Breaking the glass ceiling: The role of the UN and the EU in promoting women in politics

Abstract

Politics has traditionally been reserved for men, meaning it has been very difficult for women to enter at the highest level. The progress in gender equality in politics has been uneven so far and significant differences exist among states and regions. The male dominance in state politics has translated into the international realm in international entities and multilateral political platforms as well. Although these entities gradually introduced the principles of gender equality and promoted an increased participation of women in political life in their constituent states through key documents, they face the same problem - how to ensure at least a formal and descriptive representation of women at the highest level and how to translate stated or symbolic gender equality from key documents into practice (symbolic to substantive representation). The aim of this paper is to give an overview of the historical development of the international framework for the equal participation of women in politics. Particularly, this paper analyses how two international entities - the UN and the EU - contribute to overcoming the gender-gap in politics, and whether their activities have influenced an increased participation of women in politics (descriptive representation).