Study Tour
“A New Age of Women in Politics”
The World Order and Globalization Hub welcomed its twenty-first delegation in May, consisting of twelve female professionals engaged in the political sphere. The delegation, representing Argentina, Armenia, Bhutan, Bulgaria, Chile, Germany, Hungary, Jordan, Lithuania, Pakistan, Philippines, and Tanzania, joined for the duration of the program. The tour was held in Washington, DC, and Denver, Colorado during the week of May 4th – 11th, 2024. In that time, the participants met with a wide variety of professionals: ranging from political NGOs, non-partisan non-profit organizations, academics, political women’s institutions, policy advisors, The World Bank Group, legislative offices, journalists, and researchers. The Hub also held a special public discussion panel event during the tour, related to the theme of the tour, entitled Approaches to Gender Inclusion: Discussing Strategies for Building a More Inclusive Future.
The delegation spent the initial Sunday in DC getting to know one another over introduction presentations. The morning started with an introduction presentation to the week’s program and on the state of women in the United States from Christian Koester and Rachel Lee. The presentations from the participants focused on the state of women in their home countries, demographics, the proportion of women in seats of power, and pressing social and policy issues. The presentations facilitated discussions around the rights of women, cultural practices, and challenges women are facing globally. This incited further cultural exchange and discussion between the participants for the rest of the trip. The introductory and welcome day concluded with a monuments tour of DC, wherein American culture and history were also shared with the group.
The week kicked off with meetings in Washington, DC including meeting partners from the Progressive Policy Institute, George Washington University, Running Start, the Woman’s National Democratic Club (WNDC), The World Bank Group, Georgetown University, and GeoDES; and featuring panel speakers from the National Organization for Women, The World Bank Group, the National Democratic Institute, a former Senior USAID Coordinator, a former State Department Advisor, and the former President of WNDC.
The discussions in DC centered on a multitude of concepts concerning women in politics and overall issues of gender inequality; ranging from representation in power, gender equality initiatives, policies, best practices for overcoming barriers, means of economic mobility for women, the notion of quotas, and programs that exist for the success of women.
The outlook of getting women to positions of power in DC was one from a more pragmatic lens. The focus of these conversations started from the baseline acknowledgment of the inherent disadvantages women face from the start. In order to have more women in seats of power the playing field needs to be more even. The discussions built from there and focused on actionable ways to increase the representation of women, especially the representation of women from even more marginalized groups.
Questions posed on policy frequently asked what types of policies are the most effective at promoting gender equality; even taking a look at policies not necessarily directly linked to gender equality. Policies that help alleviate the burden of domestic labor, predominately assumed by women and frequently referred to as “the second shift”, greatly benefit equality measures.
The notion of quotas was brought up in a majority of the meetings, sparking lively debate. Quotas have had a varied outcome in other countries; resulting in both progress and the perpetuation of the same underlying issue.
Discussions also focused on the importance of women’s economic mobility. The right of women to have control over money is vital to their ability to be represented. Moreover, equal pay and access to the same quantity of money as male counterparts is crucial for success, both in life and political endeavors.
The group also discussed current initiatives that exist to motivate women and younger girls to run for office. The lack of existing infrastructure to recruit, support and motivate women to run was also a notable discussion point.
Lastly, intersecting identities was a central theme across conversations. The interplay of identities like race, class, and gender, are closely correlated with one another in terms of access to opportunity and political affiliation.
The group was also present for a panel discussion held by the Friedrich Naumann Foundation in DC. The event, entitled: Approaches to Gender Inclusion: Discussing Strategies for Building a More Inclusive Future was held at the Woman’s National Democratic Club on Tuesday, May 7th, and featured five distinguished panel speakers and a moderator. The discussion focused on several aspects of ways to promote gender inclusion. It was made clear across the board the inequality that still exists for women and marginalized genders. The conversation focused on legal and economic angles that have been successful at chipping away barriers. Social pressures from allies abroad on how we treat our citizens, particularly women, was a noteworthy point. Investments in our marginalized communities and having people from them at the center of conversations and at the table policy making was a predominant talking point. Every answer came to the conclusion that equality benefits us all. The second half of the event allowed the delegation, speakers, and attendees to intermingle and connect with one another.
The group then set off for Colorado the afternoon of Wednesday, May 8th after several morning meetings in DC. The second half of the program took place in Denver, Colorado. The city and state were chosen based on the majority proportion of women who hold seats in the State’s legislature and leading positions in the private sector. Meetings in Denver included partners from the Colorado Sun, the Office of the Colorado Secretary of State, the District Office of House Representative Jason Crow, Colorado Women’s Chamber of Commerce, Project I See You and Colorado Black Women for Political Action.
The discussions in Colorado centered on several notable topics. The group discussed the shift of representation in the state legislature over the last couple decades. Increasingly there have been more women and democrats elected to seats of power, now with both being a majority. This shift is explainable twofold: both the overall more progressive mindset of the state, and as more women came to have a greater share of the political power, people got used to the idea of women in powerful positions. A clear example of why representation matters.
The mindset in Colorado mirrored that of DC in recognizing that there are still barriers for women, especially accessing politics. However, the overall mindset of the state is geared toward helping women and marginalized communities to access politics. The cultural shift of the state toward a more accepting standard is in part due to the increased representation in the state legislature.
The group discussed in detail how money is regulated in politics and how campaign donations operate in Colorado. The discussion also centered the issue of gender pay gap, as it is still a persistent issue in Colorado similar to the rest of the United States. The pay gap makes it more difficult for women to run for office and for women’s interests to be represented.
A noteworthy angle also discussed is the importance and power of support networks based on shared power. The idea is to uplift others from a place of reciprocal dignity, to truly see and exchange with others on a personal level, in addition to financial support. Often cited as more impactful than monetary aid; connectedness and community spark the ideas, desire, and confidence of women to engage politically. The person-to-person approach exemplified in Colorado is reflected in their success of more equal legislative representation.
In sum, the tour sparked many insightful discussions and created valuable opportunities for connection. All of the conversations led back to the point that equality benefits everyone and there is still much work to do. The participants expressed sincere gratitude for the opportunity to take part in this study tour. All of the participants emphasized the value of the personal relationships they had made with their fellow participants, as well as the value of the conversations they had with the numerous experts during the week. The contrast between the meeting partners in Washington and Denver, and the ability to have a local perspective outside of the DC bubble was also a highlight for the participants. Participants are keen to keep in contact and collaborate on research papers and other projects. The World Order and Globalization Hub would like to thank all of the participants for their engagement and insightful contributions throughout the program.