Women In Politics

Despite widespread promotional campaigns to encourage more women to get involved in the democratic process, there are still relatively few who have made it to the top of the game. On an international level, women are highly underrepresented across the board, and this occurs for a number of reasons. The great UK politician and Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher is recorded as saying that women in politics must work twice as hard as their male counterparts in order to achieve the same level of success. As one of the few female leaders the world has ever seen, she should know.

So why are women so marginalized when it comes to politics, particularly in the upper echelons? Some accredit it to widespread and deep-rooted prejudices, which hold women as near second-class citizens in a man’s world. Others feel it is to do with women lacking the drive and determination to make it to the top over the majority male dominance. Or maybe its because they find it hard to control the support of a party in the party political system? Whichever way, women are certainly in the minority, and this is something which is surprising, given the widespread change in attitude towards women’s rights over the last few decades.

At the time of writing this article, there are very few women at the top of their game in politics, including most notably leaders in Germany and Ukraine, as well as a handful of high ranking officials across the world. In the UK, Margaret Thatcher is held to be one of the best whilst also one of the worst Prime Ministers of all time, boasting significantly more controversial policies over her terms in office than anyone else to date. Whilst it is clear there is a deficit at the highest level in politics, it seems they are beginning in recent times to really make their mark.

Women find themselves second placed to men in all walks of life. Regardless of individual points of view, or the feminist movement, it is cold hard fact that women are paid generally less than men for the same work, and face other forms of discrimination in and out of the workplace. By setting the example in politics, t is clear that attitudes to them the world over could be set to change, and the gender political power shift could be more than well under way.

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