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.
In order to understand the underrepresentation of women in the Canadian political system, democracy must be defined. According to Rand Dyke, the definition of democracy is, “a political system characterized by popular sovereignty, political equality, political freedom, and majority rule.” Popular sovereignty and political equality entails that everyone eligible to vote has: a vote to participate in a final outcome, and an equal weighted vote. Political freedom involves equal opportunities and rights to

Bibliography: Dyck, Rand. Canadian Politics: Critical Approaches. 4th ed. Scarborough: Nelson, 2004.