Women's absence in Sri Lankan politics: Lessons on the effectiveness and limitations of quotas to address under-representation

Vijeyarasa, R

Women's absence in Sri Lankan politics: Lessons on the effectiveness and limitations of quotas to address under-representation

Vijeyarasa, R

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Publisher:: Elsevier
Publication Type:: Journal Article
Citation:: Women's Studies International Forum, 2020, 81, pp. 102371-102371
Issue Date:: 2020-07-01

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Field	Value	Language
dc.contributor.author	Vijeyarasa, R https://orcid.org/0000-0003-4581-4924
dc.date.accessioned	2020-09-12T21:28:15Z
dc.date.available	2020-09-12T21:28:15Z
dc.date.issued	2020-07-01
dc.identifier.citation	Women's Studies International Forum, 2020, 81, pp. 102371-102371
dc.identifier.issn	0277-5395
dc.identifier.uri	http://hdl.handle.net/10453/142636
dc.description.abstract	© 2020 Elsevier Ltd After decades of resistance to quotas – or reserved seats – as a means of addressing women's lack of representation in politics, Sri Lanka introduced a highly complicated and little-understood series of electoral laws to establish a quota for women at the local government level (LGL). Local government elections in February 2018 marked their inaugural implementation. Drawing on nearly five decades of global academic literature analysing quotas and utilising a five-pronged framework for understanding the goals that quotas are designed to achieve, this paper assesses the LGL quota against those objectives. Based on key-informant interviews and data from the 2018 election, I consider (i) the extent to which we might expect an increase in the space and respect for women politicians in Sri Lanka; (ii) the likelihood that elected women can deliver a gender-responsive political agenda for their female constituents; and (iii) the extent to which the quota can help redefine political norms in Sri Lanka.
dc.language	en
dc.publisher	Elsevier
dc.relation.ispartof	Women's Studies International Forum
dc.relation.isbasedon	10.1016/j.wsif.2020.102371
dc.rights	info:eu-repo/semantics/embargoedAccess
dc.subject	1699 Other Studies in Human Society, 1801 Law, 2002 Cultural Studies
dc.subject.classification	Gender Studies
dc.title	Women's absence in Sri Lankan politics: Lessons on the effectiveness and limitations of quotas to address under-representation
dc.type	Journal Article
utslib.citation.volume	81
utslib.for	1699 Other Studies in Human Society
utslib.for	1801 Law
utslib.for	2002 Cultural Studies
pubs.organisational-group	/University of Technology Sydney/Faculty of Law
pubs.organisational-group	/University of Technology Sydney
utslib.copyright.status	open_access	*
pubs.consider-herdc	false
utslib.copyright.embargo	2022-07-01T00:00:00+1000Z
dc.date.updated	2020-09-12T21:28:04Z
pubs.publication-status	Published
pubs.volume	81

Abstract:

© 2020 Elsevier Ltd After decades of resistance to quotas – or reserved seats – as a means of addressing women's lack of representation in politics, Sri Lanka introduced a highly complicated and little-understood series of electoral laws to establish a quota for women at the local government level (LGL). Local government elections in February 2018 marked their inaugural implementation. Drawing on nearly five decades of global academic literature analysing quotas and utilising a five-pronged framework for understanding the goals that quotas are designed to achieve, this paper assesses the LGL quota against those objectives. Based on key-informant interviews and data from the 2018 election, I consider (i) the extent to which we might expect an increase in the space and respect for women politicians in Sri Lanka; (ii) the likelihood that elected women can deliver a gender-responsive political agenda for their female constituents; and (iii) the extent to which the quota can help redefine political norms in Sri Lanka.

Please use this identifier to cite or link to this item:

http://hdl.handle.net/10453/142636