Insights from Belarus. FROGEE. Policy brief 3.

Women in politics: why are they under-represented? Pamela Campa, SITE. 

Women are generally under-represented in political offices worldwide, and their under-representation becomes larger in more senior positions. In this brief author reviews some recent academic literature in economics and political science on the likely causes of women’s under-representation. Broadly speaking, the literature has divided such causes into “supply-side” and “demand-side” factors: the former include women’s potentially lower willingness to run for political office, whereas the latter include voters’ and party leaders’ prejudices against women in politics. Understanding the underlying causes of women’s under-representation in political institutions is crucial in order to design the most effective policies to address the existing gender gaps. In concluding some of the policies that have been proposed or used to empower women in politics are summarized.

Women in Belarusian politics. Lev Lvovskiy, BEROC. 

As a soviet legacy, women always enjoyed relatively large representation in Belarus’ power, but this representation mandated by quotas was formal and meant little in the authoritarian regime. In 2020, when the situation became critical after all male opposition candidates were detained banned from participation in the elections, women took the situation into their own hands and became the face of the protest.

FROGEE. March, 2021