Faculty of Political Science, Central Tehran Branch, Islamic Azad University
Abstract
A fundamental problem facing the process of democratization is the lack of gender equality in political leadership and decision-making positions. Today, only 23.33 per cent of all national parliamentarians are women and 10 women are serving as Head of State and 9 as Head of Government worldwide. In Iran, 17 women were elected to be present in the 10th Islamic Consultative Assembly in 2016. If growth at this level is maintained, we can expect that Iranian women parliamentarians will achieve parity with men 60 years from now. Multiple factors have contributed towards this situation, including social structural and institutional barriers, but what is the role of political culture in this process? Do the attitudes towards women as parliamentarians play a significant role in hindering their empowerment? Hypothesis of this study are (a) traditional attitudes are a major barrier to the election of women to parliament; (b) culture continues to prove a significant influence on the proportion of women parliamentarians; and (c) cultural barriers have been fading among younger generation as a result of modernization. The data for this research are provided from parliamentary survey study and qualitative interviews with political activists regarding their cultural attitudes towards gender equality. The conclusion showed that although the alter of deep-rooted attitudes towards sex roles may facilitate the process of introduction of more women to the Islamic Consultative Assembly, the combination of cultural change in conjunction with institutional reforms will hold considerable promise that can accelerate the move towards a more optimistic scenario before next 60 years
Hajipour Sarduie, S., & Maghsoudi, M. (2016). The Politics of Presence: A Cultural Analysis of Women’s Representation in Iran’s Islamic Consultative Assembly. Research Letter of Political Science, 11(4), 41-70.
MLA
Simin Hajipour Sarduie; Mojtaba Maghsoudi. "The Politics of Presence: A Cultural Analysis of Women’s Representation in Iran’s Islamic Consultative Assembly". Research Letter of Political Science, 11, 4, 2016, 41-70.
HARVARD
Hajipour Sarduie, S., Maghsoudi, M. (2016). 'The Politics of Presence: A Cultural Analysis of Women’s Representation in Iran’s Islamic Consultative Assembly', Research Letter of Political Science, 11(4), pp. 41-70.
VANCOUVER
Hajipour Sarduie, S., Maghsoudi, M. The Politics of Presence: A Cultural Analysis of Women’s Representation in Iran’s Islamic Consultative Assembly. Research Letter of Political Science, 2016; 11(4): 41-70.
)
