Formal Quotas versus Representative Behaviour: Patterns of Representative Behaviour of Slovenia’s Female MPs and MEPs

The paper focuses on the question of what quotas ‘mean’ for policy-making behaviour. While it analyses evidence related to one country (Slovenia), it is comparative in terms of including two levels of government – the national parliament and the European parliament. On one hand, it builds on previous research studies in Slovenia (e.g. Antić and Gortnar, 2004; Fink-Hafner and Topolinjak, 2004; Fink-Hafner and Krašovec, 2004; Fink-Hafner, Deželan, Topolinjak, 2005; Fink Hafner, 2005; Fink-Hafner, Krašovec, Deželan, Topolinjak, 2011; Antić-Gaber, 2011), which have revealed the key characteristics of women’s participation in various political arenas (party, local, national, supranational) and the factors co-determining such political participation. On the other hand, the paper will provide a new insight by revealing the patterns of representation behaviour of Slovenia’s MPs and MEPs in the 2004–2012 period. When analysing these patterns, the linkages between election by quota (an institutional factor), career paths (see Scarrow, 1997; Norris, 1999) and internal party democracy (Krašovec, 2004; Antić, 2000) will be taken into account. Our thesis is that patterns of female MPs’ and MEPs’ representative behaviour are primarily determined by their prior career paths and by the (autocratic) characteristics of political parties, which dominate candidate selection in Slovenia. The insight into individual career paths of MPs/MEPs will include: a) prior apprenticeship in the party; b) previous political functions; c) the level and type of formal education; and d) occupational histories. The characteristics of internal party democracy in candidate selection will be determined based on previous research (e.g. Krašovec, 2012; Krašovec and Haughton, 2011). Patterns of representative behaviour will be analysed based on data on female MPs’ and MEP’s active engagement in their parliamentary arenas (functions within a particular representative body, activity within parliamentary committees and in the plenary sessions, outstanding roles in policy-making and policy advocacy). The acquired results will be triangulated using findings from in-depth interviews with female MPs and MEPs (2004–2012).