Do female legislators have different policy priorities than their male colleagues in an undemocratic/semi-democratic legislature? The case of Hong Kong

Document Type

Journal article

Source Publication

Journal of Legislative Studies

Publication Date

1-1-2017

Volume

23

Issue

1

First Page

44

Last Page

70

Publisher

Routledge

Keywords

democratic transitions, gender outcomes, Hong Kong, Legislator policy priorities, legislatures in undemocratic/semi-democratic regimes

Abstract

This article investigates the impacts of democratic transition on gender outcomes in Hong Kong, which has a unique path of transition. The author studies whether democratic transition in Hong Kong since the mid-1980s has brought positive gender outcomes. Specifically, this article examines the extent to which Hong Kong’s female legislators acted for women’s interests from 1970 to 2012. The study finds that after the introduction of legislative elections, female legislators were more likely to represent women’s interests than male legislators. Apart from gender, the study also finds that political orientation of a legislator significantly affected legislator policy priorities and/or gender outcome. Liberal legislators proposed significantly more motions related to women’s interests than conservative legislators. Finally, the study highlights that as the legislature was transited from an undemocratic to a semi-democratic body, legislators were significantly more likely to propose motions related to women’s interests.

DOI

10.1080/13572334.2017.1283174

Print ISSN

13572334

E-ISSN

17439337

Funding Information

This research was supported by the Research Grants Council of Hong Kong under the Early Career Scheme [grant number CS14A1]. {CS14A1}

Publisher Statement

Copyright © 2017 Informa UK Limited, trading as Taylor & Francis Group. Access to external full text or publisher's version may require subscription.

Full-text Version

Publisher’s Version

Language

English

Recommended Citation

Tam, W. (2017). Do female legislators have different policy priorities than their male colleagues in an undemocratic/semi-democratic legislature? The case of Hong Kong. Journal of Legislative Studies, 23(1), 44-70. doi: 10.1080/13572334.2017.1283174

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