Preview

Underrepresentation of Women

Satisfactory Essays
Open Document
Open Document
376 Words
Grammar
Grammar
Plagiarism
Plagiarism
Writing
Writing
Score
Score
Underrepresentation of Women
Female MP's representation in the UK
Female MP's representation in the UK

Source: http://news.bbc.co.uk/

This chart shows a percentage of female in Parliament in the UK between 2005 and 2010. There is a big imbalance between man and women MP's. According to national statistics, while 51% of the UK population is female in 2010,only 22% of MPs in the Parliament were women.
The number of Conservatives women MP’s has grown from 9% in 2005 to 16% in 2010. In 2005 in his election speech David Cameron mentioned an increase of women in parliament. His promise was to transform the Conservative party and he introduced an A-List which aimed to have an equal numbers of men and women.1 These figures are still relatively low, even if the number of it’s women MPs more than doubled in 2010.2
Comparing the Conservatives Party to Liberal Democrats across same amount of time, we can see that the Liberal Democrats number fell from 15% in 2005 to 12% in 2010.The reason, it is a third party in the Parliament that has not much influence.3
It can be clearly seen that despite some re-balancing between the parties, Labour remains way ahead of the other parties. Labour party has increased by 3% since 2005, because of the shortlists, which helped to increase the number of female MPs in Parliament during general election.
In conclusion, we can see that in the 5 years there has been a very small increase of a number of women in Parliament. Government need to review and develop new ideas on how to improve.

1W. Woodward and T.Branigan, 'The A-list: new leader's drive for women and minority candidates', The Guardian, 19 April 2006 http://www.guardian.co.uk/politics/2006/apr/19/uk.conservatives

2Professor S. Childs, University of Bristol, ' Cameron's broken promises on women MPs mean quotas are essential’, The Telegraph, 06 November 2012 http://www.telegraph.co.uk/women/womens-politics/9655735/Camerons-broken-promises-on-women-MPs-mean-quotas-are-essential.html 3M. Fealty,
Continue Reading
View Writing Issues

You May Also Find These Documents Helpful

  • Good Essays

    Gender Schema Theory In The 1980s
    • 936 Words
    • 4 Pages

    Gender Schema Theory In The 1980s

    Most women today are employed as pink-collar workers in clerical work, sales, and services; jobs intended just for females. Furthermore, many men do not support women’s attempt to gain economic equality because they believe this would threaten their superior status in the job market and at home. Regarding educational attainment, women’s role has been traditionally limited to the household, while men have always been figures in the public sphere. The emphasis on this tradition has impacted women greatly. Women compromise two thirds of illiterate persons worldwide. In regards to gender political representation, women have been far less visible than men in politics. Male dominance is associated with politics due to the aspects of power and authority. Women’s ultimate fight for the right to vote was at the beginning of the twentieth century, unfortunately we continue to fight and face opposition in the political…

    • 936 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
    Read More
  • Satisfactory Essays

    To what extent do the UK’s major parties accept Thatcherite ideas and policies?
    • 460 Words
    • 2 Pages

    To what extent do the UK’s major parties accept Thatcherite ideas and policies?

    Despite Margaret Thatcher being in office from May 1979 till November 1990, her policies can still be seen in effect today. The UK’s major parties, Labour and Conservatives, have taken into consideration her views and policies and adapted them to some extent. Some people can argue that the policies and ideas of Thatcher have “rubbed” off on the major parties; however others say these parties have changed their direction from Thatcher.…

    • 460 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Satisfactory Essays
    Read More
  • Good Essays

    Activism of Women of Color: Does It Alter and Strengthen the Politics of Reproductive Rights?
    • 1050 Words
    • 3 Pages

    Activism of Women of Color: Does It Alter and Strengthen the Politics of Reproductive Rights?

    Women's participation in politics goes far beyond their numbers in elected bodies. In all major political movements of this century, in all movements of social change, women have played an extremely important role. But despite participation and mobilization of women in politics in this broad sense of the term, we have not seen a commensurate increase in the number of women in different levels of decision making. Indeed, the higher you go the fewer women you see. The question of women's representation in elected bodies and in other decision making committees, needs to be seen in the light of this blatant imbalance due to gender discrimination.…

    • 1050 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
    Read More
  • Good Essays

    Stereotypes In The Lucky Country
    • 1621 Words
    • 7 Pages

    Stereotypes In The Lucky Country

    This is perhaps best demonstrated through the state of female representation in federal politics. In the Abbott ministry initially only one woman (Deputy Liberal Leader - Julie Bishop) held a ministerial position, being two fewer than the Afghani government at the same time (news.com). This situation has changed under the subsequent Turnbull government, increasing the number of female ministry members to five (SMH Turnbul reshuffle), but is still not an accurate reflection of gender distributions in Australia. Further, under representation of women is also evident in politics as a whole with women representing 24%, and 30% of the NSW Legislative Council and Legislative Assembly respectively (Parliament NSW), and federally representing 42% and 27% of the Senate and House of Representatives respectively (aph), further corroborating the notion of a gender disconnect in…

    • 1621 Words
    • 7 Pages
    Good Essays
    Read More
  • Good Essays

    Soc 300 Final Exam
    • 969 Words
    • 4 Pages

    Soc 300 Final Exam

    An Index of women’s political and economic empowerment based on their representation in parliament, average income, and their percentage of jobs in administration, management the professions, and technical jobs relative to men.…

    • 969 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
    Read More
  • Satisfactory Essays

    Belonging In The Crucible
    • 518 Words
    • 3 Pages

    Belonging In The Crucible

    Stephanie Johnson: Miss Ford, your writing is mostly about women’s place in our contemporary Australian society and their role more particularly in parliament and leading the country. My question is, in your opinion, do you believe that women are vilified in Australian politics due to traditional patriarchal ideals and values still in place?…

    • 518 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Satisfactory Essays
    Read More
  • Better Essays

    Electoral System In Canada
    • 1922 Words
    • 8 Pages

    Electoral System In Canada

    People have always assumed that women cannot be involved in politics because they are too sensitive and cannot think rationally. There is also a lack of minorities in parliament which is confusing for most people. Since Canada is built around immigrants and welcoming all kinds of people, it means a lot to people to have someone like them represented in parliament. The current electoral system in Canada does not allow for much diversity. However, proportional representation allows for more representative governments . This allows the government to take more responsibility for their actions . With proportional representation, there is more pressure put on parties to nominate women for office . In proportional representation, specifically in parliament the absence of women would be more visible and this would give off sexist undertones that women are not being represented in their parties . The same concept that does not allow for more women to be involved in politics, gives minorities the same problems as well. Not allowing minorities in parliament gives an unfavorable undertone that politicians are not welcoming in people that are the very backbone of our population. Canada was built on the back of immigrants and it would look very unfavorably if people like this were excluded from parliament. Since proportional representation is a lot more varied than plurality, there would be more of a chance for minorities to be included in parties because it would be seen unfavorably that people of different cultures and races are not being represented in parliament . The reason why democracy is so popular in many parts of the world, is because citizens like to see themselves being represented in government and this gives them a reason to vote in every…

    • 1922 Words
    • 8 Pages
    Better Essays
    Read More
  • Powerful Essays

    Woman and Canadian Politics
    • 1725 Words
    • 7 Pages

    Woman and Canadian Politics

    Prior to 1921, men were the only members of the Canadian parliamentary system. With the first Canadian women being elected into the Canadian parliament in 1921, women have had the ability to participate and become elected into the House of Commons. Since then, Canadian women’s participation in the House of Commons has substantially increased from 1 female seat holder in 1921 to the present day 64 seats held by women. Although this increase is seemed as substantial, the debate about the underrepresentation of women in politics has been a central topic of debate by politicians, scholars and the general public in Canada. Although it is widely agreed that representation of women in the House of Commons needs to increase, there are two fundamentally different views regarding this underrepresentation; the explanatory perspective and the feminist perspective. The explanatory perspective argues that “political institutions should reflect the composition of civil society” , while the feminists perspective argues that, “since women offer unique perspectives, their exclusion from political power means that their needs, demands, and interests would currently not be echoed in the political arena.” However, through the assessment of the definition of democracy, and the evaluation of the feminist’s arguments and explanatory perspectives, the relatively low number of women elected to the House of Commons does not mean the Canadian political system is insufficiently democratic.…

    • 1725 Words
    • 7 Pages
    Powerful Essays
    Read More
  • Good Essays

    Lack Of Diversity In The Canadian Public Sector
    • 916 Words
    • 4 Pages

    Lack Of Diversity In The Canadian Public Sector

    (kernaghan 504). The workplace in the public service was the views on general ideas that were floating in society during the 1970’s since “women still constitute only 2.9 per cent of the senior executive category” (Kernaghan pg 505). The lack of women in power will undermine issues of that are directly related to women such as reproductive rights, gender wage gap, maternal leave and many more. The need for diversity is…

    • 916 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
    Read More
  • Good Essays

    Right To Vote Amendment Argument
    • 294 Words
    • 2 Pages

    Right To Vote Amendment Argument

    However, till this day women are still extremely underrepresented in politics. According to the Center for American Women and Politics, nationally women make up 19.4 percent of the 535 seats in Congress and 21 percent of the 100 seats in the Senate. In Connecticut, 27.3 percent of women make up the state legislature. This means laws pertaining to women’s rights, like paid maternity leave, are created and implemented by men. That needs to…

    • 294 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays
    Read More
  • Powerful Essays

    Research Paper: Woman Suffrage
    • 2809 Words
    • 12 Pages

    Research Paper: Woman Suffrage

    Carroll, Susan J (2006) Gender and Elections: Shaping the Future of American Politics. Cambridge, New York Cambridge University Press.…

    • 2809 Words
    • 12 Pages
    Powerful Essays
    Read More
  • Satisfactory Essays

    Gender Inequality In Politics
    • 175 Words
    • 1 Page

    Gender Inequality In Politics

    Since 1789, only 2 percent of members of Congress have been women. In the Senate from…

    • 175 Words
    • 1 Page
    Satisfactory Essays
    Read More
  • Good Essays

    Gender Equality In Canada Essay
    • 476 Words
    • 2 Pages

    Gender Equality In Canada Essay

    If there was a quota placed to balance the genders in politics, there is the potential for major repercussion. For instance, there was an idea along the same lines but instead for the representation of aboriginals in government. The problem with both of these possible solutions is that people are less qualified might take a more qualified person’s spot based on the fact that they are female or aboriginal, and more importantly is a violation of the charter on the grounds of discrimination. The other possible solution would be to promote the idea for women to get involved in politics. The issue with this is that it could be interpreted as paternalism and could be costly for the government to advertise.…

    • 476 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays
    Read More
  • Powerful Essays

    Gender Roles And Equality In Australian Society
    • 1282 Words
    • 6 Pages

    Gender Roles And Equality In Australian Society

    Traditional gender roles have somewhat stuck when it comes to the roles of providing and nurturing despite there being a possibility of reversed roles. It has been divulged that these roles are slowly dissolving and changing more so in recent years. As aforementioned, both men and women are now free to make their own decisions about their futures, they have the power to choose higher education and a job they desire. The recent election of Julia Gillard as Prime Minister of Australia has provided a legitimate place in political positions for women. The ontogenesis of the ideology of gender roles and equality in Western society has shaped the way our culture and society performs and thinks. The gaps in equality and the stereotypical roles between males and females have steadily narrowed and changed throughout…

    • 1282 Words
    • 6 Pages
    Powerful Essays
    Read More
  • Good Essays

    Child Care Inequality
    • 863 Words
    • 4 Pages

    Child Care Inequality

    In the United States women are particularly blessed to have some of the best opportunities at life, yet there is still some discrepancy with the rights of their male counterparts. The first example of this is the sheer lack of representation in top management positions. In the workforce, it is known that men dominate high positions, but this can also be seen in political positions as well. As of January 2015, there are 84 female representatives serving the the House of Representatives of the 435 seats, which only accounts for 19.3% of the body. There are states in the U.S. that have never elected a woman to the House, which include Alaska, Delaware, Iowa, Mississippi, North Dakota, and Vermont. An even scarier fact that, that of the 20 women…

    • 863 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
    Read More

Related Topics