So close and yet so far? What can be done after the (temporary) failure of parity laws

by Benjamin Höhne and Svenja Samstag

DOI: 10.36206/BP2020.02

In the 2021 Bundestag election campaign, the Green Party's candidate for chancellor, Annalena Baerbock, stands out due to one characteristic - her gender. The fact that this is the case speaks for the unbroken effectiveness of traditional gender roles. This spotlight examines how the question of gender equality in parliaments can be answered in the future. Now that parity laws have failed for the time being, other approaches are needed. The ball is back in the political parties' court. There is widespread awareness of the problem within the parties. With the exception of the AfD, every party in the Bundestag is in favour of gender balance on the lists. There is no lack of implementation options, starting with the voluntary women's quota. However, voters can also weigh in on the issue of parliamentary representation of women. All they have to do is put their weight behind it in the upcoming federal elections in September.

The most important facts in brief:

1. The proportion of women in most state parliaments is currently between 31 and 37 per cent. Six state parliaments fall short of the 30 per cent mark. The frontrunner in the outsider position is the Hamburg Parliament with 44 per cent.
2. Parity laws to rectify this descriptive underrepresentation of women have so far failed in Germany at state constitutional courts. A decision by the Federal Constitutional Court is still pending. A recently convened electoral law reform commission of the German Bundestag will also address this issue. In view of previous experience, no ground-breaking decisions in favour of parity are to be expected from either the Federal Constitutional Court or the reform commission.
3. Internal party quotas exist in various forms in the Left Party, Alliance Greens, SPD and CDU, but not in the CSU, FDP and AfD. Their effect is limited to the electoral lists (second vote). In the constituencies (first vote), men dominate as candidates in all parties. For more women in parliament, there needs to be a stronger link between constituency and list nominations, which would have to have equal quotas.
4. Further gender equality measures, for which a number of proposals have already been made, should find broad acceptance in the parties, as gender balance on the electoral lists is supported everywhere with the exception of the AfD.
5. Public pressure before the general election can encourage the parties to intensify their efforts to achieve a more gender-equitable parliamentary representation. No one needs to vote for a list whose top seats are occupied only by men.