A female president was elected in 2010 to govern a country
with a population of nearly 200 million people and what could be one of the
future most influential states in the world. CNN reports: “Brazil has quickly
become a major player in world politics and one of the world's ten largest
economies in GDP. According to the International Monetary Fund's 2011 economic
outlook, Brazil's economy is expected to grow by more than 5%, faster than many
developed nations, including the United States.” Not only has the state of
Brazil never had a female president before, but the election of a female to
govern this rising country has given women hope for a breakthrough in the
patriarchal structure and hierarchy that has been prevalent in the political
arena for decades. For a country with a booming economy and an influential
position on the international arena, having a female president makes many
gender equality advocates jump for joy. Cecilia Sardenberg, a Brazilian
activist and academic explained the relationship between women and politics in
Brazil in the following way: “Women face similar inequalities in the political
sphere. We won the right to vote in 1934, and even though women currently make
up 51% of the electorate, we hold less than 10% of elected seats, placing
Brazil among the countries of the world with the lowest proportion of women in
public office.”
In an effort to reduce the inequality within the political
sphere of Brazil, electoral quotas were imposed as laws in 1995, requiring a
20% of political parties’ candidates to be female. This quota was later raised
to 30%. Political scientists have scrutinized these quotas in more detail and
found some alarming loopholes and flaws on regulation of how these quotas
should be implemented. According to political scientists, three circumstances
must be highlighted to fully understand whether these quotas actually promote
equality between the sexes in the political sphere. First, the quota of 30% is
required for candidacy spots, not parliamentary seats. Therefore, there might
not be more women possessing actual legislative power. Second, the legislation
requiring this quota not only enabled more spots for women in political
parties, but also extended the total number of candidates that a party can display.
This piece of the legislation therefore guarantees that the increase of female
candidates will not decrease their male counterparts. Finally, one must
consider that the parties are not required to fill these 30% of candidacy spots
– only to not fill them with men. To sum up, these three “fine prints” of the
legislation of gender quotas might play a major role in hindering a progression
of females holding political offices in Brazil.
Research comparing elections for Federal Chamber seats
before the new legislation regarding gender quotas and after showed that “women
scarcely passed the 10 per cent mark. Parties simply left many of the vacancies
idle. The goal was not reached in any federal unit.” Even though there are
imperfections within the implementations of the quota laws, political scientist
still seem to view the quota laws as a way for women’s voice to affect the
political sphere in Brazil. Over time, there is an expectation for an
empowerment of women and encouragement of creating strong female leaders to
benefit the political parties: “Parties with a higher number of competitive
female candidates, that is, those who had shown some potential for success,
would hold greater chances of reaching their electoral quotient and of winning
a higher number of seats.” Although not expected to change the political
situation overnight, political scientists agree that quota laws might be the
‘in’ for women to the more prestigious political offices. Further, political
scientists agree that this Brazilian law will motivate party leaders to seek
out, or help women to become strong political leaders, as this will reflect
positively on the party as a whole.
Even though political scientists who carried out studies a
couple of years ago complained that the legislation needed to change to faster
fulfill its goals, such as make it mandatory for the parties to fill the
vacancies, statistics released as recent as October 8, 2012 report on record
high elected females in mayoral races around Brazil. These are the kind of
results that political scientists have been waiting to see if the quota laws
would generate – and it is safe to say that the dynamics of the political
sphere in Brazil are changing heavily. An article in the Washington Post reports
that “621 women were elected mayor outright. That’s up from 504 in the last
municipal elections four years ago and from 187 in 1996.” These statistical
numbers together with the proof that Brazil, considered by many political
scientists as a traditional, patriarchal society, elected its first female president
ever two years ago, validates the implementations of the quota laws. These laws
have forced the influential, predominantly male political sphere of leaders to
realize the value in promoting and supporting female candidates to the point
where one of them now acquires the highest political office possible.
Johanna Killpack
Sources:
Miguel, L. F. (2008). Political Representation and
Gender in Brazil: Quotas for Women and their Impact. Bulletin of Latin
American Research, 197-214.
Moura, H. d. (2011, January 1). Brazil
inaugurates first female president. Retrieved October 8, 2012, from CNN:
http://www.cnn.com/2011/WORLD/americas/01/01/brazil.female.president/index.html
Press, A. (2012, October 8). Report: Voters in
Brazil elect record number of women in mayoral races in Brazil. Retrieved
October 8, 2012 , from The Washington Post:
http://www.washingtonpost.com/world/the_americas/report-voters-in-brazil-elect-record-number-of-women-in-mayoral-races-in-brazil/2012/10/08/2d652082-118a-11e2-9a39-1f5a7f6fe945_story.html
Sardenberg, C. (2008, March 11). Retrieved October
8, 2012, from OpenDemocracy:
http://www.opendemocracy.net/article/5050/political_representation_brazil
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