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Gender Quotas and Ethnic Minority Representation: Swedish Evidence from a Longitudinal Mixed Methods Study

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  29 May 2015

Olle Folke ,
Lenita Freidenvall  and
Johanna Rickne
Olle Folke
Affiliation:
Columbia University
Lenita Freidenvall
Affiliation:
Stockholm University
Johanna Rickne
Affiliation:
Research Institute for Industrial Economics
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Abstract

In this paper, we study the ways in which affirmative action for one political minority, gender quotas, impact on intersectional representation. In a quantitative analysis of detailed panel data from 285 Swedish municipal assemblies, the numerical impact of a zipper placement mandate in Sweden's largest political party, the Social Democratic Party, is analyzed. No evidence that this quota helped, or hindered, the intersectional representation of men or women is found in the short run, but it is found that a weak numerical impact may exist in the long run. A qualitative analysis of party records and interviews with key actors sheds further light on these results. Differences in the norms of representation for women and polyethnic minorities, coupled with weak organizational and practical constraints for formulating policies for the latter, appear to be likely explanations.

Type
Research Article
Information
Politics & Gender , Volume 11 , Issue 2 , June 2015 , pp. 345 - 381
Copyright
Copyright © The Women and Politics Research Section of the American Political Science Association 2015 

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