The Quota System - Essay Example

Details: Due The Quota System The clamor for equity in the participation of both the male and female genders in politics is full of intrigues. There has been a wide range of transformations that have taken place in relation to the participation of both genders in politics. For a long time, politics has been dominated by the males. The participation of the females back then was not significant. This can be attributed to the long standing perception that politics is for the males. The stereotyping for politics being a male dominated field was based on the murky and dirty nature of politics.

Politics at those times was characterized with a lot of toughness and roughness. Therefore, the females due to fear kept off from the politics arena since it entailed alit of rigorous activities. The low participation could also be attributed to the difficulty that is accompanied by women running against the male incumbents. Most women are also found outside the work force and this provides a hindrance for them to engage in politics since financial implications have to be met. The media coverage can also be associated with the participation of women in politics since the female candidates do not enjoy the same coverage as their male counterparts.

Instead of the media encouraging the females participating in politics, they go ahead and practice smear politics which is targeted at making the female candidates to be demeaned by the society. The obligations and duties bestowed to the women make their participation in the political arena to be skew. The responsibility that women have in the society such as the family obligations limits the participation of women in politics (Tripp and Kang 2008, p.333). However, the participation of women in politics has been increasing over time.

More and more women are now getting involved in politics. The participation of the women is attributed to the leveling of the playing field and the introduction of the new campaign strategies amongst the female candidates. The leveling of the playing field has attracted more women to engage in politics since various reforms have been carried out in the political arena. Some of the reforms that have led to the increase in the number of females participating in politics include the meritocratic and the affirmative models as well as the structural changes in the political arena.

The meritocratic model allows the participation of the genders based on merit and not any forms of discrimination such as that which is based on gender. The meritocratic model ensures that the females are sensitized and encouraged to run for various positions, training the women for candidacy and the provision of financial assistance for the funding of their campaigns. The affirmative action on the other hand ensures that the women get representation in the various political positions that are available.

The affirmative action aims at increasing the number of women who get involved in politics. The affirmative action model provides for a certain proportion or numbers of women get the various political offices. The third modality that has led to the increase in the participation of women in politics is the structural changes that have been instituted in the political arena. The structural changes bring about the increase in the number of female representation in the political field as well as increasing the number of political parties and transformation of the perception in the political culture by encouraging cooperative other than confrontational politics (Tripp and Kang 2008, p. 344). The quota system has become synonymous to the electoral landscape in various parts of the world.

The acceptance of the quotas is a good indication that the world is embracing the steps of equal representation with the inclusion of both the male and female genders in the political arena. The quota system provides the means through which women today have gained entry in to the various political offices. There are two types of quotas that currently exist in the political landscape which include the voluntary and the compulsory quotas. The quota system overcomes the constraints such as the economic, cultural and electoral that are associated with female representation in politics.

The quota system ensures that the female population to have a certain proportion of representatives in respective political offices that exist in a country. Under the quota system, the women have a number of seats set aside for them in various political positions. The quota system this changes the landscape of female representation in politics which was once a male dominated field. The application of the quota system in politics varies in various parts of the world. Even though the United States accounts for the largest proportion of the females involved in politics, other countries such as Rwanda which have effectively implement the quota system has recorded tremendous changes in terms of female representation.

Rwanda currently leads in the number of female representation in parliament with nearly 49% of the seats being filled by women. Other countries have such as Denmark, Netherlands, Spain, France, Sweden among many others enjoy nearly 1/3 representation in politics by the women. The quota system is so far the best model that encourages the female representation in various parts of the world. This can attributed to the institutionalization of the quota system in various political systems in the world.

Therefore, the quota system ensures and guarantees the representation of the female population in the political arena. The quota system is effective since it has brought about the rapid transformation in the political field in terms of female representation. In future, more representation by women is anticipated since the quota system has increased the sensitization to the women to engage in the once male dominated political field (Tripp and Kang 2008, p. 352). References Tripp, A. and Kang, A. (2008). The global impact of quotas.

On the fast track to increased female legislative presentation. Vol. 41:338-359, Sage publications.