Political Role of Women in the Left-wing and Right-wing Parties in Croatia

Od osnutka neovisne Republike Hrvatske žene se bore s niskom stopom zastupljenosti na najvišim političkim položajima. O tome govori podatak da je 1990. godine bilo manje od 5% žena u tada tri predstavnička tijela. Na zadnjim parlamentarnim izborima bilo ih je manje od 15%. Udio žena u tom razdoblju raste, međutim još je uvijek ispod praga ravnopravnosti. Potpuno, razvijena demokracija trebala bi osigurati zastupljenost svih interesa te tako i ženskih. Kako političke stranke biraju kandidate odnosno kandidatkinje za političke položaje, uzroci podzastupljenosti žena mogu se tražiti upravo u njima. Bitan čimbenik kod selekcije kandidata je ideologija političkih stranaka. Desnica zbog konzervativne ideologije najvjerojatnije postavlja manje žena na kandidatske liste od liberalne ljevice koja podupire participaciju žena u politici. Utjecaj ideologije političkih stranaka desnice i ljevice kod selekcije žena u Republici Hrvatskoj nije zanemariv. Razlike među udjelima kandidiranih i izabranih žena desnice i ljevice postoje, međutim, i kod desnice i kod ljevice još su uvijek ispod praga ravnopravnosti. Iako desnica kandidira manje žena od ljevice, u razdoblju od 1990. do 2016. godine u Hrvatskoj i desnica i ljevica na stranačkim listama većinom kandidira veći udio žena nego li ih je bilo izabrano.Since the establishment of the independent Republic of Croatia, women have been struggling with the low levels of representation in top political positions. This is evidenced by the fact that in 1990 there were less than 5% of women in the then three representative bodies. Moreover, there were less than 15% of women in the last parliamentary elections. The proportion of women during this period was increasing, however, it is still below the equality threshold. Fully developed democracy should ensure that all interests, including women, are represented. As political parties select candidates for political positions, the causes of women's low representation may be sought precisely in them. An important factor in the selection of candidates is the ideology of political parties. The right-wing parties' conservative ideology most likely places fewer women on the candidate list than the liberal left-wing parties, which supports women's participation in politics. The influence of the ideology in the selection of women in Croatia is not negligible. The differences between the proportions of candidates and elected women of the right-wing and left-wing parties exist. However, the proportions of women at both are still below the equality threshold. Although the right-wing were running fewer women than the left-wing parties, from 1990 to 2016 in Croatia, both party lists mostly run a larger proportion of women that were elected