ISG: The effects of electoral quotas on women's candidacy & representation in Indonesia

About the Seminar
During the last five elections, women’s parliamentary representation has steadily improved, doubling from 8.6 percent in 1999 to 20.7 percent in 2019. During four elections, progressively strengthened quotas on the number of women candidates and their placement on the ballot paper have been imposed. Stephen Sherlock examines quantitative evidence that the progressive strengthening of quotas on women’s political participation in Indonesia has been associated with improved representation of women in the national parliament (DPR). He uses quantitative data from the five elections, including the number of women candidates, their placement on the ballot, the vote for women and their success in winning seats, supplemented by qualitative data from interviews with women candidates, party leaders and advocates for women’s representation. Could incremental tightening of quotas see further growth in women’s representation?
About the speaker
Stephen Sherlock is Visiting Fellow, Department of Political and Social Change, ANU. He is a consultant on political governance and former Director of the Centre for Democratic Institutions (CDI) at ANU, specialising in legislatures and electoral issues, including the participation of women in politics.
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