The Woodrow Wilson Center Press
Women in Power in Post-Communist Parliaments
Marilyn Rueschmeyer and Sharon L. Wolchik
Women in Power in Post-Communist Parliaments examines the life and work of women who have reached positions of political power after the end of communism in Europe. It explores the roles they have adopted, the relationships they have cultivated, and the agendas they have pursued. In contrast to much of the literature on women in post-communist states, this volume treats the issues comparatively, in six countries with interesting differences—the Czech Republic, Germany (with a focus on parliamentarians from the former GDR), Slovenia, Bulgaria, Poland, and Russia. Interviews with and written statements by the "women in power" give voice to their experiences as political actors within an environment of volatile economies and new foreign engagements.
What People are Saying
"Women in Power gives us a more personal lens to understand the ways in which the parliaments, as well as the women who have made it into the houses, have adjusted to the new cultures and mandates of the post-communist world." —Jean Robinson, Indiana University, Bloomington
"This is a highly generative and coherent piece of scholarship. . . . The most important cross-national comparative book to date on the role of women in post-communist politics." —Mitchell A. Orenstein, Johns Hopkins University
Chapter List
List of Tables and Figures
Acknowledgments
1 Women in Power: The Issues, Marilyn Rueschemeyer and Sharon L. Wolchik
Part I. Women in Six National Parliaments
2 Women in the Russian State Duma, Linda J. Cook and Carol Nechemias
3 Women's Representation in the Polish Parliament and the Determinants of Their Effectiveness, Renata Siemienska
4 What Difference Do Female Deputies Make in the Slovene Parliament? Milica G. Antic
5 Women in Parliament in the Czech Republic, Sharon L. Wolchik
6 East German Women in the Parliament of Unified Germany, Marilyn Rueschemeyer
7 The Return of the King: Women in the Bulgarian Parliament, Kristen Ghodsee
Part II. Perspectives of Women Parliamentarians
8 Russian Women Parliamentarians: In Their Own Voices, Compiled and Translated by Carol Nechemias
9 The Perspective of the Head of the Parliamentary Women's Group in Poland, Senator Dorota Kempka Speaks with Agnieszka Majcher
10 A Specialist in Culture in the Slovene Parliament, Majda širca
11 Negotiating the Czech Parliament,
An Interview with Anna Curdová, House of Deputies, Czech Parliament
12 My Entry into Politics during the Time of German Reunification: Where Do East German Female Politicians Stand in Europe Today? Constanze Krehl
13 Women in Politics in Bulgaria, Kina Andreeva
14 Women in Power: Concluding Thoughts, Marilyn Rueschemeyer and Sharon L. Wolchik
Selected Bibliography
Contributors
Index