Women in politics - A persistent anachronism

Recruiting anybody to become active in politics, to commit to working in our democratic process seems ever more difficult. It is, despite all of the blather about perks and pensions, often an endless and almost thankless task.

It seems our politicians are too often mired in the moment much to the neglect of the future; their work is very often focussed on the short term rather than shaping long-term objectives or possibilities.

In our culture the relationship between voter and politician seems more based on what a politician can deliver — and the squeaky wheel always gets the most grease — instead of what might be achieved by working on an entirely different plane. That dysfunctional system is difficult enough for men but, as a new report prepared for the Cabinet shows, it is prohibitively so for women, especially those planning a family or those with young children. Not only is this wrong it is plainly stupid.

The report Towards Gender Parity in Decision-Making in Ireland looks at how the traditional structure of politics — as well as the civil service, the diplomatic corps, the judiciary, and state and corporate boards — mitigates against the participation of women at the decision-making levels of society.

The fact that only 15.6% of TDs are women, compared to the EU average of 24%, confirms what has been obvious for decades — that women are under-represented in our politics. However, it is, despite perceived advances, disheartening that the report finds that “effectively there has been no significant increase in women’s involvement in politics for more than 15 years”.

The former local government minister, Phil Hogan, introduced legislation around the funding of political parties that means they will have to be far more proactive in supporting women candidates. These measures may work but it is hard not to think that if our parliament’s workings were reorganised, and better use made of communication technologies, that women might be better able to play a vital role in our public affairs. There is the reality too that we need a cultural as well as an organisational change to end this persistent anachronism.