Explaining Cross-National Differences in Women’s Descriptive Representation in the European Parliament: a Comparative Study

The study aims to contribute to the existing body of literature on cross-national variation in women’s descriptive representation in the European Parliament (EP) by examining several variables that have been deemed potentially significant in previous research but not yet empirically tested for all 27 EU Member States. To this end, the relevant hypotheses will be tested using regression to determine the effect of each variable on the percentage of women Members of the European Parliament (MEPs) elected. The novelty of the study lies in the juxtaposition of the variables from two units of analysis: intra-party level (party characteristics) and national level (ballot structure) and the comparison of their relative significance for gender balance in the EP. The European Parliament is often described as a champion of gender equality in Europe, both for its strong support for women’s rights and for the relatively balanced ratio of female and male MEPs. Taking into account the aggregated Member States’ average, the percentage of women MEPs since the first EP elections in 1979 has been significantly higher than the percentage of female parliamentarians in the national lower houses. However, an unaggregated analysis unveils substantial variations across Member States: from perfectly gender balanced national representations from Denmark, Latvia, Luxembourg, and Slovenia to only 15.2% of women MEPs from Romania and none from Cyprus. While women’s presence in parliamentary assemblies (descriptive representation) is not always enough to guarantee full representation of their experiences, interests and priorities in the political agenda (i.e. substantive representation), it certainly is one of the prerequisites and condicio sine qua non of the accurate and balanced substantive representation of women’s and men’s interests. The study will draw on a new, not yet examined data from the European elections in May 2019 as well as from the previous EP elections in 2004, 2009 and 2014. It will compare all 27 EU Member States and employ statistical hypothesis testing using multiple linear regression analysis. The project will seek to answer the following research questions: 1. Why does a high cross-national variation in women’s descriptive political representation occur in the European Parliament? 2. What characteristics of national political parties favour electing women as MEPs? 2a. Do the political orientations of parties, their views on social and cultural values and their positions on European integration have any effect on the percentage of women elected from these parties to the European Parliament? 2b. Do internal party rules, structures and candidate selection procedures make a difference in terms of gender balance of the party’s representation in the EP? 3. Does national ballot structure have an impact on the percentage of women MEPs elected from Member States? 4. Factors from which level – national or intra-party – are more significant for the women’s descriptive representation in the European Parliament?