Polonya, Macaristan ve Çekya'da kadınların parlementer temsili: Kadın hareketinin siyasi temsil kazanımlarımlarındaki rolü

Why does women's parliamentary representation have been increasing in Poland and Czechia, and not in Hungary? The average percentage of women in three decades of democratically elected parliaments is 16% in Poland and Czechia, while the average is 9,4% in Hungary. Currently, 22,5% and 28,7% of MPs are women in Polish and Czech (lower) parliaments, and only 12% of MPs are women in Hungary. Based on a Most Similar Systems Design, this research investigates the causes of this variation. I first conduct process tracing and statistical analysis to test the observable implications of four potential theories: electoral system, right-wing government, traditional gender attitudes, and women's lower interest in politics. I suggest that these theories do not adequately explain stagnant levels of women in Hungarian parliament. Then, by comparatively analyzing the processes that lead to a substantive increase in women's parliamentary representation in Poland (2001 and 2011) and Czechia (1996 and 2010), I find that women's mobilization within and outside of the parliament for more representation explain these representational gains. I present evidence that in Hungary, women MPs' parliamentary activism for more representation has not been prominent, and women's political representation has not been a prioritized issue for women's civil society organizations.