CERCLE DIPLOMATIQUE - issue 02/2019

LE MONDE ESSAY
There is no democracy
without women
Maria Rauch-Kallat
was born in Vienna in 1949.
She is a trained teacher in
four subjects and taught at
a school in Vienna-Favoriten.
The blindness of her
then four-year-old daughter
brought her into politics.
Under the Vienna ÖVP
(Austrian Christian
Democratic Party) chairman
Erhard Busek, she rose
steadily until she held
various ministerial posts in
the departments of
environment, health, youth,
family and women. Since
2007, she works as a
management consultant.
The management consultant about her own experience of women in politics.
S
ince the beginning of the year 2019, many democracies
in Europe have been celebrating
“100 Years Voting Rights for Women”. Within
these months, I very often have been asked to talk
about my experiences in participation of women in
political decision-making, which I was able to gain
within more than 30 years. I have been involved in
politics in many different positions on local, regional,
federal and international level in the Austrian
Christian Democratic Party and the European Peoples
Party as well as in non-partisan women organisations.
And these events have offered a great opportunity
to face two different audiences: on one side, a big
group of female potentials and women leaders, who
are capable and willing to involve into politics and
run for elections; and on the other side, party leaders
of different parties and various levels, who are all eager
to win upcoming elections with a good programme
and an attractive list of candidates. It was interesting
to address both groups.
I want to start with some general remarks and
some questions:
• Peace and a peaceful life in a healthy environment
are a value we all strive for. But we all know that
peace is not always easy to obtain, can be very fragile
and has to be worked upon constantly. The best recipe
for peace is constant work on improving democracies.
Developing democracies means good education
combined with fair chances for everybody in a
stable economy and a just society. Not quite easy to
obtain, what do you think?
• We live in difficult times. The global economic crisis
stresses not only political leaders but affects billions
of people all over the world. We need all our efforts,
the best political brains and the best commercial
talents to find the way out of these serious calamities.
Women make up more than 50 % of all populations
all over the world. Millions of them
are well educated and make up at least 50 % of the
best talents and high potentials. Can we really afford
to do without them?
• In modern democracies, men and women are equal
and by constitutional law share equal rights. One of
these rights is political participation. As I mentioned
before, women make up more than half of our populations.
So, they have not only the right to vote but
also the obligation to involve into decision-making
and so there is no democracy without women in decision-making
processes in politics as well as in economy
and civil society. How does it come that far less
than 50 % of political representation is female?
• In democracies, the power normally is with the majority.
Many women voters have not realised yet that
they are part of the majority and that it is within their
power to make a party win or lose an election. And
very often, they have not realised yet that nobody
else but conscious women politicians know better
and more about women‘s issues and their political
needs. They do so because many of them have faced
the same problems and experiences themselves. And
those women who are in political power have the
chance to change the world – and if it is not the whole
world, they can at least succeed in many improvements
in their local, regional or national surroundings.
So, why not use this power of majority?
To tell the truth: There are a lot of obstacles that
prevent women from equal participation in political
decision-making processes:
First of all is public opinion. What do I mean?
There is still a different public opinion about men
and women in politics. While men are considered
heroes when entering politics and taking responsibility
for the people in their constituencies, women
doing the same are asked whether they have not
found a husband, or - if they have one - whether he
agrees with her political involvement. If they have
children, they might be bad mothers neglecting
them because of their political involvement and if
they have no children, they do not know what they
are talking about. We all – men and women – should
really stop discriminating politically involved women
in our heads and our words, for many female
talents already get lost at an early stage because of
these discriminating opinions.
Some more obstacles: men and women still have a
different share in paid and unpaid work. So for example
is the participation of men in family work still
FOTOS: JEFF MANGIONE, ADOBESTOCK
rudimentary and leaves most of the work to women.
Combined with paid work in business, women have
little time left for themselves and/or for political involvement.
And politics takes time. Political structures
are male structures. Men like to organise meetings
in the evenings and the most important
decisions are not made in the meetings but very often
afterwards in the pub or the bar, late at night,
thus excluding most of the women. Not to forget networking.
Male networks function very well, men can
rely on them. Women underestimate the power of
networks, they do not take time for building their
own personal networks including men and women.
Last but not least, women have smaller budgets
for political campaigning, they get less funding and
less assistance. You all know that behind every successful
man there is a woman who supports him. Do
you know what is behind every successful woman? A
man, who tries to stop her. And from my own experience
I can tell you: not only one, dozens!
But the most important obstacles are female modesty
and lacking self-confidence, both characteristics
not to be found with male candidates.
So, women should actively work on their selfconfidence:
for example in Austria, like in many
other countries, more female than male students finish
their studies and they do it in a shorter time and
with better results.
Women can combine both sides of their brains,
the left side with the emphatic sphere being especially
valuable for political work.
Women gain a lot of practical experience in everyday
life and develop skills that are often lacking in
political decision-making. So, women concentrate
on different topics and have a different attitude towards
political work.
Women are not seeking the personal victory but
are searching for solutions that fit for all groups concerned.
Women are diligent, reliable and less corrupt.
They are honest and loyal.
Women can change political culture if their number
in office surpasses a critical mass.
Women make politics understandable and can
explain to their voters what they have done.
Women are used to work, so if you want something
to be done, go to a woman.
You see, there is no reason at all to underestimate
women. Men are well advised not to do and women
themselves should not do so either.
Considering all these facts – what could be the
logic consequences for clever party leaders?
They should look out for politically interested
women and encourage them to join the party and
involve them in political decision-making processes.
They should ask women for advice when working
on election programmes.
They should organise special trainings and additional
funding, offering women publicity and make
them publicly known.
They should fill their election lists with women,
in best way every second seat from the beginning
and then tell female voters that the party provides
best female representation.
Those who do so, may easily be the winners in the
election but in any way, they will gain a lot of brainpower
and work capacity for their parties.
46 Cercle Diplomatique 2/2019
Cercle Diplomatique 2/2019
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