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Ul nun ~ v 1 0 Women฀and฀Politics฀ Irene฀Ton g฀ 1.฀Why฀Women฀Matte r฀ Politics฀an d฀policie s฀affec t฀wome n฀a s฀well฀a s฀men ,฀but฀i n฀politica l฀decision making ฀worldwide ,฀wome n฀ar e฀under-represented .฀Whil e฀classica l฀politica l฀ philosophers฀equate฀politics฀with฀the฀public฀realm,฀and฀hence฀the฀male฀sphere,฀ modern฀conceptions฀of฀politics฀and฀citizenship฀would฀not฀be฀complete฀without฀ including฀all฀members฀of฀humanity.1 ฀Prevailing฀arguments฀for฀including฀women฀ in฀decision-making฀processes฀can฀be฀categorised฀as฀follows:2฀ Natural฀rights/God-give n฀right s฀- ฀B y฀virtu e฀o f฀thei r฀humanit y฀ women฀shoul d฀enjo y฀equa l฀right s฀wit h฀men ,฀includin g฀ful l฀ citizenship.3฀ Difference฀- ฀Whethe r฀du e฀t o฀natur e฀o r฀nurture ,฀th e฀live d฀ experience฀an d฀cognitiv e฀framewor k฀o f฀wome n฀i s฀quit e฀differen t฀ from฀tha t฀o f฀men .฀Therefore ,฀i f฀decision s฀ar e฀mad e฀fro m฀th e฀ standpoint฀o f฀me n฀only ,฀th e฀need s฀an d฀interest s฀o f฀wome n฀ma y฀ not฀be฀considered.฀Moreover,฀difference฀nee d฀not฀imply฀hierarch y฀ -฀neithe r฀men' s฀viewpoin t฀no r฀women' s฀viewpoin t฀shoul d฀b e฀ privileged.฀Rather ,฀th e฀currentl y฀mal e฀dominan t฀politica l฀structur e฀ needs฀to฀be฀balanced.฀ •฀Democrac y฀an d฀legitimac y฀- ฀Th e฀concep t฀o f฀"rul e฀b y฀many "฀ 1 ฀A ฀good฀collectio n฀o f฀essays฀o n฀this฀subject฀ca n฀b e฀found฀i n฀Phillips,฀Anne,฀ed.฀(1998),฀Feminism฀and฀ Politics,฀Oxfor d฀an d฀Ne w฀York,฀Oxford฀Universit y฀Press .฀ 2 ฀Se e฀also฀Unite d฀Nation s฀(1992) ,฀Women ฀in ฀Politics ฀and ฀Decision-Making ฀in ฀the฀Late ฀Twentieth ฀Century,฀ Dordrecht,฀Bosto n฀an d฀London :฀Martinu s฀Nijhof f฀Publishers .฀ 3 ฀Thi s฀argument฀wa s฀very฀popula r฀amon g฀th e฀suffragettes฀durin g฀the฀19t h฀and฀early฀20t h฀century .฀ Building฀Democracy฀11 7฀ Women฀and฀Politics฀ obviously฀include s฀bot h฀sexes;฀a฀system฀that฀excludes฀hal f฀of฀the฀ population฀i n฀decision-makin g฀canno t฀b e฀calle d฀democratic .฀Th e฀ outcome฀o f฀publi c฀deliberation s฀woul d฀b e฀see n฀t o฀b e฀mor e฀ legitimate฀i f฀the฀perspectives฀an d฀preference s฀o f฀both฀sexes฀were฀ included.฀Thi s฀coul d฀lea d฀t o฀mor e฀effectiv e฀policy-makin g฀an d฀ implementation.฀ Utility฀-฀Fro m฀a฀human฀resource฀point฀of฀view,฀it฀would฀be฀wasteful฀ not฀t o฀ta p฀int o฀th e฀poo l฀o f฀talent s฀represente d฀b y฀hal f฀th e฀ population.฀As฀wome n฀enjo y฀increase d฀acces s฀t o฀educatio n฀an d฀ information,฀it฀is฀difficult฀to฀make฀the฀argument฀that฀women฀shoul d฀ be฀exclude d฀fro m฀decision-makin g฀becaus e฀the y฀ar e฀les s฀ knowledgeable฀abou t฀publi c฀affairs฀than฀men.฀ •฀Transformin g฀politic s฀itsel f฀- ฀Th e฀existin g฀definition ,฀conten t฀an d฀ mode฀o f฀politic s฀may ฀no t฀b e฀th e฀mos t฀desirabl e฀o r฀optima l฀for m฀ that฀huma n฀societ y฀ca n฀achieve.฀With฀the฀participatio n฀o f฀women฀ in฀sufficien t฀number s฀(critica l฀mass) ,฀th e฀potentia l฀o f฀politic s฀t o฀ work฀for฀the฀betterment฀o f฀society฀a s฀a฀whole฀ma y฀b e฀increased.฀ On฀a฀less฀theoretical฀level ,฀there฀i s฀no฀lack฀of฀examples฀t o฀show฀the฀nee d฀ to฀loo k฀a t฀th e฀worl d฀throug h฀women' s฀eyes .฀An฀apparentl y฀universa l฀an d฀ gender-neutral4 ฀institutio n฀suc h฀a s฀th e฀Mandator y฀Providen t฀Fund ,฀fo r฀ example,฀may ,฀upo n฀close r฀inspection ,฀fai l฀t o฀provid e฀adequat e฀old-ag e฀ security฀fo r฀housewives .฀O n฀the฀othe r฀hand ,฀well-intentioned,฀pro-woma n฀ policies฀suc h฀a s฀maternit y฀leav e฀might ,฀i n฀the฀absence฀o f฀complementar y฀ legislation,฀lea d฀to฀unintended฀discriminatio n฀agains t฀women฀i n฀the฀labou r฀ market.฀I n฀short,฀wome n฀ar e฀stakeholder s...

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