By drawing on Bourdieu's concepts of field, capital and habitus, this text aims to comprehend the problem of women entering politics. It builds on the hypothesis that entering politics signifies the entering of a specific field; that the person entering politics - he or she - must possess specific forms of capital. This calls for an understanding of the way in which the political field is structured as well as of the broader political and cultural context in which deliberation on and actual entrance into politics takes place. We are interested in the way the political field is structured in Slovenia, how it functions and what is its 'message' to those who consider entering it. That is to say, that decisions to enter politics take place in the context of a specific understanding of the place and role of gender in everyday life, political culture and society in general; as well as in relation to very specific evaluations of individual gender roles and thus also in a setting that influences conceptions of the (in)appropriateness of women entering the field of politics. Through an analysis of interviews made with representatives of the political elite, we delineate the concrete problems politicians of both genders face when entering and working in politics. In doing this, we pay special attention to gender differences.
COBISS.SI-ID: 425983
The text brings into focus contemporary research on equal opportunities, the entrance and activities of men and women in politics, as well as structural, system and other obstacles they face on their way to decision-making institutions. Primarily, it provides an overview of the most important, widely successful or most referenced international research in the field, together with an overview of research undertaken in Slovenia. In particular, the text addresses the research problem of how the private sphere influences public or political activity. As women are traditionally considered as being more connected to and interested in the private sphere, the text mostly deals with the problem of the obstacles women face when entering politics. Because this kind of research is missing in Slovenia, the authors (before becoming involved in studying this problem in Slovenia) examined similar research in the United States of America. On this basis and with a consideration of certain specificities of Slovenian territory, they frame methodological reflections regarding their own research project that is presented at the end of the text.
COBISS.SI-ID: 426751
Based on interviews with Slovenian male and female politicians, in this article the authors try to analyse two sets of factors of political professionalisation - early political education and socialisation as well as professional experience. These factors serve as the basis of male and female politicians´ competencies and skills, their autonomy in relation to a political party, as well as their freedom in exercising political views. The analysis of the interviews shows that women express discomfort towards professional politics and their political function more often and more explicitly than men. This discomfort and ambivalence is often mitigated by invoking their professionalism which stems from their education and experiencein previous professions.
COBISS.SI-ID: 426495
We assume that specific everyday practices in the field of politics in Slovenia are based on the traditionally defined gender roles of men and women in private and public life, that they reinforce these roles, as well as hinder the equal participation of men and women in politics. The analysis of interviews with male and female politicians active at the national level shows the existence of a gender contract that operates at the level of expectations as well as actual practices and which results in an asymmetrical load of private life responsibilities of men and women in politics. The political profession in Slovenia is highly masculinised. Female and male politicians adapt to the existing structure which does not consider the benefits of the coordination of their private and professional lives.
COBISS.SI-ID: 426239
The paper analyses the role of National Assembly of the Republic of Slovenia in the last two decades in ensuring equal opportunity of both sexes in decision making processes in three levels: activities of National Assembly as the highest representative body in the country; as legislative body and as a place of democratic dialog in last two decades. The Author came to conclusion after careful examination and analysis of the institutional changes in the last two decades on the field of gender equality and implementation of important legislative solutions (i.e. quotas) that men and women are differently positioned and that the National Assembly remains a place of men's domination.
COBISS.SI-ID: 44377442