Lithuanian women-parlamentarians: what and how happens when traditions and organizational structures of political representation undergo changes

Straipsnyje apžvelgiama parlamentinio moterų atstovavimo Lietuvoje istorinė raida, išskiriamos politinio darbo pasidalijimo tendencijos tarp vyrų ir moterų tarpukario, sovietmečio ir pokomunistinės Lietuvos nacionalinių sprendimų darymo (parlamentinėse) struktūrose. Išryškinama moterų politinio simbolizmo (tokenizmo) tradicija, susikūrusi 1918 m. paskelbus Lietuvos nepriklausomybę ir ypač sustiprėjusi sovietmečiu. Aptariami sovietmetyje veikusių atstovavimo politikoje ir dalyvavimo nomenklatūroje principai, išryškinant jų nepalankumą moterims. Pristatomi struktūriniai ir kultūriniai lyčių atstovavimo pokomunistinėje demokratijoje pokyčiai, parodant, kaip susidaro moterų atsakomybei rezervuotos viešosios politikos nišosThe Lithuanian political stage provides an appropriate case for an investigation into historical changes in the realm of political gender representation. Women's share in the parliamentary elite of Lithuania fluctuated and increased from scanty 3–4 % in the interwar period to significant one third in the Soviet times, then dropped to 9 % after restoration of the Lithuanian statehood in 1990, and then increased to respectable one fifth in the parliamentary elections of 2004 and 2008. Only further increases might be predicted in this domain. Following Kanter's seminal studies of women leaders in business corporations (1977), we claim that the broad study of traditions and organizational structures prevalent in the parliament as an institution may be usefully narrowed to some neo-institutionalism account, which takes into consideration the "human factor" and individual numbers operating in the analyzed entity with a special attention to the effects of relative numbers and proportional representation. In the paper we firstly discuss gendered interpretations pertaining to the normative nature of power as they have been, were and are used in the political (parliamentary) discourse in Lithuania. Weak continuity of political values, associated with men's domination, is observed throughout the pre-war, communist and post-communist periods, despite their differences in respect to political and civil freedoms, rights, and expectations. Secondly, we explore shifts in political women's representation and women representatives' place among their peer parliamentarians through the political history of Lithuania (since 1918 until present times, i.e. the Seimas elected in 2008). The main thesis is that women's parliamentary representation evolves from pitiable tokenism towards more open and gender inclusive structure of opportunities, which however remains biased towards women's segregation from the parliamentary decision- making domains, with the accent on "feminine" competences and experiences. The recent structural expansion of women in political power in Lithuania might therefore be interpreted as an indication that changes in values (discourse tradition) may be merely lagging behind the irreversible structural changes, which favour equal gender opportunities in society at large and in power positions in particula