Beyond Number: Women’s Representation in Taiwan’s Post-Reform Legislative Elections

Abstract

This study argues that electoral systems not only produce differences in the quantity but also in the quality of female representatives. It examines how the post-reform electoral systems in Taiwan recruit different types of women as candidates and representatives under the Single Member District (SMD) and the Proportional Representation (PR) electoral systems, the latter of which has a gender quota. In the data collected for this study, a dual-track pattern was identified for the current Mixed Member Majoritarian (MMM) rules. Namely, more electoral insiders are nominated and elected under the SMD system, whereas more outsiders are nominated and elected under the PR system with its gender quota. Insiders are persons with previous successful electoral experience; outsiders are persons lacking this background. Furthermore, the PR gender quota redefines the selection criteria for party nomination and expands the supply of female candidates overall. Taken together, the qualitative difference might account for the quantitative difference. Taiwan’s female representatives reached the highest percentage recorded among Asian countries following the change in the electoral rules from the Single Non-Transferable Vote (SNTV)- Multiple-Member-District (MMD) system to the MMM system. In sum, this study demonstrates the differing effects of the changes to electoral systems on women’s political representation in Taiwan, revealing the casual heterogeneity between electoral rules and women’s participation in electoral politics.