Introduction to the symposium on women’s political representation in Central and Eastern Europe

This symposium explores issues concerning the political representation of women in Central and Eastern Europe (CEE). More than thirty years after the fall of communism, the assessment of women’s role in democratic politics is timely and important. On the one hand, there has been growing awareness concerning women’s political representation and the need for gender equality in the context of systemic transformation, internationalisation, and Europeanisation (Bego 2015; Chiva 2017; Matland and Montgomery 2003). On the other hand, illiberalism, populism and democratic backsliding have taken hold of the region (Cianetti et al. 2018; Fagan et al. 2020; Norris and Inglehart 2019; Rupnik 2017; Vachudova 2020; Waldner and Lust 2018). However, their effect on gender equality in politics remains largely unexplored. Hence, there is a real need to update the scholarly literature with a comprehensive analysis of post-communist politics in relation to women’s political representation (Gwiazda 2019). Reviewing the changes in female representation in Central and Eastern Europe, a region which has undergone significant political, economic, and social changes in the last few decades, is crucial. Consequently, the main objective of this symposium is to reflect on these developments by addressing the following research question: To what extent are women represented in CEE politics and what explains the differences in women’s political the region?