Dear Readers,

As summer comes to a close, I am reflecting on the last few busy months for the RepresentWomen team – we released the 2024 Gender Parity Index and Salaries of State: Modernizing State Legislatures through Compensation Commissions, held an event during the Convention in Chicago, attended the National Conference of State Legislatures in Louisville, Netroots Nation in Baltimore, and the League of Women Voters Convention in Washington, D.C., and continued our work to build knowledge and partnerships to build women’s power.

This week, RepresentWomen’s Research team, Courtney Lamendola, Steph Scaglia, and Fatma Tawfik, are attending the American Political Science Association’s annual conference in Philadelphia! This year’s theme is Democracy: Retrenchment, Renovation, and Reimagination. They are so excited to connect with scholars from across the country to discuss electoral systems, RepresentWomen’s research released International Recognition and Women’s Political Representation: An Analysis of Five Unrecognized States this week, including proportional representation, gender quotas, and women’s representation in the United States and globally.

Credit: RepresentWomen

New International Research on Unrecognized States from RepresentWomen 

Our International Research Manager, Fatma Tawfik, researched and wrote a new report that was released this week entitled  International Recognition and Women’s Political Representation: An Analysis of Five Unrecognized States. This report studies five internationally unrecognized states – Kosovo, Northern Cyprus, Kurdistan, Somaliland, and Taiwan –  to examine how international recognition affects women's political representation in those states.  

Some key takeaways from the report include: 

• Proportional Representation (PR) systems offer the most opportunities to advance women’s political representation but can’t guarantee representative outcomes alone
• Countries that have made the most progress combine PR or semi-PR systems with well-enforced gender quotas
• Country culture matters in achieving fair levels of women’s representation
• International recognition reinforces state commitment to women’s rights

Source: RepresentWomen

This week’s Weekend Reading covers a new RCV ballot initiative in Colorado, gender balance in the Paris Paralympics, the “electability” debate for women running for office, and a great recap of our event held in Chicago during the Democratic National Convention. 

Women Candidates Confront Questions About Electability

Photo Credit: RepresentWomen

With the historic nomination of Vice President Kamala Harris, the Democratic Party is challenging long-held beliefs regarding the electability of women candidates, specifically, BIPOC women running for higher office. Unfortunately, circular conversations on who can secure funding or most likely win often overshadow policy-based decision-making, diminish the accomplishments of women running for office, and undercut women’s candidacies.

Jess Bidgood and Maya King from the New York Times write: 

Electability — a squishy and often self-reinforcing concept about who is perceived as being able to win elections — was a through line of the Democratic primary in 2020, when voters stung by the 2016 election wrung their hands over whether preferred presidential candidates who were female, nonwhite or both could garner enough support in key battleground states. The party ultimately coalesced around Joe Biden.

Democrats did not have a chance to air those concerns in a drawn-out primary in 2024, and many suggested last week that identity-based questions about electability should remain firmly in the past. They view the issue of electability as providing cover for racist and sexist notions about white voters being apprehensive about backing Black candidates and male voters being reluctant to vote for female candidates."

Paralympics Lag Behind with Gender Balance Despite Some Gains

Paralympian Alana Nichols skiing. Credit: Christian Hartmann, Reuters

Last week, the 2024 Paralympics kicked off in Paris. While the Olympic Games achieved gender parity for the first time, the Paralympics still face a gender imbalance, with a projected 55% male and 45% female participation. Retired Paralympian Alana Nichols advocates for increased efforts to encourage women to enter para-sports, addressing the "double marginalization" of gender and disability.

Amy Tennery from Reuters reports:

The 2024 Olympics will mark a significant milestone when they kick off on July 26, with an equal number of spots allocated to female and male athletes for the first time after years of effort by the International Olympic Committee. "That headline alone isn't including the Paralympic (Community)," said retired Paralympian Alana Nichols, a three-times gold medallist in basketball and alpine skiing.

"There's an entire group of athletes that aren't being talked about," Nichols said not enough women and girls were entering the para-sport pipeline to push the Paralympics to an equal level of gender participation.

"It's kind of this self-reinforcing process that happens where women, I think, with disabilities have far less media coverage and access," the American said. "There's fewer women that are seeing the potential that they could reach."

The Journey to Gender Equity in American Politics 

Source: RepresentWomen Data as of Jan 2024

The United States lags behind a number of allied nations that have already elected a woman head of state butVice President Kamala Harris's candidacy is a significant step in the right direction.More work is needed to dispel the harmful stereotype that women in power are anomalies rather than a natural part of a gender-balanced political landscape. Comprehensive reforms from the classroom to the courtroom are needed to show women's essential role in making government work better for all people. 

Cala Gibson of the World Organization for Peace writes: 

The success of her nomination also underscores a broader tension: the idea that women often step into leadership roles during times of crisis or when male leaders have failed. This phenomenon, often referred to as the “glass cliff,” suggests that women are more likely to be given leadership opportunities when the risk of failure is high. This raises concerns about whether America’s embrace of female leadership is genuinely progressive or simply opportunistic.

Furthermore, female politicians have long been subjected to objectification and gendered comparisons that their male counterparts rarely face, both in America and internationally. From Hillary Clinton to Sarah Palin and even international figures like Sanna Mirella Marin and Halla Tómasdóttir, women in politics have often been criticised not just for their policies but for their appearance, tone, and even likability. They are treated very differently from their male counterparts, facing inappropriate questions in conferences and studies showing that women in politics are often referenced by their full names, not just their last names. This practice reinforces the idea that women in power are exceptions, which is highly problematic.

New Ranked Choice Voting Ballot Initiative in Colorado

Credit: RepresentWomen

This year, there will be six ranked choice voting-related ballot initiatives. Colorado Voters First has qualified an initiative for the November 2024 ballot that proposes introducing top-four primaries and ranked choice voting (RCV) for general elections.  Currently, Colorado uses semi-closed primaries, allowing only registered party members and unaffiliated voters to participate. If passed, the new system would feature a single primary ballot for all candidates, with the top four advancing to the general election, where RCV would be used.

Ranked choice voting creates more opportunities for women and other marginalized groups to run for and win elections. Check out our Ranked Choice Voting and Women’s Representation  to learn more.

Jackie Mitchell from Ballotpedia News reports: 

Under the proposed initiative, candidates would appear on one primary ballot regardless of party voters could vote for one candidate per office. The top-four vote-getters would proceed to the general election where voters would rank candidates for each office in order of preference.

Ranked-choice voting (RCV) is a voting method in which voters rank candidates according to their preference and ballots are processed in rounds. The candidate in the last place is eliminated during each round and the voters’ second choices get their votes. The process is continued until a candidate wins a simple majority (50 percent plus one) of the vote.

Kent Thiry contributed $1 million of the $2.5 million raised by Colorado Voters First. Thiry said, “I think this is about bringing voice and choice back to the people. Whether they’re Democrats, Republicans or independents, they need their voice and choice back.”

Championing Women in Politics: Key Strategies and Inspiring Voices from the DNC.

Credit Itoro N. Umontuen, The Atlanta Voice

Itoro N. Umontuen from The Atlanta Voice wrote a compelling article highlighting our event at the Democratic National Convention.  “Women Are The Winning Strategy: Solutions From the States” focused on strategies to empower women candidates, such as implementing ranked choice voting and public financing campaigns. The event featured powerful speakers whose stories inspired the audience. Maya Harris, a prominent advocate and sister of Vice President Kamala Harris, emphasized the need for collective action to elect more women to positions of power. Barbara Lee shared her personal political journey, inspired by the pioneering Shirley Chisholm, the first Black woman to run for U.S. President. 

We must continue to push for systemic change to create a political landscape where women can thrive.

The usual phrase heard between now and Election Day will be, “This is the most important election of our lives.” With sixty-three days remaining, the 2024 Presidential Election could become a referendum on the power of women. Yes, at the ballot box and in elected office. 

RepresentWomen is an organization that believes in a democracy with gender-balanced representation in appointed and elected government offices. Along with the team at Vote Run Lead, and Better Elections for Illinois, held an event at the Hubbard Inn during the 2024 Democratic National Convention… 

Based on the conversations during the convention, RepresentWomen is pushing for the following additional resources to support candidates:

• Training and guidance on implementing ranked choice voting and public financing campaigns at the local and state levels.

• Connections to other organizations and advocates working on these issues to facilitate collaboration and knowledge-sharing.

• Research and data on the benefits of ranked choice voting and public financing in increasing women’s representation in elected office.

• Funding and financial support to help candidates and organizations pursue these policy changes.

• Advocacy and lobbying efforts at the state and federal level to promote legislation enabling ranked choice voting and public financing.

Summer has come to an end, and school is back in session! What is/was your favorite subject in school? Let us know with this ranked choice voting poll! 

That's all for this week. Have a great weekend!

Cynthia Richie Terrell

P.S.

The RepresentWomen staff will be in Washington, D.C. for our annual Staff Retreat next week! As we focus on planning our goals for the upcoming year and brainstorming new strategies to empower women to run, win, serve, and lead, there will be no Weekend Reading.