« Taiwanese Journal of Political Science No.15Publish: 2001/12

Gender Differences in the Legislative Yuan

Author: Wan-ying, Yang

Abstract / Chinese PDF Download

Compared with past studies of female compatibility with men in the arena of representational politics, this study goes further, and looks to explore exactly what it is that distinguishes women from men, and the rationale of considering gender divisions  as  an  integral  part  of  normal  party  politics.  I  start  with  the  theoretical discussion   regarding   representation.   The   liberal   theorists   maintain   that   our representative  bodies  should  transcend  interests  based  on  group  identity.    In contrast, the supporters of the politics of identity claim that representatives should represent  different  identity  groups,  and  particularly  those  that  are  oppressed.  To evaluate  whether  gender  makes  a  difference  in  terms  of  legislator’s  attitudes toward  representation,  I  interviewed  a  sample  of  legislators  to  explore  and compare  male  and  female  representatives’  conceptualizations  and  attitudes  to representation.    Over  all,  I  have  observed  a  significant  gender  difference  as regards women’s issues, with respect to constituency perception and policy priority.   I  also  find  a  causal  link  between  these  two  seemingly  correspondent  gender patterns.    Even  though  the  variety  of  considerations  may  prevent  women  from bringing forth any significant changes, women are more likely to be involved with or   develop   women’s   networks,   and   that   such   networking   is   conducive   to developing a stronger female group identity and identifying with women’s culture.

Keywords:constituency identification、descriptive representation、Gender、policy preferences、politics of difference、representation、substantive representation、symbolic representation