Paper focuses on descriptive representation that is the fundamental theoretical concept of quotas and demands regarding higher political representation of women. The topic of quotas was chosen besides other things because it is currently discussed in the Czech Republic - there is a legislative proposal introducing quotas which is aimed at the way candidate lists of political parties are formed (nowadays Czech House of Deputies consists only of 19,5 % women). The main question I consider in the paper is how to overcome essentialism of descriptive representation and the problem of disunity of women as a group. I conceive essentialist line of reasoning as unsustainable because it omits and pays little attention to differences among women. I claim that the possible and desirable solution is based on gender as seriality – concept introduced by Iris Marion Young. I argue that we should avoid looking for common characteristics and identities that all women would share without exception. Instead the context and structural relations should be emphasized. Although women do not consist a homogenous group, it is meaningful to talk about women as some kind of group, concretely social collective. In this connection I highlight the advantages of gender as seriality. Firstly, the gender of seriality enables us to identify barriers that (not only) Czech women in politics are facing. Unless we approach women as some kind of group, we could not conceptualize this disadvantage as systematic and structural, the disadvantage would be only seen as a matter of individual woman. Secondly it highlights why quotas are a legitimate tool to achieve balanced representation of women and men in political decision making. And finally and most importantly it overcomes essentialism of descriptive representation.
