Hanna Bäck
Professor
Sweden : Biased Debate Participation with Nearly Equal Gender Representation
Author
Editor
- Hanna Bäck
- Marc Debus
- Jorge M. Fernandes
Summary, in English
The Swedish Riksdag is often regarded as an ideal type for Scandinavian or Nordic parliamentarism. This relates to institutional features and party cohesion, but more often so to descriptive representation in terms of gender—an aspect where Sweden's parliament has consistently occupied the top position among European parliaments during the last decades. However, and despite an unlikely-case-character, previous research has shown that gender biases exist in Nordic parliaments and the Riksdag in particular. This chapter follows this research and evaluates how gender and seniority determine legislators' opportunities to speak in plenary debates. Our results show that the gender biases found in previous research persist to date and extend further to the past. Furthermore, low seniority amplifies the effect of gender; junior female legislators have the slimmest chances to speak in plenary debates.
Department/s
- Department of Political Science
Publishing year
2021
Language
English
Pages
713-733
Publication/Series
The Politics of Legislative Debates
Document type
Book chapter
Publisher
Oxford University Press
Topic
- Political Science
Keywords
- legislative speech
- floor access
- gender representation
- seniority
- Riksdag
Status
Published
ISBN/ISSN/Other
- ISBN: 9780198849063