EDN: https://elibrary.ru/zvfcyt
DOI: 10.21064/WinRS.2025.4.2
The article raises the issue of the exclusion of certain social groups from the process of governance, using the example of persistent gender asymmetry in leadership positions in institutions of power in modern democracies. The authors raise a logical question about the factors hindering the growth of female political leadership in democracies, given that conditions exist that ensure equal access for men and women to participate in elections and compete for leadership positions. Two interrelated factors are important, namely social and institutional factors. The authors draw attention to the gap between the state’s efforts to support women politicians in taking leading positions in the power hierarchy and the election results, which show a low level of representation of women in leadership positions in politics. The authors believe that ideas of equality in access to political office are disproportionately distributed in democratic societies. The political elite is more liberal in its political views than society, whose attitudes are changing extremely slowly. Society also reacts negatively to the state’s efforts to help women take up important political positions. It is this discrepancy that is reflected in the election results. As a result, favorable institutional and informational conditions are created for female candidates, but the results of the vote most often show that these values are not shared by the majority of society (at the moment of expressing their will, traditional ideas about politics have a stronger influence). Based on an analysis of various configurations of electoral and party systems, the authors show how these factors limit the ability of women candidates to participate in elections and win them. The authors conclude that the growth of democratization in the political system does not automatically lead to changes in social expectations, and that the efforts of the state lead to the opposite result, namely resistance and, when extreme positions are reached, a conservative shift in politics.