Women's Political Participation and Representation in Asia.pdf

women’s political
participation and
representation
in asia
Obstacles and Challenges
Edited by Kazuki Iwanaga

WOMEN’S POLITICAL PARTICIPATION
AND REPRESENTATION IN ASIA

WOMEN AND POLITICS IN ASIA
Series Editors:
Kazuki Iwanaga (Halmstad University) and Qi Wang (Oslo University)
Women and Politics in Thailand
Continuity and Change
Edited by Kazuki Iwanaga
Women’s Political Participation and Representation in Asia
Obstacles and Challenges
Edited by Kazuki Iwanaga

Women’s Political Participation
and Representation in Asia
Obstacles and Challenges
Edited by Kazuki Iwanaga

Women and Politics in Asia series, No. 2
First published in 2008
by NIAS Press
NIAS – Nordic Institute of Asian Studies
Leifsgade 33, DK-2300 Copenhagen S, Denmark
tel [phone] • fax [phone]
email: [email protected] • website:
© NIAS – Nordic Institute of Asian Studies 2008
All rights reserved.
While copyright in the volume as a whole is vested in the Nordic
Institute of Asian Studies, copyright in the individual papers belongs
to their authors. No paper may be reproduced in whole or in part
without the express permission of the author or publisher.
British Library Cataloguing in Publication Data
Women’s political participation and representation in Asia :
obstacles and challenges. - (Women and politics in Asia ; 2)
1. Women in politics - Asia 2. Women politicians - Asia
I. Iwanaga, Kazuki II. Nordic Institute of Asian Studies
305.4’332’095
ISBN: 978-87-7694-016-4
Typeset by NIAS Press
Produced by SRM Production Services Sdn Bhd
and printed in Malaysia

v
CONTENTS
Abbreviations and Acronyms • ix
Contributors • xiii
Preface • xvii
1 Kazuki Iwanaga
Introduction
Women and Politics in Asia: A Comparative Perspective • 1
2 Andrea Fleschenberg
Asia’s Women Politicians at the Top: Roaring Tigresses
or Tame Kittens? • 23
3 Jude Howell
Gender and Rural Governance in China • 55
4
Lichun Chiang
Women as Agents of Change in Legislation in Taiwan • 81
5 Kazuki Iwanaga
Women’s Political Representation in Japan • 101
6 Won-Hong Kim
South Korean Women’s Political Status and Future
Challenges • 130
7
Trudy Jacobsen
Beyond Apsara: Women, Tradition and Trajectories in
Cambodian Politics • 149

vi
8 Kazuki Iwanaga
Women in Thai Politics • 173
9 Lourdes Veneracion-Rallonza
Women and the Democracy Project: A Feminist Take on
Women’s Political Participation in the Philippines • 210
10 Anula Attanayake
Elitism in Women’s Political Participation in Sri Lanka
within a South Asian Context • 253
11 Kamal Uddin Ahmed
Women and Politics in Bangladesh • 276
12 Drude Dahlerup
Gender Quotas in Politics: Empowerment from Above
or from Below? • 297
Index • 311
Tables
2.1 Socio-political data of countries with female political leadership
(as of 2004) • 28–29
2.2 Gender-related data of countries with female political leadership
(as of 2004) • 30
2.3 Biographical data of Asia’s female political leaders • 32–33
2.4 Electoral performance of top Asian woman politicians (in 2004) • 42
2.5 Female political representation in countries with elections
(in 2004) • 43
2.6 Female political representation according to ranking of Inter-
Parliamentary Union (IPU) • 44
2.7