Join Maria Zuffova as she analyses how gender influences issue salience in parliamentary discourse in Slovak parliament
Political institutions that reflect the diversity of a country’s population are more likely to be perceived as legitimate and fair. Increasing the representation of women, LGBTIQ+ individuals, people with disabilities, and those from diverse racial and ethnic backgrounds brings distinct perspectives to policymaking, as their experiences and priorities differ.
This study focuses on women’s representation in the Slovak parliament. Applying text-as-data methods to a decade of parliamentary speeches at the sentence level (n = 2,040,571), Maria Zuffova investigates whether female and male legislators tend to focus on different policy areas—mirroring gender-stereotypical distinctions between so-called ‘masculine’ topics (e.g. foreign trade, transport, macroeconomics, energy) and ‘feminine’ topics (e.g. social welfare, education, health).
The implications are both positive and negative. The findings suggest that MPs do bring different issues to the debate, reflecting persistent gender stereotypes. While the research confirms that women MPs more often advocate on issues affecting women’s lives, it also highlights the continued entrenchment and persistence of gendered divisions in public discourse.