We are organising a panel for the upcoming IPSA World Congress in Madrid (8-12 July 2012) on the topic of “Gender, Quotas, and Candidate Selection” (http://www.ipsa.org/my-ipsa/events/madrid2012/panel/gender-quotas-and-candidate-selection):

"Over the course of the past two decades electoral gender quotas have expanded throughout the world. However, research across different national and party contexts points to considerable variation among quotas in terms of form and effectiveness. This panel seeks to address variations in quota adoption and implementation, focusing on barriers to women’s representation at the political party level. Political parties play a central role in selecting candidates and allocating district and list positions. Political parties have historically been male-dominated structures, that is, men have typically monopolized decision-making and candidate selection bodies. Furthermore, their internal dynamics and inertias are gendered, both within the context of formal party rules and informal norms and practices. In this respect, some of the questions to be explored are: To what extent party organization is gendered when it comes to candidate selection? What are the informal norms and practices which limit the successful application of quotas? Are (gender) power relations within parties relevant to understanding the tensions raised by gender quotas in relation to candidate selection?. The panel also provides an opportunity to explore in greater depth motivations for quota passage more generally. The panel welcomes both theoretically and empirically driven papers that focus on any of the aspects related to candidate selection process and the adoption and/or implementation of gender."

If you are interested in presenting on this panel, you can submit an abstract (of approx 250 words) on the IPSA website at: http://www.ipsa.org/events/congress/madrid2012/submit-abstractpaper-proposal. Under the ‘Congress Theme’ drop-down menu, you will want to select RC 19 ‘Gender Politics and Policy’. Under the ‘Panel’ drop-down menu you will want to select ‘Gender, Quotas and Candidate Selection.’

The deadline for submission of abstracts and paper proposals is OCTOBER 17 2011.

Please don’t hesitate to contact us with any questions (contact details below). Best wishes,
Tània Verge (tania.verge@upf.edu) & Meryl Kenny (meryl.kenny@unsw.edu.au)