Gender Quotas - Controversial But Trendy ON EXPANDING THE RESEARCH AGENDA

The recent introduction of electoral gender quotas all over the world represents an interesting new research area, since quotas touch upon so many central themes in feminist theory, political theory and policy analysis. The three articles on gender quotas in this cluster discuss 'classic' themes in quotas research such as quota discourses, implementation of different types of quotas in different electoral systems, and the effects of gender quotas. But the articles also contribute to expanding our research agenda with new lines of enquiry, such as attitudes towards quotas after the introduction of quotas; or the importance of mobilization around the demand for quotas in spite of poor results in terms of increasing women's representation. In this introduction to the three articles, it is argued that we need research into the question of why male dominated parliaments all over the world introduce gender quotas. It seems obvious that motives other than pure feminist ones are involved, since politics is after all a world of mixed motives, bargaining and compromises. Also, the introduction argues that there is a need for further developing our concepts and methods when studying the impact of gender quotas and the effect of women's representation in general. Different results may derive not solely from different cases, but also from the use of disparate criteria for this evaluation.