The 2020 general election
A Gender Analysis
Bibliographic Data
| ID | 6074780 |
|---|---|
| Authors | Fiona Buckley (0000-0002-9411-5081, University College Cork, corresponding author), Yvonne Galligan (0000-0003-4624-3959, Equality, Diversity and Inclusion Directorate, Technological University Dublin, Dublin 7, Ireland) |
| Year | 2020 |
| Volume | 35 |
| Issue | 4 |
| Pages | 602-614 |
| Publication date | 2020-10-01 |
| Peer Reviewed | Yes |
| Open Access | No |
| Type | ARTICLE |
| Venue | Irish Political Studies (JOURNAL) |
| Journal identifiers | ISSN: 0790-7184 • E-ISSN: 1743-9078 |
| Publisher | Informa UK Limited (PUBLISHER • GB) |
| DOI | 10.1080/07907184.2020.1762283 |
| OpenAlex | W3025449652 |
| Language | EN |
| Citations received | 7 |
| References cited | 15 |
The February 2020 general election will be remembered as the “change” election, when the two dominant parties of Irish politics, Fianna Fáil and Fine Gael, trailed behind Sinn Féin in voters' preferences for the first time. However, for the gender balance of Irish politics, much remained unchanged. While the number of women elected to Dáil Éireann increased by one, this marginal growth since the 2016 general election was deemed a disappointment by analysts and advocates alike. A review of candidacy reveals that Fianna Fáil and Fine Gael lag behind other parties in terms of the proportion of women selected and rely on the 'add-on' route to shore up their female candidacy base. The success rates of female candidates were markedly lower than those of their male counterparts in the Labour party, Greens, Fianna Fáil and Fine Gael. However, the election was a good outing for women in the Social Democrats and Sinn Féin, and especially for Mary Lou McDonald, who became the first woman to lead a party to top-spot in an Irish general election. The legislative gender quota continued to play an integral role in ensuring a critical mass of women were selected to contest the general election. In many respects, 2020 was a consolidation election for the gender quota as it fits-in and integrates into party candidate selection processes. Yet, with just 22.5% of the seats in Dáil Éireann occupied by women, the legislative gender quota should be viewed as the start rather than the culmination of efforts to support women's candidacy and election
Econometrics · Economics · General election · Political science · Politics · Electoral Systems and Political Participation · Gender Politics and Representation · Irish and British Studies · Law
Gender Quotas in Ireland
Measuring the inclusiveness of deliberation
Fianna Fáil’s cross-class ideological strategy since 2011
Gendered framing and representation of women in Irish political television programming during the 2020 formation of the government of Ireland
Irish General Election 2020
Are Irish voters biased against female candidates? Evidence from the 2020 general election
(Gender) balancing the books
Gender, Informal Institutions and Political Recruitment
Gender Power, Leadership, and Governance
Thinking About Making a Difference
The Political Opportunity of Women Candidates for the U.S. House of Representatives in 1984
Are you tough enough?’ Performing gender in the UK leadership debates 2015
Is Local Office a Springboard for Women to Dáil Éireann
The Fault, Dear Brutus
Electoral Gender Quotas
Gender Quotas, Electoral Laws, and the Election of Women
Parliaments as Gendered Institutions
(Gender) balancing the books
Gender quotas, candidate background and the election of women
Sacrificial lambs, women candidates, and district competitiveness in Canada
| Unique citing works | 7 |
|---|---|
| Citations per year | 1,17 |
| Citation span | 2020 - 2026 (7) |
| Citation velocity | current |
| Highly cited | No |
| Citation types | Neutral: 7 |