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

The paper 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. 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 European Parliament. Taking into account the aggregated Member States’ average, the percentage of women Members of the European Parliament (MEPs) since the first EP elections has been significantly higher than the percentage of female national parliamentarians. However, a disaggregated analysis unveils substantial variations across Member States. The study draws 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 and seeks 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?