Liberal political culture

Regarding women’s possibilities for gaining political power, traditional cultural values are said to work against the participation of women in any political process. Quota systems are therefore said to be more often applied in modern and liberal political systems. Political parties there may have internalised the progressive values and thus try to foster gender equality in all spheres of the society.

Furthermore, voluntary party quotas often result from a general women’s movement in the society and hence in the political parties themselves. As the Scandinavian example indicates, voluntary party quotas have often been introduced only after women already have gained powerful positions inside the party structure. These finding suggests that the presence of mobilised women groups in the party are of great importance for the emergence of voluntary party quotas.

Interventionist party policy and tolerant party culture

Positive discrimination of unprivileged groups by quota systems is said to be more consistent with certain political parties than with others, for instance with Labour or welfare state parties. Their party culture or main policy of intervention and redistribution to struggle against social or economic inequalities is very similar to the intervention by a quota system and its allocation rules.

Not surprisingly, the voluntary gender quotas have been first introduced by social democratic and left parties in the Scandinavian countries in the 1970s.[1]

Relations to party organisation

Clear operational  practices and procedures for candidate selection in a political party are claimed to be of great advantage to women, especially when there are specific rules or quotas that aim to guarantee women’s representation. In general, the absence of an institutionalised candidate nomination system often fosters hierarchical and hence patriarchal selection process.

Intended  implementation can only be ensured by the establishment of an adequate policy plan that governs the process of implementation. Such a policy requires that the quota should be considered from the very beginning of the candidate nomination and selection processes. Quota systems are usually more successfully implemented when they evolve through mobilization movements, than if their introduction just mirrors the wide integration of the disadvantaged social group in the society.