Több demokrácia, kevesebb képviselet? Választások, pártok, nõk a magyarországi politikában
More Democracy, Less Representation? Women, Elections and Parties in Hungarian Politics

Summary/Abstract: The article seeks to identify the main reasons for the notorious under-representation of women in Hungarian politics. Analytical tools, data analysis, and interviews with female politicians are applied to clarify the background. The study places the cultural heritage, the electoral system and the party system in the focus as explanatory dimensions. While descriptive and substantive representation cannot be regarded as equal, female under-representation qualifies the nature of Hungarian democracy. The article argues that the political opportunity structures for women are the best if and when left and left-of-centre parties apply equalization methods and ticket balancing in the process of candidate selection. This was not the case, however, in the first three democratic elections and generally speaking in the first decade of the democratic regime. Among the reasons the article specifies the following features: a) centre-right forces gathered strength and women became disprivileged in these parties, b) gate-keepers even in the centre-left parties proved too powerful to promote female political representation, c) the electoral system makes equalization difficult in itself, d) while list systems are regarded more advantageous from the perspective of female representation than SMDs the list system as part of the Hungarian electoral systems operates like a hidden majoritarian system due to small party magnitudes, e) lack or weakness of gender oriented social movements and pressures do not challenge the parties’ gender neutral strategies.

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