THE MAIN DETERMINANTS OF WOMEN’S REPRESENTATION IN PARTY CANDIDATE LISTS: AN EMPIRICAL ANALYSIS
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.17072/2218-1067-2026-1-38-49Keywords:
political parties, party ideologies, left and right in politics, intra-party democracy, political representation, women's participation, regression analysisAbstract
The article aims to identify the main factors that determine the representation of women in party candidate lists in the Russian party system. This study examines why some Russian political parties include more women than others. To accomplish this, the authors used quantitative regression analysis. The empirical base included data on Russian political parties obtained from various sources, including the Manifesto Project Database, parties’ program content analysis results, and composition of party leadership and party structures data. The results of the statistical analysis showed that the presence of women in party leadership (positive correlation) is a significant factor affecting the representation of women in party candidate lists. There was no statistically significant relationship between the ideological orientation of the parties, the level of centralization of the party structure, and the representation of women in party candidate lists. The results indicate that, rather than its programmatic rhetoric or formal ideological positioning, the internal party structure is a key factor in increasing the representation of women on candidate lists. The presence of women in the party's governing bodies correlates with a higher proportion of women on electoral lists, suggesting a mechanism for intra-elite representation and the influence of access to power resources on personnel decisionsReferences
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