Hostname: page-component-8448b6f56d-qsmjn Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-04-24T17:30:26.984Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

Quota Nonadoption in Japan: The Role of the Women's Movement and the Opposition

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  17 March 2015

Alisa Gaunder
Alisa Gaunder*
Affiliation:
Southwestern University
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Extract

In 2003, Japan's dominant Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) committed to the goal of 30% female representation in management and political positions by 2020 to conform with the international norm to promote women's leadership. This nonbinding commitment received widespread media attention. In 2012, Prime Minister Shinzō Abe reemphasized this goal before the lower house election. Yet, in his first cabinet, Abe appointed only two women. Moreover, in the 2013 upper house election, the LDP fielded only 9 women out of 79 candidates, nowhere near the 30% candidate goal (Torres 2013). In September 2014, Abe appointed five new women in his cabinet reshuffle, two of whom were forced to resign a month later due to scandals. Four women currently sit on the cabinet due to one female replacement (Flackler 2014). Despite Abe's attempts to increase women in his cabinet, most agree that Japan is not on target to meet the 30% benchmark (Gender Equality Bureau 2012).

Type
Critical Perspectives on Gender and Politics
Information
Politics & Gender , Volume 11 , Issue 1 , March 2015 , pp. 176 - 186
Copyright
Copyright © The Women and Politics Research Section of the American Political Science Association 2015 

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

REFERENCES

Beckwith, Karen, and Cowell-Meyers, Kimberly. 2012. “Sheer Numbers: Critical Representation Thresholds and Women's Political Representation.” Perspectives on Politics 5 (3): 555–67.Google Scholar
Caul, Miki. 2001. “Political Parties and the Adoption of Candidate Gender Quotas: A Cross-National Analysis.” The Journal of Politics 63 (4): 1214–29.Google Scholar
Christensen, Ray. 2000. “The Impact of Electoral Rules in Japan.” In Democracy and the Status of Women in East Asia, ed. Lee, Rose J. and Clark, Cal. Boulder, CO: Lynne Rienner, 25–46.Google Scholar
Davidson-Schmich, Louise K. 2006. Implementation of Political Party Gender Quotas: Evidence from the German Lander 1990–2000. Party Politics 12 (2): 211–32.Google Scholar
Flackler, Martin. 2014. Two Women Exit Japan's Cabinet in Crisis for Abe. New York Times. October 20. http://www.nytimes.com/2014/10/21/world/asia/two-women-resign-japan-cabinet-a-blow-to-abe.html?_r=0 (accessed October 29, 2014).Google Scholar
Gaunder, Alisa. 2009. “Women Running for National Office in Japan: Are Koizumi's Female ‘Children’ a Short-term Anomaly or a Lasting Phenomenon?” In Political Change in Japan: Electoral Behavior, Party Realignment, and the Koizumi Reforms, ed. Reed, Steven, McElwain, Kenneth Mori, and Shimizu, Kay, 239–59. Washington, D.C.: Brookings Institution.Google Scholar
Gaunder, Alisa. 2012. “The DPJ and Women: The Limited Impact of the 2009 Alternation of Power on Policy and Governance.” Journal of East Asian Studies 12 (3): 441–66.Google Scholar
Gender Equality Bureau. 2012. Women and Men in Japan 2012. http://www.gender.go.jp/english_contents/pr_act/pub/pamphlet/women-and-men12/index.html (accessed June 19, 2013).Google Scholar
Krook, Mona Lena. 2006. “Reforming Representation: The Diffusion of Candidate Gender Quotas Worldwide. Politics & Gender 2 (3): 303–27.Google Scholar
Mackie, Vera. 1997. Creating Socialist Women in Japan: Gender, Labour and Activism, 1900–1937. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Mackie, Vera. 2003. Feminism in Modern Japan: Citizenship, Embodiment and Sexuality. London: Cambridge University Press.Google Scholar
Matland, Richard E. 2002. “Enhancing Women's Political Participation: Legislative Recruitment and Electoral Systems.” In Women in Parliament: Beyond Numbers, ed. Ballington, Julie and Karam, Azza. Stockholm: International IDEA, 93–111.Google Scholar
Matland, Richard E., and Studlar, Donley T.. 1996. “The Contagion of Women Candidates in Single-Member District and Proportional Representation Electoral Systems: Canada and Norway.” Journal of Politics 58 (3): 707–33.Google Scholar
McElwain, Kenneth Mori. 2012. “The Nationalization of Japanese Elections.” Journal of East Asian Studies 12 (3): 323–50.Google Scholar
Miura, Mari. 2014. “Nihon ni okeru gendā kuōtā seiritsu jōken.” In Gendā kuōtā: seikai no josei giin wa naze fueta no ka, ed. Miura, Mari. Tokyo: Akashi Shoten.Google Scholar
Miura, Mari, Lee, Kap Yu, and Weiner, Robert. 2005. “Who Are the DPJ? Policy Positioning and Recruitment Strategy.” Asian Perspective 29 (1): 49–77.Google Scholar
Norris, Pippa. 1985. “The Gender Gap: America and Britain.” Parliamentary Affairs 38 (2): 192–201.Google Scholar
Norris, Pippa. 2004. Electoral Engineering: Voting Rules and Political Behavior. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.Google Scholar
Ogai, Tokuko. 2001. “Japanese Women and Political Institutions: Why Are Women Politically Underrepresented?” PS: Political Science and Politics 34 (2): 207–10.Google Scholar
Reed, Steven R., Scheiner, Ethan, and Thies, Michael F.. 2012. “The End of LDP Dominance and the Rise of Party-Oriented Politics in Japan. Journal of Japanese Studies 38 (2): 353–76.Google Scholar
Rule, Wilma. 1987. “Electoral Systems, Contextual Factors, and Women's Opportunity for Election to Parliament in Twenty-Three Democracies.” Western Political Quarterly 40 (3): 477–98.Google Scholar
Rule, Wilma. 1994. “Parliaments of, by, and for the People: Except for Women?” In Electoral Systems in Comparative Perspective: Their Impact on Women and Minorities, ed. Rule, Wilma and Zimmerman, Joseph F.. Westport, CT: Greenwood Press.Google Scholar
Scheiner, Ethan. 2012. “The Electoral System and Japan's Partial Transformation: Party System Consolidation Without Policy Realignment.” Journal of East Asian Studies 12 (3): 351–79.Google Scholar
Shin, Ki-young. 2011. “The Women's Movements.” In The Routledge Handbook of Japanese Politics, ed. Gaunder, Alisa. London: Routledge, 175–86.Google Scholar
Stockwin, J.A.A. 2000. “The Social Democratic Party (Formerly Japan Socialist Party): A Turbulent Odyssey.” In Japan's New Party System, 3rd edition, ed. Hrebenar, Ronald J.. Boulder, CO: Westview Press, 209–51.Google Scholar
Torres, Ida. 2013. “Abe's Vow to Elevate Women in Japanese Society Being Undermined by Male-Dominated Politics. Japan Daily Press. June 18. http://japandailypress.com/abes-vow-to-elevate-women-in-japanese-society-being-undermined-by-male-dominated-politics-1830752 (accessed June 27, 2013).Google Scholar
Weldon, Laurel S. 2002. “Beyond Bodies: Institutional Sources of Representation for Women in Democratic Policymaking.” Journal of Politics 64 (4): 1153–74.Google Scholar