Women’s Political Networks: Defining Leadership, Breaking Barriers and Fostering Change

Abstract

This paper seeks to understand the impact women’s political networks have globally in supporting women overcome the universal cultural and structural barriers they face in engaging in a political career. With best practices from national, regional and international networks, this paper explores the role and modus operandi networks have adopted in supporting women running for national office in congressional or parliamentary elections, enhancing their effectiveness and shaping their leadership once in office. Through desk research of existing literature, interviews with women engaged in national politics and experts in this field, this paper also seeks to raise questions on the role of technology, the media and the correlation between women’s participation in networks and their substantive representation. It also includes a resource guide of current available literature and mapping of actors in the field of women's political networks (Annex I) and a 10-step toolkit for activists on creating successful networks.

Keywords: women, politics, networks, quotas, media