Electoral gender quotas systems and their implementation in Europe

Table 31. The percentage and number of women deputies in Spain, 1977–2008, for the threelargest political parties or coalitionsNumbers are within brackets.1977–791979–821982–861986–891989–931993–961996–20002000–042004–082008–12PSOE 6.8%(8)5.0%(6)6.9%(14)7.1%(13)17.1%(30)17.6%(28)27.7%(39)36.8%(46)46.3%(75)42.3%(71)PP 6.3%(1)11.1%(1)0.9%(1)5.9%(5)10.4%(11)14.9%(21)14.3%(22)25.1%(46)28.4%(42)30.7%(47)IU 15.8%(3)8.7%(2)0.0%(0)0.0%(0)11.0%(2)22.0%(4)33.0%(7)25.0%(2)40.0%(2)0%(0)Total % of 6.0% 5.0% 5.9% 8.4% 13.9% 16.0% 24.0% 28.3% 36.0% 36.3%femaledeputiesSources: Verge, Tania, ‘Mujer y partidos políticos en España: las estrategias de los partidos y su impactoinstitucional, 1978–2004’, Revista Española de Investigaciones Sociológicas, 115 (2006), pp. 165–96; Verge, Tania,‘De la cuota a la democracia paritaria: Estrategías partidistas y representación política de las mujeres enEspaña’, Política. Revista de Ciencia Política, 46 (2006), pp. 107–39; Instituto de la Mujer (2008);.The PP was the only party that was negative to the modification of the 1985 General Electoral Acton 22 March 2007, even if it agreed on the need for more women in public politics. Its argumentswere that quotas are unnecessary, since Spain was already high on the ranking list of women’spolitical representation worldwide, and the parties should be free to choose where to place womenon the electoral lists 59 .Today’s United Left was created in 1986 by the association of the Communist Party and otherparties to the left of the PSOE. An internal debate resulted in the 1989 commitment to a quota forwomen, of 30 per cent for internal party positions and on the party electoral lists. Later this debateresulted in a 35 per cent quota being adopted in 1990 and a 40 per cent quota being adopted in1997 (Ramiro 2000: 225–6). This development can be noticed in the increasing numbers of femaleIU representatives in table 31). In addition, five regional parties in Spain have adopted a 40 per centquota for either sex – the Socialist Party of Catalonia (Partit dels Socialistes de Catalunya) since2000, the Initiative for Catalonia-Green (Iniciativa per Catalunya-Verds) since 2002, the RepublicanLeft of Catalonia (Esquerra Republicana de Catalunya) since 2004, the Nationalist Galician Bloc(Bloque Nacionalista Galego) since 2002, and the Canarian Coalition (Coalición Canaria) since2000.Legislated quotasThe political representation of Spanish citizens at the central-state level is regulated in general termsby the constitution and detailed by the 1985 General Electoral Act. As mentioned above, the 2007General Act on Equality Between Women and Men modified the 1985 General Electoral Act withthe aim of securing a sufficiently significant number of both sexes in political representative posts(Spanish Ministry of the Interior 2007: 3). The law is so framed that no sex can be represented withmore than 60 per cent, and, consequently, no less than 40 per cent, on the electoral lists. Quotas areapplied not only to the whole party list but also to every five posts. If the number of eligible postsis less than five, the list must be as close as possible to the 40 : 60 equilibrium.Article 44 bis of the General Act on Equality states that the ‘lists of candidates for Congressional,Municipal, Island Councils (Consejos Insulares) and Canary Island Councils (Cabildos Insulares Canarios)elections under the provision of this Act, as well as for the European Parliament and regional59 Camarero Benítez, MP for the PP, speech in the Chamber of Deputies on 22 March 2007.96