Reserved for Whom? The Electoral Impact of Gender Quotas in Taiwan

Since the 1990s, gender quotas in elections have become a global phenomenon.

One of the issues raised about gender quotas concerns the qualifications of quota women. A previous study that looked at France’s parity law showed quota women are as competent as or even more competent than non-quota women or non-quota men. The French experience, under the proportional representation system, only allows for a comparison of average qualifications between quota women and their non-quota counterparts.

Taiwan has had reserved seats for women since the 1950s and had a series of increases in the number of these reserved seats in the 1990s. Taiwan’s experience under the SNTV (single non-transferrable vote) electoral system sheds better light on the issue concerning the qualifications of quota women. Based on the outcomes of Taiwan’s three local elections in the 2000s, this paper provides a direct comparison of qualifications between women who are elected through reserved seats and the men they unseated. The results show that the majority of women elected through the reserved seats have equal or better qualifications than the men they unseated. Moreover, increasing reserved seats or gender quotas enhances not only women’s political participation but also political competition.

席位为谁保留？：性别配额对台湾选举的影响

关键词：保留席位，性别配额，女权运动，选举体系，女性政治参与，地方选举。

自上个世纪九十年代起， 性别配额就已经成为一个全球性的现象。对性别配额的质疑之一是针对通过配额选出的女性的资格问题。 对法国平等选举法实践的一个现有研究表明，无论是跟非配额选举出的女性还是男性相比，配额选举出的女性都同样或更为胜任其议席。 不过，因为法国实行比例代表制选举，它的经验仅允许我们对配额选举的女性议员和与其对应的非配额获选议员的平均资格进行比较。台湾自上世纪五十年代起就已经开始为女性保留选举席位， 而在九十年代更是数次提高保留席位的数量。台湾选举实行单记非让渡投票制，这为考察配额当选女性的资格提供了更好的条件。本论文利用二十一世纪头十年中台湾三次地方选举的结果，直接比较了通过保留席位选出的女性跟被她们取而代之的男性议员的资格。研究结果表明，大多数通过保留席位选举出的女性议员跟其所取代的男性议员相比，不是资格相当就是更胜一筹。而且，增加保留议席或女性配额不仅提升女性的政治参与程度，而且增强了选举的政治竞争度。

Translated from English by Li Guo