Women's political representation in the Philippines : A study about gender equality in the government of the Philippines

Abstract: The purpose of the thesis is to understand and analyze the present situation of gender equality in politics in the Philippines, investigate women's opportunities to be politically active and to exercise political influence. Finally find out if there is a difference in horizontal and vertical positions between women's and men's representation in politics and investigate further possibilities and problems that might be associated with women's political representation in the Philippines. The empirical material for this thesis has been gathered through qualitative interviews with male and female politicians from Manila, the capital of the Philippines. The theoretical framework is divided into different parts which are used to analyse various points from the empirical material. In this chapter, we included theories about differences between gender experiences and why women should be politically active. As well as the meaning of an overrepresentation of a certain group in politics and the possible reasons to women’s underrepresentation in politics as well as the arguments about women's presence in politics, and also the horizontal and vertical segregations. To analyse the empirics from a theoretical point of view, we have divided the results into three sub-categories which are the respondents' attitude to the present situation of gender equality in politics, women's opportunities to be politically active and to make political influence and the horizontal or vertical divisions between women and men's positions in politics.  The results from this thesis shows that women are as competent as men in the political field, and they have a lot of experiences to contribute with in politics that benefit all the citizens, but it is easier for women to come in politics if they are a part of a political clan. But these women, who replace their family members, usually pursue those members’ decision, but do not act according to their own will.