Abstract
Fuszara traces the evolution of women’s political representation over time. The fact that women gained the right to vote in 1918 is used as evidence of the lack of discrimination against women in the public sphere. During the Communist period, the highest share of women among Polish MPs was only 23%. Following the political transformations in the region in the late 1980s, women’s participation dropped considerably. Increases in the intervening years has been the result of a series of small steps, including campaigns to improve women’s representation in politics and, in 2011, the introduction of a gender quota law. As a result, the share of female MPs has increased to the highest levels in Polish history, and women have achieved other important high-ranking political positions.
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Fuszara, M. (2019). Poland: Regime Transformation and Women’s Political Representation. In: Franceschet, S., Krook, M.L., Tan, N. (eds) The Palgrave Handbook of Women’s Political Rights. Gender and Politics. Palgrave Macmillan, London. https://doi.org/10.1057/978-1-137-59074-9_46
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1057/978-1-137-59074-9_46
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