Essay On Underrepresentation

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Underrepresentation in government is a widely discussed, studied and debated phenomenon, the issue of which continues to gain greater attention and concern as the global community reaches for greater levels of equality, inclusion and fairness in the political realm. Underrepresentation in government excludes many from participating in the political arena based on distinctive characteristics of ethnic, cultural and gender differences, to list a few. While globally, strives have been made to lessen the gaps of underrepresentation in politics, the phenomenon continues to prevail and to affect many. It is important therefore to globally examine underrepresentation in politics so to determine why it prevails, where it occurs most prevalently and the reasons for its existence. The concentration of this paper will be to examine gender-based underrepresentation in politics, looking at why women are globally less represented. Specifically, this paper will examine the roles of women in politics in both South Africa and in Britain, so to compare and contrast the different levels of representation in each region, while deciphering the reasons for those differences. This paper aims to explore questions concerning the differing levels of female political representation in the two regions, the implications of those differing levels of representation and how history has impacted those levels of difference in either region.
In comparing the levels of female political representation in South Africa and Britain one can see a great divide between the two regions. There lies a clear distinction between the two with South Africa ranking 5th on the Inter-Parliamentary Union descending world classification list of women in national parliaments and the U...

... middle of paper ...

...annah Evelyn. 4Women in the South African Parliament: From Resistance to Governance. Urbana: University of Illinois Press, 2005. Web.
Explains the reasons for the quite dramatic change in the levels of political representation of women in South Africa, as it rose from 2.4 percent to 26 percent. Also cites the time periods when the changes in the political representation of women in South Africa began to occur, was helpful in researching the political history of women in South Africa.
Bromhead, Evelyn. “Women in British Politics.” Parliamentary Affairs 28 (1975): 448-450. Web. 4 Feb. 2014.
Provides an idea as to why women are underrepresented in British politics. This text provides an especially interesting view because it was written in 1975, it was helpful to have a comparison between older ideas and more recent ones- though they turned out to be relatively similar.

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