Vernon Daley

The argument goes like this. Women have been largely locked out of the corridors of political decision making as result of the hardened biases of a male-dominated system. Therefore, institutional changes have to be made to redress the imbalance.

It's a sound argument, and I agree with it. However, I jump ship when there is talk about using a quota system to guarantee a minimum level of female representation in government.

Recomendations

That's one of the recommendations of a study done on behalf of the National Advisory Council on Local Government Reform. The study, authored by gender researchers Pansy Hamilton and Linnette Vassell, suggests that Jamaica adopt a quota system, similar to that used in India and South Africa, where 30 per cent of local government seats are reserved for women.

I participated in a workshop last week to discuss the study and I made the point then that I was not in favour of such a provision being included in the Constitution or promoted through legislation. First of all, irrespective of the name attached to the recommendation, it's still what we all have come to understand by the term affirmative action. By its very nature, affirmative action opens up the question as to whether the right people are being selected for the job.

If we put aside 30 per cent of the seats for women it is possible that we might not be allowing ourselves the opportunity to get the best talent in the system. Also, the recommendation seems to be somewhat anti-democratic. People should have the right to choose who they think is the best person to represent them. By saying that a fixed number of seats should go to women or business people or journalists, for that matter, aren't we taking away the fundamental democratic right to choose?

At any rate, there are questions about whether the quota system really works in the countries where it has been employed. In a very informed presentation during last week's workshop, well-known sociologist Hermione McKenzie talked about some of the problems which had plagued the initiative.

Weaknesses of the system

One of the unexpected weaknesses of the system, she pointed out, was that in some cases it did not give women power but merely set them up as puppets for fathers, husbands, lovers and brothers who controlled things from behind the scenes.

While I'm fully behind getting more women involved in the political system at top leadership levels, I don't think the quota system is the way to go. A better approach, which the study contemplates, is linking gender to state funding for political parties. In other words, if a party is to receive taxpayers' money, then among the conditions it should satisfy is a clear commitment and well-articulated plan to give women a real chance at winning seats.

More has to be done at the political party level to get greater participation of women in the system. That's where we should start.

The study is an excellent piece of work and I hope its proposals are widely discussed as the country seeks ways to strengthen and improve the system of government and governance.