For the last 16 years, Germany has been widely known for its female chancellor, Angela Merkel. With a leading
woman, you might imply a strong female force within the German parliament. But is that truly so?
The autumn of 2018 marked Germany's 100-year jubilee of women's right to vote in the country. Journalistic
coverage of the celebratory reception showed a stage full of merely unknown female politicians [4]. A
rare, colourful
photo to be taken, in a society that is used to seeing predominately white old men in grey suits when picturing
current political representatives. In her speech on the reception day, it was Merkel herself who reminded German
citizens:
"One swallow doesn't make a summer." [7]
Her mere existence should not be considered an alibi for the country to regard itself with equal chances for all
genders to inhabit (political) positions of power [7]. Despite ongoing efforts, Germany has yet to walk a long way
to
achieve true gender equality and representation in the federal parliament. So, let's wind back the clock first and
have a closer look at the representation of gender in the history of the German parliament [9]. Before diving into
the
visual graph, a quick explanation of the elective system is needed. Candidates can win a seat in the parliament in
two different ways. They can either be voted for directly as a single member of the parliament or in a list
election, which means based on a proposed list by parties. In both cases, it is necessary to run for an
established party.
Following the powerful positions mainly inhabited by male parliament members, author Caroline Criado Perez opened
the public eyes to the invisible work women are doing behind the scenes [2]. Research into the gender equality
statistic from 2015 revealed, that job positions working for the federal services, including the administration
for members of the parliament, are done by 54% of women [1]. This makes clear, that the parliament reflects a
common
phenomenon. While men enjoy political power, influence and popularity, more women keep their backs and the system
running.
Thus, although Germany regards itself as a leading progressive, industrial nation, the numbers on the parliament
distribution have to be put into an international context. As of the 1st of March 2022, Germany is ranking the
42nd place out of 188 in international parliament comparisons of the Inter-Parliamentary Union (IPU), with
countries like Rwanda, Cuba, New
Zealand and Finland on top of the list [5].
A quota for women in party's election list
The slight increase in female representation in the new parliament might be due to a larger number of women
inhabiting higher rankings in the parties’ election lists. Looking at the previous graph, data suggests that men
are more likely to be voted directly into parliament, while the majority of women get their seats through
listings. The graph provides a basis for the ongoing discussion on a quota for political parties to define a
percentage within the list rankings. Political scientist Thomas Saalfeld states,
"In the current [election] system, it is only parties' [election lists] that can make a change to diversity." [3]
Those parties in Germany that claim to be progressive are the ones that set a quota for their listings as their
flagship. The next graph will reveal, whether the specification of an election list percentage affected the
chances of women joining the parliaments over the last eight election periods.
After seeing this graph, you might question whether a female quota is not only raising chances for women to share
in political power but is also beneficial for the party itself. You could assume, that women elect women and
therefore female politicians inhabit the potential to attract a larger electorate. Well, this is not fully the
case. Looking at election statistics, women do not necessarily vote for women because of their shared gender. But
what holds true is that women are statistically more interested in topics that concern matters they relate to,
which are more likely to be advocated by a female politician [3].
A representative democracy
No matter if a party is interested in a quota or not, article 38 in the German Basic Law quite frankly says:
"The members of the German Bundestag ... are representatives of the whole people." [6]
Of the whole people. We are, nonetheless, living in a so-called 'representative democracy'. Shouldn't this be
reason enough that a parliament represents the German society in all its colour? Gender diversity is only one
aspect of diversity and many other factors need to be taken into account when assessing the German 'Bundestag' in
its representative function. So, who is missing from the parliament?
The simple answer is that a lot of people are missing. Many social groups are severely underrepresented in their
own parliament. Of course, what plays into this is that some groups might not be very much interested in running
for a seat in parliament, or even participating in elections. But wouldn’t you agree that there is more effort
needed to capture more colourful pictures of parliament members instead of elderly men in grey suits?
So I am asking you, reader. After having seen the facts:
Is it really summer yet?
