2014/07/17 by RAINBOW MURRAY, Rainbow Murray · 293 citations
Psychology · Social Sciences · #Cognitive reframing #Demographic economics #Economics #Gender Politics and Representation #Historical Gender and Feminism Studies #Law #Meritocracy #Norm (philosophy) #Normative #Political science #Politics #Psychology #Representation (politics) #Scrutiny #Social Policy and Reform Studies #Social psychology
paper · pdf · doi:10.1017/s0003055414000239
published in American Political Science Review 108(3), 520-532 (Cambridge University Press)
openalex publication_date 2014/07/17 · openalex created_date 2025/10/10 · openalex updated_date 2026/08/04
Gender quotas traditionally focus on the underrepresentation of women. Conceiving of quotas in this way perpetuates the status of men as the norm and women as the “other.” Women are subject to heavy scrutiny of their qualifications and competence, whereas men's credentials go unchallenged. This article calls for a normative shift in the problem of overrepresentation, arguing that the quality of representation is negatively affected by having too large a group drawn from too narrow a talent pool. Curbing overrepresentation through ceiling quotas for men offers three core benefits. First, it promotes meritocracy by ensuring the proper scrutiny of politicians of both sexes. Second, it provides an impetus for improving the criteria used to select and evaluate politicians. Third, neutralizing the overly masculinized environment within parliaments might facilitate better substantive and symbolic representation of both men and women. All citizens would benefit from these measures to increase the quality of representation.