and a
close partnership with each other to ensure the implementation of their agenda with
mutual accountabilities.

7. All gender training materials and training courses for women’s political
empowerment should include a substantive component for effective gender
sensitizing at the personal level, better understanding of power relations and
structures in all institutions of society starting from the family, the principled use of
power as guided by fairness and justice, democratic governance, and ethics in public
office including public accountability from those holding positions of public trust.
These areas have not been given as much emphasis up to now. These will help better
prepare women to become the catalyst for the paradigm shift we are aiming for in
politics and the rest of society.

8. Gender mainstreaming, the main strategy recommended by the Beijing Platform of

Action that was endorsed by the UN member states in the 1995 Fourth World
Conference on Women, has to be consistently linked to the goals of gender equality
and equity embodied in the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of
Discrimination against Women. Gender mainstreaming has been encouraged in many
countries for about two decades and yet the goal of gender equality is still far from
being achieved and not even monitored adequately. Many especially in governments
which have often been the main focus of assistance in this strategy seem already
content with the gender mainstreaming being done thinking this is enough. But the
impact of gender mainstreaming has to be assessed against the goals of gender
equality and equity. It is also essential that other sectors in addition to governments
should also be encouraged and assisted to undertake gender mainstreaming to widen
the commitment among all sectors to the achievement of these goals.

Transforming politics and the whole society is a long and difficult process because we
are changing power relations and we all have to take responsibility for ensuring that we
bring it into our personal lives. But we should not be daunted by the task. We take small
steps now, a quantum leap next time and perhaps backtrack another time. Whatever our
progress we must commit to moving the process forward because our goal is for women

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and men to have equal power to shape their societies!

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