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Literature / resource Imported

Gender Parity in German Politics: Further Effort Required

Germany · Berlin · National · See the Germany profile

This report focuses on under-representation of women in German political power. Although many political authorities endorse the basic goal of parity across the board, reality does not yet reflect this in Germany. In the German Bundestag, for example, at present 37.1% of represent

37.1 %
Women among Bundestag representatives
35.7 %
Women among candidates of the six leading parties for the upcoming Bundestag election
32
Female candidates in the Green Party's top 48 list slots
27
Female candidates in the Left Party's top 48 list slots
25
Female candidates in the SPD's top 48 list slots
15
Female candidates in the CDU/CSU's top 48 list slots
11
Female candidates in the FDP's top 48 list slots
8
Female candidates in the AfD's top 48 list slots
43 of 263
Ministerial posts held by women since Germany's founding
31 %
Women in state (Lander) parliaments
3 of 16
Regional governments headed by a woman

Details

Promoter
Daniela Arregui Coka, Ronny Freier & Johanna Mollerstrom (DIW Berlin, German Institute for Economic Research) — website
Power domain
Political Power
Methods / tools
Monitoring, Self-regulation
Region (NUTS)
DE30
Keywords
women in politics, political parties, social norms, gendered expectations, family-friendly policies

Context

This DIW Berlin (German Institute for Economic Research) report by Daniela Arregui Coka, Ronny Freier and Johanna Mollerstrom examines the under-representation of women in German political power at national and state (Lander) level, published ahead of a Bundestag election.

Objectives

The report sets out to document the scale of women's under-representation in German politics, examine possible drivers such as social norms, gendered expectations and the lack of family-friendly policies, and assess the impact of gender quotas and related policies.

Results

At the time of the report, 37.1% of Bundestag representatives were women, and 35.7% of the 1,979 candidates fielded by the six parties most likely to enter parliament were women, with the Green Party, Left Party and SPD fielding far more women in top list positions than the CDU/CSU, FDP and AfD. Of 263 ministerial posts held since Germany's founding, only 43 have been held by women; women held 31% of state-parliament seats (a recently falling share) and headed only 3 of 16 regional governments.

Conclusions

The report concludes that gender quotas and related policies could help close the political representation gap, and suggests the government formed after the upcoming election could set an example by explicitly committing to gender parity.

Implementation
Indicative cost
Low (< €50k) — Not applicable / not quantified (academic policy report).
Time to results
Short (< 1 year) — Published in 2017 ahead of a Bundestag election; analyses point-in-time representation data.
Staffing & skills
Daniela Arregui Coka, Ronny Freier and Johanna Mollerstrom (DIW Berlin)

Conditions for success

  • Explicit political commitment to gender parity by parties and government
  • Use of gender quotas and related policies

Common failure modes

  • Opposition parties (FDP, AfD) field far fewer female candidates than governing/left parties
  • State-level representation of women is lower than at national level and has been falling
  • Many ministerial posts have never been held by a woman

Where it fits

Governance type
national government and political parties
Scale
national
Income level
high income (Germany/EU)

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Data sources

Where this practice's information was retrieved from, and when.

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