Ethnicity, Gender, and Political Participation: Analysis of Local Political Positions Reserved for Hakka and Indigenous Women(1/2)

The advancement of ethnic consciousness and gender equality is essential to Taiwan’s recent social development. Despite the increasing proportion of women participating in politics at various levels of elections in Taiwan, political representation of women at the township level has long been stagnant. Constituencies with few or no female candidates include areas with low population density or minority ethnic communities. This study explored the social structural factors contributing to this phenomenon, namely the relationship between women’s political participation and ethnic identity, gender politics, and local politics. Women’s political involvement and the status of political positions reserved for women in these areas were analyzed to further determine the influence of this system and propose suggestions for future development of the system and policy.This 3-year subproject employed methods such as literature analysis, in-depth interviews, and focus groups. The social processes and relevant systems of women’s political participation in the Key Development Area of Hakka Culture and indigenous constituencies were explored, focusing on three research topics; 1. the relationship between women’s political participation and the political positions reserved for women in Hakka and indigenous constituencies; 2. the effects of local and gender politics on women’s political participation in Hakka and indigenous constituencies; 3. to analyze the plight of Hakka and indigenous women regarding their political participation and to develop relevant regulations to increase their participation rate. The first topic focused on determining the capabilities of the existing political reservation system for women and their political involvement in Hakka and indigenous constituencies. The second topic centered on the influences of local and gender politics on women’s political participation in these constituencies and the women’s responses to these influences. The third topic further analyzed the structural obstacles to women's political participation in local elections; relevant regulations to promote the reservation of political positions for women at the local legislative level are proposed. In sum, the objectives of this project were to clarify the effects of local and gender politics on women’s political participation in Hakka and indigenous constituencies, to determine whether the existing system encourages and guarantees the political participation of local women, and to offer suggestions for system and policy improvement.