Sc.indin.ividn Political Studirb, Vol I 1 - ho 4. iYX8
ISSW o(180-6757
@ Nordic Political Science Associnrion
From a Small to a Large Minority:
Women in Scandinavian Politics
Drude Dahlerup, Institute of Political Science. Aarhus
'It takes a critical mass of women. e . g 30 prrcent. to make a diffzrence in politics' This
statement is common today, even among women politicians themselves. However, the theory
of the importance of the relative size of the minority has not been sufficiently developed in
political science. Based on the experience of womcn in Scandinwan politics (today being a
minority of about 30 percent). the article discusses six areas for which an increase in the
proportion of the minority might lead to changes in for instance the polirical culturc. rhe
political discourse or the reaction ti) women as politicianb. The article suggests thai the concept
of a crrrical mass is replaced by one of critrcd UCU. which hould teem io hc more relevaur
when studying human beings.
Does the Size of the Minority Count?
'Don't expect us to make much difference as long as we are only a few
women in politics. It takes a critical mass of women to make fundamental
changes in politics.' Today, arguments like this can be heard among women
politicians. This analytic term has been include'd in ordinary language
before the concept of a critical mass has been properly developed in
scientific analysis.
In this article I will discuss the theory that the relative size of the minority
is important and look at its value in the case of women as a minority in
political institutions.
Women in minority positions are the focus here. Recent literature has
discussed what happens to women that, few in number, enter male dominated
areas like politics and traditional male professions and crafts. Tokenism,
invisibility, marginality, harassment, the Queen Bee Syndrome,
exclusion from the informal network are some of the important problems
discussed in the literature of women as a minority.
The term 'critical mass' implies that the size of the minority is crucial.
and that to women in politics a fundamental change may happen long
before they reach the 50 (or maybe 60) percent of the seats.
The concept of a critical mass is borrowed from nuclear physics, where
it refers to the quantity needed to start a chain reaction, an irreversible
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take-off into a new situation or process (Rendel 19197). By analogy. it is
said that a qualitative shift will take place when women exceed a proportion
of about 30 percent in an organization. A large minority can make a
differcncc. even if still a minority.
In physics. the concept ot'a critical mass is applied to a process that takes
place in isolated entities or rooms. In social sciences, however, every entity
we look at is normally characterized by some degree of interaction with its
surroundings. Thcrefore the analogy has its limitations. Yet, this article
makes the point that we should not neglect that politics is also a workplace,
an organization with its own rules, norms and culture.
The idea of a critical rriiiss is most often applied to situations when women
constitute (ess than 30 percent. in this way explaining why the entrance of
women into politics has not made more difference - yet!
In this article, however, I discuss the relevance of the concept. based on
the experiences of women in Scandinavian politics. Although politics in
Finland, Iceland, Norway, Sweden and Denmark is still dominated by men.
a very impressive increase in women's political representation has taken
place during the last 10-15 years. Today, women constitute one quarter to
one third of the representatives in the Nordic parliaments, regional and
local councils.
The question is this: What is supposed to change when moving from ;I
small to a large minority? Is it possible to identify a self-increasing process,
which will start when the minority reaches a certain size? Are we in
Scandinavia witnessing a critical mass at work?
To clarlfy the discussion of the importance of the size of the minority.
this article selects six aspects of women's position for further investigation.
Some hieihotiological Remarks
Comparing women's position in politics today with earlier historical periods
with lower representation might seem a sensible approach to studying what
happens when women moved from being a small to a large minority. It is.
however, impossible to isolate the effect of the relative number of women
in the political institutions from the effect of all the other changes that took
place during the same period. The same problem of isolating the factors
arises when trying to compare the Nordic countries to the situation for
women politicians in for instance the United Kingdom with its only 6
percent women in the House of Commons.
A third approach could be to compare politics in different local councils
in one country. Several studies, using multivariate correlations analysis,
have with different results tried -among many other variables - to measure
the effect of the relative number of women in various local councils on the
expenditures on for instance day care and care for the elderly. For the
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discussion of what will change when the minority grows, however. more
qualitative approaches are needed.
The focus of this article is a theoretical discussion of the relevance of the
concept of critical mass. The empirical data used in this article on women
in politics in the five Nordic countries comes from several sources: Lengthy
interviews with 28 Nordic women politicians at the national and local level
in a structured, non-representative sample (Dahlerup 1985): results from
a questionnaire sent to all national political parties in the five Wordic
countries (Dahlerup: The POP Survey 1984) and results from a questionnaire
sent to all women's organizations and equality conimittees within
the same political parties at national level. provided such organizations
existed in the party (Dahlcrup: The WOC Survey 1984); information about
what strategies women in the five countries have used to improve women's
political representation (Dahlerup 1988): data on women's political representation
in Haavio-Mannila et al. (1985).The surveys of local councillors
made by Hellevik & Skard (1985) and Wallin et al. ( 1 Y K l ) have provided
useful information.
The quotations in the text are not supposed to he represcnrative of the
attitudes of women politicians. Many more studies are needed to cover the
attitudes of women politicians in all the Nordic countries. The quotations
are here as illustrations of attitudes that can be found among women
politicians today.
Women as a 'Minority Group'
Back in 1951, Helen Mayer Hacker wrote her famous article on 'Women
as a Minority Group' (Hacker 1951). In this article, Hacker parallels
women's position with that of minority groups, like black Americans. at
that time a new and challenging comparison (see also Myrdal 1944).
Helen Hacker's basic idea is that although they constitute 50 percent or
more of the population, women - like minority groups - suffer from
discrimination and unequal treatment. Women also display many of the
psychological characteristics ascribed to minorities, such as self-hatred.
feelings of inferiority, denying a feeling of group identification and yet
developing a separate subculture within the dominant culture. Subjectively
denying that they belong to the group 'women', many women perceive the
discrimination they meet as just the consequence of individual shortcomings.
Women who make it in the male world, on the other hand, will
try to dissociate themselves from other women. This is a theory of women's
'minority status' in society in general.
When Women are Actually in the Minori?
Although interlinked, the theory of women as a minority group should
not be confused with theories of the problems women encounter when
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numerically in the minority, e.g. as politicians, engineers, mechanics,
executives or journalists.
The theory about women in actual minority positions looks at women
wirhin an organization. This is also the focus of the present article.
The connection between the minority group status of women and women
in actual minority positions derives from the fact that many of the problems
women experience as minorities within organizations are related to the
‘minority’ status of women in society at large.
In her important argument, that the relative numbers of women are
crucial to their performance and efficiency in the corporations, Rosabeth
Moss Kanter concludes that the problems of these women derive from
women’s minority position in the organization, not from the fact that they
are women. Other minorities, such as blacks, will encounter the same
problems (Kanter 1977).
My counterargument will be that the ‘minority’statusof women or blacks
outside the organizations interacts with their status inside the organization,
thus creating greater problems than white males encounter when in a
minority position.
Some minorities do fine inside an organization if they, directly or
indirectly, get support and resources from outside. The successful careers
of male nurses illustrate that ‘majority group status’ in society at large
might balance or even counterbalance an actual minority position inside
the organization.
Needless to say. women do not get power just because they are in the
majority. Lots ofwomen work in factories or offices with a female majority.
That does not enable them to better their lower pay or monotonous work
conditions. They are paid less because they work in fields dominated by
women, and they are placed there because they are women. But maybe
their ‘female culture’ in spite of their powerlessness does influence the
climate and social conventions at the workplace? My argument is that in
this discussion we must distinguish between many different aspects of the
position of women.
Problems Women Encounrer us a Minoriry in Mule Dominared
Organizations
The following probiems are compiled from the iiterature on women entering
male dominated professions and workplaces. Not all women in a minority
position in male dominated organizations encounter all of these problems.
Some say that they have no problems at all. The following however, lists
problems that many women meet, often without being able to conceptualize
the problem. The question here is whether women in politics meet the
same problems, and maybe only when in a small minority?
278
Consequence of women being in the minorify in an organization (most of
them shared with others in u minority position)
0 high visibility
become token, e.g. symbols of the entire sex (group), symbols of what
0 role conflicts, e.g. too feminine or too masculine
lack of allies in the organization
exclusion from informal network
0 lack of knowledge of the informal power structure and the recruitment
process, lack of personal power
0 higher dropout rate
lower rate of promotion
0 lower efficiency
0 feel uncomfortable in the dominant culture of the organization
0 over-accommodation x
0 sexual harassment x
0 lack of legitimate authority x
0 stereotyping x
0 no considerations for family obligations by the organization x
0 exposed to double standard x
Problems marked with an x are considered combined consequences of the
minority position and women's status in a patriarchal society in general.
Problems such as lower pay seem to derive solely from women's position
in general, not from their being in the minority.
The discussion of women in politics must take the special feature of the
political system into consideration. There are parallels between women in
politics and women in the corporations, but also marked differences.
Women politicians seem to be caught between two conflicting expectations:
(I) Women politicians must prove that they are just like (just as able as)
male politicians, who in general have longer seniority and whose gender
occupied the political arena long before women were allowed to
participate.
(2) Women politicians must prove that it makes a difference when more
women are elected. This second demand comes from the women's
organizations and the feminist movement, who critically ask why it does
not make more difference that there are now more women in politics?
In the democratic system of one man or woman one vote in the assemblies,
and of rule by the majority, each member has a certain value, even the
backbenchers. In such a system the question of the relative number of
women takes on a specific importance.
women can do. stand-ins for all women
279
The Relative Numbers Count
In her study of women in a big American corporation, Rosaboth Moss
Kanter makes the point that the size of the minority is significant. It is the
proportion of social categories, here women and men, that makes an
important difference. Moss Kanter identifies four types of group on the
basis of different proportional representation of socially different people,
be it women/men or blacks/whites.
The uniform groiip or orgariizatron has only one significant social group
and its culture dominates the organizations.
The skewedgroup (the minority being no more than max. 15 percent) is
controlled by the numerically dominant group and its culture. The minority
become tokens, that is, they are considered symbols of their entire group.
especially if they fumble. ‘They are made aware of their differences from
the numerical dominants. but then must often pretend that the differences
do not exist, or have no implications’, Moss Kanter writes (p. 239). Tokens
are alone, yet the dynamics of interaction around them ‘create a pressure
for them to seek advantage by dissociating themselves from other of their
category and hence. to remain itlone’ (p. 239). This implies that tokens are
unable to form alliances with each other.
Relaxing situations, e.g. after-work drinks and sports events, are often
most stressful for tokens, who then lack the protection of defined positions
and structured interaction. In short, according to Moss Kantcr, organizational,
social, and personal ambivalence surrounds people in token
situations.
In the rifted group (’with ratios of perhaps 65:35’, Kanter writes, from
her figure, however, from 15 to about 40). the minority is becoming strong
enough to begin to influence the culture of the group, and alliances between
minority group members become a possibility. The ‘tokens’ have changed
into a ‘minority’.
In the balanced group (about 60:40 and down to 50:50). culture and
interaction reflect this balance, Kanter argues. And for the individuals in
such a balanced group the outcome will depend more on other structural
and personal factors than their type (gender, race).
The basis of this reasoning is, of course, that there is a difference in
culture and behaviour between the minoriry and the majority group. The
argument here is that alongside the similarities between women and men.
also marked differences exist - not necessarily from birth, but from their
different social positions and their different social experiences.
Moss Kanter does not talk about a ‘critical mass‘, but simply of the
gradual change when the minority grows larger in an organization. The
discussion of a critical mass adds to this the question of a possible point of
acceleration in the influence of the minority when reachipg a certain size.
e.g. 30 percent.
5c
40
30c
C
0)
V
ba.
20
10
0 x-.4 5 1955 1965 1975 1985
Year
- Finland
....... Sweden
3en mar4---_
Norway
IcelandFig.
1. Women's Rcprexnrmon in thc SorJic Parli.irncniy Since I'IJS. Pcrcenr Soiwcc B.wJ
on Huvio-blnnnila ( 1985). table 4.3. updalccl
Women in Scandinavian Politics
lncreasing Hepresentation
In the five Nordic countries, Denmark, Finland, Iceland, Piorway and
Sweden, the majority of politicans are still men. But women's political
representation has in fact increased rapidly during the last 10-15 years.
Today, women occupy one fourth to one third of the seals in the Nordic
parliaments and local councils, the highest percentage in the world.
Figure 1 traces the development of women's political representation in
Scandinavia since 1945. For many years, Finland had the lead in women's
parliamentary representation, but today Norway with its 34 percent and
Sweden with 35 percent have overtaken Finland. Fifteen years ago,
women's share of the parliamentary seats was between 5 percent (Iceland)
and 22 percent (Finland). Just after the Second World War, women's
political representation in the Nordic parliamenfs was as low as zero in
Iceland, 5 percent in Denmark and Norway, 8 percent in Sweden and 9
percent in Finland.
During the first periods of women's suffrage and the whole interwar
281
50
i40
- Swedon
---- Finland
- Donmark
-...... Norway
- Icmland
0 1 I I I I I
1945 1955 1965 1975 1905
Year
Fig. 2.Women’s Representation in the Nordic Local Councils Sincc 1945. Pcrccnt Source.
Based on i-laavio-Xlannila ( 1985). table I , addendum 6 . updated. The IcclJndic elcctor31
stxistics do not have figureson thc gender of the clrctcd
period, women’s representation remained very low, not showing any signs
of increase. The growth came after the Second World War. and increasingly
since the late 1960s.
Figure 2 shows the growth of women’s representation in Local politics.
Here again we see that a rapid increase has taken place during the past 10-
15 years. Women’s representation in Icelandic politics is somewhat behind
the other Nordic countries; however, a remarkable increase has taken place
in recent years in Iceland.
Twenty years ago, almost half of the Danish municipalities (communes)
had no women on the local council. Today, there is at least one woman on
almost every local council, see Table 1. Most of the so-called ‘black spots’,
e.g. communes without any women on the local council have disappeared
from the political map.
A similar increase has taken place in the other Nordic countries. Again,
Iceland with its many small rural communes is behind. Table 1 also reveals
that a few communes in Norway, Denmark and Iceland have or have had
a majority of women in the local council (maximum exceeds 50 percent).
Today there are about 12,000 women elected to the local councils in the
282
Table I . 'The Black Spot>'.Communes with no Women o n the Council
Variation in numbers
of womm councillors
Percenr Minimum-hldumurn
"b '7cof all commune5
Denmark 1966
1Y81
1985
Finland 1068
1980
19x-l
Iceland 1974
19x2
1986
Norway 1963
I979
1983
19x7
Sweden 1971
I987
Source: Based on Haavio-Mannila (1985). table 5.3, altered 3nd updated
five Nordic countries. Women are no longer an exception. The times of the
first woman, the token woman. are over, except in some rural communes. In
conclusion: Women are no longer a small minority in Scandinavian politics.
Today, women constitute a large minority, although still a minority.
Whar Will Change wirh More Women in Polirics?
The discussion of women as minorities in the corporations is basically about
efficiency, dropout rates, performance and promotion. These factors are
also important for elected women in politics. Politics is also a workplace.
In politics, however, the most crucial element is policy content: Are women
able to influence the policy outcome? Moreover, in politics we are dealing
with representatives, not just individuals: representatives of a political
party, an electoral district and a certain occupational group and perhaps of
a gender?
What might change if the political representation of women increases?
What kind of changes are we looking for? Here follows il list of aspects
that seem to be important in this respect:
1. Changes in the reaction to women politicians.
2. Changes in the performance and efficiency of the women politicians.
3. Changes in the social climate of political life (the political culture).
253
4. Changes in the political discourse.
5. Changes of policy (the political decisions).
6. Increase in the power of women (the empowerment of women).
This list offers a more differentiated ground for discussion on the disagreement
whether more women in politics is making any difference or
not.
A similar list of aspects seems to be of relevance in the study of the
entrance of other disadvantaged groups into the political awn;]. for instance
working-class people and blacks of both sexes. flerc we only deal with
women as a group.
C'hunges in rhr Reucriori 10 h'ometi Po/iricrtiris
I r was difficult t o >t,irt i n the Folketing (the Danish Prlr1i;imcnt) . . . M.iyt)c it was not unlil
I ended up in my parliamentary party group that I realized how much of rl women I reall)
was. I have run a kindergarten. I have been head of ii department. I have h:id a Ierlding
position ;It the teachers' training collegc. It has never bothered m e lo take on Ieiiding
postion,. I like that. I know how ro handle it. But ,111 iny leading postions hrlvc heen in
the world of women.
Then suddenly I end up In that party group in P.irli.imcnr. and herc I expericncc a malt
chauvinism I did not believe e.xi~tcd.;it Icil~tnot in my own party I t was not jusr [hiit thc:)
wanted t o size me up because they did nor know nic - whlch I considered fair enough. hut
they w.;intedt o size me especi;illy because I am ;I womm and bec'iuw I had repliiccd one
of their old men There was an enorm1)us sccpticim dircctcd i i p i m t mc .IS il person
and against my competence and my abilities. I1 mything has strcnghencd my icminl\t
consciousiicss. i t mubt have been to end up in rhrli par1i;irnerit group in 1973 (1ntsrvic.u
with Ebb4 Strange. the Socialist People's Party in Denmark. Elected Tor thc first time in
1973 in a parliamentary group of 3 women and 8 mcn Since 1977 ch;iir of the p.1rty.s group
in Parliament. In I979 the Socialist Prople'~Party bcc:ime thc first pnrty to have :I majoriry
ol women in its parliamenrary group. lntervicw i n Dahlerup 19x5. 227 )
In a patriarchal society men are considered bearers of the 'culturally
legitimated authority' (Rosaldo 1974. 21). If one's authority is never questioned,
one can act kindly and mildly - and people will follow one's
instructions. For women this cultural tradition means that they have to fight
3 lot to make people listen - or to be considered a potential leader. The
virago is a consequence of this patriarchal tradition, not of the nature of
career women.
No doubt the open resistance against women as politicians has been
removed in Scandinavia. There is more room for women in politics today
as women, and not just as politicians in spite of their gender. From earlier
periods women have reported of sexist remarks and open exclusion practices
not only by male voters, but also by some male colleagues who thought
that women belonged to the home.
However, the only woman in the Parliament of the home-ruled Faroe
Islands reveals that she still gets sexist remarks from her male colleagues.
She also says that she has to justify her existence daily as a woman politician
(Dahlerup 1985).
284
It is not possible to conclude that the removal of the open resistancc
against women politicians derives solely from their increased numbers
today. We are witnessing a general change in attitudcs among both men
and women towards women in public roles. However, the prescnce ot
women politicians in great numbers does make it seem rather hopelcss to
try to remove women from the public sphere today. So numbers do count.
Stereotyping is another well-known problem for minorities. and several
women politicians complaln that the press treats them as either competent
and cold or warm and incompetent (Dahlerup 1985). Cartoons showing
women politicians have earlier been rather merciless. Following the growin2
number of women in politics. stereotyping decreases. because so miin!
different types of women now occupy the political arena.
The removal of the open resistance against women in poli[ics does not
imply that women today have the same opportunities as men in politic,
The fact that women arc in the minority indicates thc existence of barriers
for women in politics.
Do women politicians experience discrimination. e.g. unfair treatment
on account of gender? I n my interviews with politicians Igot four types of
answer:
a. 'There is no discrimination of women any more. rather the contrary'.
some women politicians said.
b. 'Women are definitely discriminated against, but personiilly I have not
experienced it', said another group.
c. 'Women are not discriminated against', i1 third group told me, but Inter
in the interview the same women related many unpleasant episodes that
certainly seemed like discrimination.
d. 'Yes', a fourthgroup answered and told rather bitter stories of resistance.
sexism and male chauvinism - of how they had to fight to become
accepted .
A Norwegian study of all male and female members of the local councils
in 7 municipalities around Oslo (188men and 72 women) shows that women
politicians in their own opinion are treated differently because they are
women. The study also shows a gap between men's and women's perception
of this.
To the question, 'Are the demands made on female and male politicians
different'?, 48 percent of the women politicians - a substantial number answered
'yes', and 13percent of the men agreed; 35 percent of the women
and 69 percent of the men felt that there is no difference between the
demands put on women and those put on men.
Another question in this study reveals that women politicians feel under
stress because of their gender: 5 1 percent of the women feel chat less value
is attached to the opinions of female politicians than to those of their male
285
'Table 2. 'Generally speaking. would you have more confidence in a man or in a woman as
your member of Parliamenr?' Percent replying 'more confidence in a man'
~~~~~
Men Women
1975 1983 1987 1975 1983 1987
Denmark 20 9 7 15 8 7
United Kingdom 37 27 15 31 27 17
Holland 28 19 16 23 16 12
Ireland 42 38 33 33 20 17
France 35 28 24 28 22 21)
Italy 47 39 31 41 34 -4.
West Germany 53 45 30 37 30 19
13
Source: Men and Women in Europe in 1987. exccrpt from annex B 3. The Commission of
the European Communites (Eurobarometer survey).
colleagues; 18 percent of the men agreed. 'No difference' was the answer
by 44 percent of the women politicians against 79 percent of the male
(Hellevik & Skard 1985).
So even if the women politicians of this survey constitute a percentage,
between 20 and 30 of their local councils on the average, their problems
have not disappeared.
What do the voters think of women politicians? Table 2 brings some
remarkable results from the Eurobarometer survey. In some countriesquite
a number of voters - men as well as women, but more men - answer that
they have more confidence in a man as their representative in the national
parliament; the alternatives being more confidence in a woman or that
gender makes no difference. Since 1975 there has been a remarkable
increase in the proportion of voters who think that the gender of the
representatives makes no difference to them.
The table also shows that compared to other EEC voters, the Danish
voters are by far the most egalitarian. We do not have comparable data for
the other Nordic countries, but the attitudes here are probably quite similar
to the Danish.
In conclusion: changes have taken place in the perception of women as
politicians by the voters. And the open resistance to women politicians by
voters and male colleagues in the political workplace has almost disappeared.
Less open kinds of discrimination, differential treatment and
'techniques of dominance' (Aas 1980) still exists, however.
It is suggested here that the increased number of women as politicians
has had an impact, although within the framework of a general change in
attitudes towards women in public roles. There has also been a growing
resistance by the women politicians themselves to discrimination of women.
286
However, it is not possible to conclude that these changes follow from any
fixed number of women, e.g. 30 percent.
In this process of change, the example of just a few successful women in
top positions, e.g. as prime minister or president may have contributed
substantially to the change in the perception of women as politicians. In
such cases it is not the numbers that count, but the performance of a few
outstanding women as role models.
Changes in the Performance and Efficiency of Women Poliricians
Of course one has to behave as naturally as possible and not make 3 fuss about oneself.
but find onc’s place as one of them. But I fed more comfortable when there arc some
women. 1 do not know why. I had this feeling that the men in a way huilf a wall around
themselves and their clever economic thoughts (Interview with Elsi Hetemuki-Olander,
vice chairpcrson and M P for the Conservative Party in Finland (Dahlerup 1955. 241J.J
According to Rosabeth Moss Kanter’s study. the ‘failure rate’ or turnover
of women in a minority position in the corporation was considerably higher
than that of their male colleagues. Kanter suggests that the dropout rate
will decrease when the size of the minority increases.
The media in the Fiordic countries often carry stories about women who
quit politics because they are overworked or do not like the atmosphere in
the political institutions. But what are the facts?
A quick look at the women in parliament reveals that during the interwar
period, most of the few women MPs did occupy their seats for a very long
period and did not seem to have had a higher dropout rate than the men.
Most of the first women in the Nordic parliaments were very resourceful
persons who survived for a very long time in the overwhelmingly male
parliaments.
As for women in local councils, no longitudinal studies of dropout rates
have yet been conducted. One study from the north of Sweden concludes
that the dropout rate of female councillors is somewhat higher than that of
the men, but the difference has diminished during the last decade (FrSnstam
& Gustafsson 1984).
A nationwide survey of Swedish local politicians concludes that today
women do not give up their seats more frequently than their male
colleagues. In general 25 percent of the local councillors withdraw voluntarily
at each election, the rate being the same for men and women. And
most of those who stand for re-election are actually re-elected. The female
councillors in general have lower seniority than the men (the increase in
women’s representation being recent), but also within each seniority group
men and women drop out at almost the same rate (Wallin 1981).
A survey of local councillors in Norway (Hellevik & Skard 1985)showed
the men to be a little more willing than the women to stand for the next
287
election. Today's smnll or non-existent difference in dropout rates for
women and men may be a new trend, but we do not actually know.
Why should the dropout rate fall because the proportion of women
increases'! One answer could be that the role contlicts of women politicians
diminishes and that women begin to influence the political culture and
hence begin to feel more at home in politics.
However. more wornen in politics does not in itself diminish the family
obligations of wornen and the conflict between the need of the family and
the political work. It was in fact easier to combine family and politics
previously 3 former woman MP has pointed out to me: 'Bccausc in thc
past we all had housemaids'.
The Swedish survey (Wallin 1981) s h w 5 that fanily obligations are still
an important reason for women breaking off their political career. The
retirins poilticians were asked the reasons for their retreat. The result was
that women more frequently than men decided to withdraw bccause of
family obligations (45 percent of the women as against 26 percent of the
men listed family obligations as one of their reasons): 33 percent of the
male politicians and 41 percent of the female mentioned problems in
combining political activity with their job.
The most appalling result was that women much more thiin men listed
dissatisfaction with their own performance ;is politicians as one of thc
rensons for quitting (35 percent of the women. only 8 percent of the mcn)
The luck of personal inHuence was listed by 22 percent of the women :I\
against only 9 percent of the men.
The Worwegian study of local politicians (Hellevik LU~ Skard 1985) shows
that 33 percent of the women politicians thought that their points of view
did not influence the outcome against only 14 percent of the men.
According to these studies. women politicians feel Irsb s:itistied with their
job than their male colleagues. but nevertheless they stay on with almost
the same frequency. So even if they constitute 20 to 30 percent today.
women politicians have not obtained what one could call eqital opportunity
of carrying out their work as politicians.
Charrge in Polirical Ciiltitre
In the WOC survey from 1Y84 I asked all national women's organizations.
wornen's committees and equality committees within all political parties in
the five Nordic countries the following question: Do you belieur /hat more
womeri in politics will lend to chrinyes in working conditions mid social
corzuentions in politics? To this question, all women's organizations and
committees, except one, answered 'yes' or 'certainly'. Some added: 'but
only if women are many'. What will change according to the women's
organizations:
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0 the tone will be softer in politics
0 the meetings will be arranged with more consideration to family obligations
- fewer late meetings, fewer meetings between 4 and 7 in the
afternoon, no more meetings in restaurants!
meetings will be less formal and less ceremonious
shorter speeches. less formal language, more to the point.
'We believe that women. much less than men, want power in itself. The
ways of working and the interaction will become more characterized by
cooperation and solidarity, not so much by competition., the Women's
Groups of the Danish Socialist People's Party write.
'Politics will probably become less formal. But democracy demands
certain decision-making procedures which women just like men cannor
avoid', the Social Democratic womcn's organization in Sweden states.
'Yes, changes to the more social and less tough climate. . . . But many
things, among them the workload, will hardly decrease', writes the Equality
Committee of the Agrarinn-Liberal party in Denmark.
Most interesting is that several womcn's organizations write that the
women politicians not only will but already have chiinged thc. political
workplace.
The political women's organizations seem to be in agreemcnt o n most of
these points. Thisunity does not necessarily reflect a traditional and uniform
women's culture in society. Rather, it is a reflection of rccrnt criticism in
Scandinavia of politics and the politicians. especially brought forward by
women. However, a parallel might be drawn between these recent arguments
and those used in the suffrage campaign that women, as more
peaceful beings, could change the hard climate of politics and remove the
political dirt (Dahlerup 1978).
The political culture is a complex issue which political science until now
has not paid sufficient attention to. Regarded as a workplace. political life
has its social conventions, its tone. its formal and informal rules, and norms
of cooperation and conflict. This 'way of doing politics' varies from country
to country, commune to commune, and it changes over time. Often politicians
themselves are unaware of these variations.
The individual woman in an organization dominated by men is often
faced with a dilemma. Either she lives up to the norms of how women
behave, and keep her female style, with the consequence that often she is
not really accepted as a colleague. Or she may to some extent adapt to the
style of the men, and consequently the public will call her a 'man-woman'!
The political culture has changed somewhat during the last decades
throughout Scandinavia. The traditional formal style and the authority of
the politicians has diminished. Theincreasing number of women in politics is
probably part of this development, which some will regret. others welcome.
I
289
Even if women politicians as a minority have been forced to and have to
some extent wanted to adapt to the prevailing political culture. I will argue
that the presence of women in the assemblies in itself makes some change.
We know now that the entrance of just one woman into an all male group
(and vice versa) changes the discussion and behaviour of that group. We
all behave differently in front of a woman or a man. Remember the
confusion and anger many people feel when confronted with a young person
of unknown gender. I will argue that an increasing number of women
politicians in itself changes some of the social conventions of politics ;is a
workplace. because most of these women, not all of them, bring into the
political institutions traits of women’s culture as it manifests itself today.
e.g. taking care of newcomers. consideration for the private problems of
others, less tough style of debating. etc.
The higher the proportion of women in politics. the more social conventions
will change, although again it is not possible 10 identify a special
turning point, a critical mass. But numbers do count, even if the politicians
themselves and the public are not aware of it.
But political culture is more than the social conventions of politics. Thc
high level of conflict in politics seems to bother many female politicians
(‘politics is a football game to male politicians!’), but this is one of the
many aspects of the political culture that women politicians do not seem to
have been able to change. While changes in social conventions may happen
without so many considerations, it takes a deliberate effort to change the
more fundamental aspects of thc political culture. Since politics is not
physics, we should look for critical acts, not for a critical IIIUSS.
In recent years, several political parties have tried deliberately to introduce
new ways of doing politics. Heavily influenced in thcir culture by the
new social movements, especially by the new women’s movement, political
parties like the Greens and Left Socialist Parties have emerged and old
parties have changed.
Here we have seen a conscious attempt to introduce new forms of politics
and attempts to avoid being absorbed by the old political culture. Lt is
characteristic that women have played a prominent role in these new or
reformed parties.
The most radical attempt to reform the prevailing political culture comes
from the new Women’s Party in Iceland, introduced in local elections in
Iceland in 1982 and in the parliamentary election in 1983with remarkable
success. The Women’s Party tries to stay a social movement, and argues
that women must form their own party because the traditional political
parties absorb women on male premises (Styrkarsdottir 1986):
. . . in the political parties, women arc not being listrned to. when we speak with our
‘women’s voices’. Women have 10 play according to the rules of the men in order to be
heard, and they have to be better and tougher than the men to play the rule of the game
290
to make i t in polirics. (Interview with Gudrun AgnJrduttir and Kristin Hallddrddttir.
members of the Icelandic Parliament since 1983 for the Womsn’b Party (Dahlsrup 1985.
90) )
Changes in the Political Discourse
Concerning the question of equali~ybetween men and women. allow me to quote President
Lincoln. He said: ‘I do nor understand this discussion about equality between woman and
man. The woman always was superior to man’. (Said in Parliament. 30 May, 1Y8J by a
membrr of right wing Progress Party in Denmark in a debate about financial support to
women’s studies at the univrrsitics(!).)
The political discourse is the language of politics, and the language and
meaning attached to the different politicial issues. This includes also the
discussion of what is considered political. and what is suppressed from the
political debate by tradition or direct exclusion (Dahlerup 1982).
For a very long time, women’s position in society was not subject to
serious political debate in the Nordic countries. Most politicians did not
have a vocabulary to speak about women’s position, discrimination,
inequality, women’s diseases, unpaid labour, division of work between the
sexes, sexual harassment or sexual violence against women. Such issues
were left to ‘Nature’. With thc exception of a few progressive politicians
and the women’s organizations themselves, most Danish politicians even
had problems with pronouncing the word ‘women’ without using various
euphemisms.
Today, women’s position has entered the political discourse. As the
quote above reveals, most, but not all, politicians in the Nordic countries
are able to discuss such matters. For some it may be lip-service. However.
the discourse has certainly changed.
Even if women politicians do not agree politically on many issues. an
effect of a growing number of women in politics could be that the way to
talk about women’s position and the priority given to such issues changes.
Again, we cannot isolate the effect of the growing number of women
politicians from the effect of what happens outside the formal political
arena. What we can see is that the issues of women‘s position in society
have been placed on the formal political agenda by women politicians.
Also, it is easy to see how the women politicians influence the way these
issues are debated in parliament and the local councils. But more studies
are needed in this field before we conclude.
Fifty percent of women on the councils is not just a vision for the future.
In Scandinavia there are few examples of a female majority on a local
council (see Table 1). None of these majorities has lasted long, and none
of them changed politics fundamentally,which clearly shows that 30 percent
women, or even a majority, does not in itself change everything, as some
might have wished.
Although exceptions can be found, the political discourse, however.
291
seems to change somewhat, not only with the feminisr debate in society in
general. but also with the growing number of women politicians:
I am convinced that the peaceful revolution which hiis rahcn pl.~ceduring these rhree years
(of female majority on the council) has formed the hasis of a continuous cooperation
between uomcn and mcn. 'The women's coup' led to change5 i n mentality In the prcviou5
period, when I sat as a deputy. i t was almost imposible to p i n J hearing for issues like
playgrounds. preschooling and equality between men and women. In the present period.
we have achieved what we wanted, namely thar the men hme stxred taking an intcrrsr in
matter$ that only women considered before. (Quore from a woman politician on the City
Counc.il of 0 5 1 0 after the period of female malority ;IS;I result of [he elector4 'cotip' hy
-omen 31 the clecfion of 1971 (Skard 1979, lllj).)
Change in Policy
I believe that the greatest danger for feminism is not th;il n o wonicn gct clcctcd iit or
maybe only a few. The greatest danger IS that only wch women ~ r cclccled that wc cannot
consider our reprexntatives because they have abwlutely no undcrstmdingo l the idca 01
feminism. Surely this will often be the case i f we leave it to the polirical parrics to decide
which women 10 nominate for election . . . (Said hv Gyrithc Lcmchc. .I Icding tigurc in
Dunsk Kurntle.wn/lrrid. one of [he higgesr Women'.; Rights Ors;inir.mlns i n Dcnmxh. in
Kutndrn og Gnfitndtv. 1915. no 13 )
Many leading suffragists, among them Cyrithe Lemche, had ;I vision that
women's entrance into politics would change both the political culture and
laws. In a vehement debate other parts of the suffrage movement contested
that women should change politics or maybe even form ii women's political
party. To them the suffrage was a matter of justice to women and not ;I
means to introduce new values into politics. These d erent points of view
were expressed in all Western countries around the introduction of votes
for women (Dahlerup 1978).Today. the same differences are found in the
debate about whether more women in politics will make a difference 2s
regards political decisions.
In the WOC questionnaire sent to all women's organizations within thc
political parties in the five Nordic countries, I asked the following question:
Do you believe that more women in politics will lead to changes in whur
political issues are brought loorward?
Except for one 'may be', all women's organizations within the political
parties answered 'yes'. Many added: 'if there is a sufficient number of
women, since the few women cannot make much difference'.
More women in politics will mean that more emphasis will be put on
family matters, environment, equality between the sexes, child policies. and
sexual policy (sexual violence against women, pornography, prostitution),
most women's organizations answered. Different priorities in defence and
security policy was another, but less frequent answer, mostly coming from
left wing parties, whereas the Christian parties added 'more resources for
the handicapped and the elderly'.
'Women's experiences are different from men's, and therefore women
292
look different at many political issues', many women's organizations
answered in the survey. 'More emphasis on "soft" values'. was also a
common answer.
Women in politics have already made a difference, some of the women's
organizations pointed out. It is obvious that women have new points of
view.
We know that not all individual women politicians will answer this
question in the affirmative, but the survey showed that all women's organizations
within the political parties both wish and hope that more women
in politics will change the political decisions.
The debate on this issue is somewhat confusing. First. there is the
question of coalitions: Does making a difference mean that all women
should form a coalition across party lines? The women MPs truly dislike
this idea. because in Europc they are all elected on diftcrent party platforms.
Or should women within each party make their voices heard and form
coalitions with other women within the party'?
Secondly, what ideas should these women bring forward'? Values
representing women's traditional culture? Or modern feminist ideas? Or
ideas representing the points of view of different groups of women, e.g. by
bringing the views of the unskilled women workers into the working class
parties, the views of the farmer's wives into the farmer's parties, or by
expressing the different voices of socialist and liberal women?
Carol Mueller, an American scholar, maintains that a new type of woman
politician is on the way. Carol Mueller has found that a growing minority but
still a minority - among women politicians in the USA expresses
feminist attitudes. According to Carol Mueller's interviews, an increasing
number of women politicians also perceive themselves as representatives of
women (Mueller 1952).Are women in Scandinavian politics also becoming
more feminist? A growing feminist consciousness among a growing number
of women politicians could mean that women are reaching an important
turning point, becoming a critical mass.
Scandinavia seems to differ from the USA in this respect. Not because
of a lower proportion of feminists among women politicians than in the
USA, but because feminism among women politicians in the Scandinavian
countries in nothing new.
Many ofthe Scandinavian women politicians in the interwar and postwar
period were active in the feminist movements of their time, whereas the
typical American female member of Congress was ;I widow who stepped
in after her husband's death.
At a rare moment in the history of the Danish parliament in the 1930s.
in a debate about women's position, all spokespersons from the four largest
political parties were women - and all of these women sat together as
members of the executive committee of the Duns&Koidesamiund, at that
293
time the largest Women’s Rights organization in Denmark. So feminist
attitudes among women parliamentarians are certainly nothing new.
But history does show some changes. The traditional female politician
who worked hard for the sake of the children, the handicapped and the
elderly in the 1940s and 1950s seems to have been replaced by a more
conscious and assertive type of feminist, foliowing the strong feminist
debate and the emergence of the new women’s movement in the 1970s.
In their study of local councillors today, Hellevik Sr Skard (1986) asked
the women councillors two sets of questions: the first dealing with their
opposition to the way women are treated in politics, the second asking
about their feminist attitudes and whether they saw themselves as representatives
of women. had raised questions of special interest to women
in the local council, had participated in collaboration between women
across party lines in the council, and whether they had any contact with
women’s groups outside the local council.
Hellevik Sr Skard summarize that only a minority of the women politicians
are neither in opposition to the treatment of women nor show any involvement
in feminist matters. On the other hand, only a tiny minority answered
yes to all questions. Hellevik & Skard conclude that it is not the most
outspoken feminists that have been recruited to the local council.
It is interesting to note that Hellevik & Skard find a high correlation
between opposition and feminist involvement. The interpretation might be
that the most involved women are also those most critical of the treatment
women get, in other words, the same reality is perceived differently dependent
on the feminist attitudesof the observer. An alternative interpretation
is that the reality for those who raise feminist issues is different from that
of the non-involved, because feminist activity is met with strong resistance
from male colleagues (Hellevik & Skard 1986).
My interview with women politicians confirms that women politicians in
their own view - are met with negative reactions or even sanctions if
they are ‘too’ feminist. ‘Feminist involvement gives you bad marks’, a
Norwegian politician says (Dahlerup 1985, 198).
But the woman who said so is herself a feminist and became a minister
at the age of 32, and is now serving her second term. So even if many
women politicians report that feminist attitudes harm one’s career, in
Scandinavia today we are witnessing feminists becoming ministers. The
same can be seen in a few other countries. And this is new, and in itself
creates new resources for changing public policy.
It is, however, obvious, that the opportunity for women to form majority
coalitions with male colleagues across party lines, or more likely within
each political party, increases when they constitute 30 percent, rather than
5 percent. This is a question of power. The crucial point is whether women
politicians develop some common ideas they want to fight for. Also here
294
we must turn the question of a critical mass into a question of critical acts
by the women politicians. In the Nordic countries women politicians have
conducted critical acts on selected issues. These are described in the
following.
Change in Women's Power
The empowerment of women implies a growth in influence and power not
just of individual women, but of women in general. Individual women may
make it to the top, but here the focus is on changing the disadvantaged
position of women in politics in general.
Does the increase in women's political representation accelerate as recent
electoral results seem to suggest (see Figures 1 and 2)? Will more women
in the assemplies lead to a relative increase in wornen's share of the political
leadership? That remains to be seen. However, the old 'iron law', that the
number of women is inversely proportional to their rank in the power
hierarchy (the higher up, the lower the relative proportion of women),
does not seem to hold true any more.
The increase in women's political representation has changed several
aspects of women's position in politics, without making any revolution and
without removing all barriers.
Are there not changes in a negative direction? Is it always beneficial to
women to become a large minority? A Swedish politician has expressed
the view that she was doing better in fact in the local council when she was
the only woman. As the only woman, she had the advantage of being
considered the expert on women's issues, and - due to a kind of chivalry
from the men - she was also able to get on exactly the committees she
wanted. When woman number two entered the council after the following
election, this unique position changed, partly because the two women were
of very different opinions (Dahlerup 1985).Of course, there ;ire examples
like this one.
However, significant changes in the political system and changes for
women as a group have indeed occurred following women's entrance into
the political institutions. It is argued here that although it IS very difficult
to isolate the effect of the growth in women's political representation
from the general social development, certain changes may without much
hesitation be connected with the increase in women's political representation,
that is, with the move from a small to a large minority:
0 the stereotyping of women diminishes without being removed totally
0 new role models of women in public life are created
0 the social conventions are somewhat changed, even if the main feature
0 the open resistance against women politicians is removed - now it seems
of the political culture remains untouched
hopeless to bring women back to the house
295
0 still fewer voters express negative attitudes to being represented bv a
Other changes, such as changes in the political discourse on women's issues,
and the fact that equality between the sexes reached the political agenda
in the 1970s and 1980s, are difficult to attribute directly to the growth in
women's political representation, because they are so heavily intluenced
by what happened outside the political institutions. However. women
politicians no doubt played an important role in bringing these new points
of view into formal politics.
A critical mass'? Does 30 percent women in politics accelerate the development?
As shown in this article, it is difficult to apply the idea of ;I turnins
point following from a growth in the size of the minority to the social
science. Human beings do not act automatically like pilrticles. Only on one
point, namely changes in the social climate, does it seem relevant to talk
about a kind of 'automatic' change when the minority grows large.
Maybe we should replace the concept of a criricul mius with the new
concept of a crirical ucr, better suited to the study of human behaviour. A
critical act is one which will change the position of the minority considerably
and lead to further changes.
Most significant is the willingness iind abiliry of ;he niinority to nrobilizr
rhe resoitrces of [he organizarion or instifurion to improve the siruation for
themselves and the whole minority group. For women in politics this
constitutes critical acts of empowerment. Here art' some recent examples
of critical acts by women in Scandinavian politics.
woman
a. When Womeri Politicians Recriiir Orher Women. In my interviews with
women politicians in the five Nordic countries I asked them if they deliberately
work to recruit other women? Surprisingly. almost everyone in the
sample answered 'yes'.
Without being able to prove it. my assumption is that the very same
question posed twenty years ago would have made most women politicians
feel uncomfortable. At that time the usual answer would have been 'I look
for the quality of the individual candidate, not at the gender'. Women were
recruited in spite of their gender. Today, from their improved influence in
the nomination committees and in the party leadership. many women
politicians - and some men - work deliberately to recruit more women.
The women politicians have accepted the point that in a world of systematic
differentiation between women and men. sex-neutrality is probably irnpossible,
in fact often a blind for selecting men. With the growth of this
attitude, more women in politics will lead to further increases in women's
political representation.
296
b. Qrcorus for Women. Ten political parties in the h’ordic countries have
now introduced quotas (often a minimum of -10 percent to each gender).
The resistance was often intense. but nevertheless the propos’‘I Is were
carried through by a joint action of women in coalition with groups of
supporting men. A large minority. much more easily than a small one can
form a majority coalition.
The introduction of quotas for women is on the one hand a consequence
of women’s growing political influence. But more important. it constitutes
an institutional resource for future mobilization of women. ‘After the
introduction of quotas. we do not have to fight agiin and a_r;iinfor the
representation of women‘. it has been said (Dahlerup 1988).
In 1981. women in the left-wing People‘s Alliance Party in Iceland for
the first time formed a coalition at the party congress and succecded in
getting almost 50 percent women elected to the Central Committee of the
Party. Next step was the introduction of quotas for women. followed by a
democrarization of the meetings in the party and other reforms to mike
the party ‘more human’ (Dahlerup 1988).
The large Norwegian Labour Party introduced quotas in 19x1 to internal
bodies and in 1933 also to the parry‘s list5 for public electiuni. The principlr:
was implemented by the central party organization. The result was that
after the election in 1985, women constituted 42 percent of the Labour
Party’s group in Parliament. In the Norwegian case, the women used their
new strength in the internal party organization to ensure the next step:
implementation of quotas for women on the party list for the election. After
the 1985 election. the woman Prime Minister, Gro Harlem Brundtland.
appointed a cabinet of half men and half women.
c. New Legishion und New 1n.stiriifions.The last example!, of critical acts
to be mentioned here are the new kind of equality policies introduced in
the Nordic countries in the 1970s and 1980s. In all five countries. as in
many other countries outside Scandinavia. Equal Status Councils and
Equality Ombudsmen have been established.These new agencies constitute
the first institutionalization of the equality policy, which was previously
conducted solely as pressure group politics by voluntary associations.
Although their resources and influence are limited. these new agencies
exemplify the mobilization of institutional resources for improving women’s
position. Also in the regional labour market authorities. in the public
administration and in large firms and trade unions, staff is now being hired
with equality politics as their area of responsibility. Fifty years ago, feminists
would not have dreamt of a situation in which people would actually get
paid to work for the equality between women and men.
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298