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21 December 2021 | dataset

Pawa Blong Meri: Women Candidates in the 2015 Bougainville Election

The 2015 Bougainville election saw a record number of women candidates, and a record number of women were elected. While one in three open constituencies had at least one woman candidate, overall the results for most women in the open seats were disappointing.

This paper reports on an in-depth study of women candidates in the 2015 Bougainville election: their profiles, motivations and campaign strategies. It analyses the impacts of three issues that emerged as common themes in discussions around women’s participation in political decision making in Bougainville:

- The impact of the shift to a limited preferential voting electoral system on political campaigning and the election of women.

- The effect of money politics, or the vote buying and gift-giving practices that are commonly associated with elections in Papua New Guinea.

- The influence of Bougainville’s matrilineal land ownership traditions on the campaigns and results of women candidates.

While limited preferential voting system has resulted in the election of women in some circumstances, it is by no means a panacea for women’s political under-representation. Similarly, the effects of money politics and the intersections between traditional custom and modern politics, including the role of matriliny in campaigning, are components of larger political debates in Melanesia.

Data and Resource

dp 2015 14 baker online

This short paper examines the question of how…

Field Value
Publisher Pacific Data Hub
Modified 10 May 2022
Release Date 21 December 2021
Source URL https://pacificdata.org/data/dataset/fb4a7e1f-0bb8-4428-af6f-69b5835b3cf2
Identifier fb4a7e1f-0bb8-4428-af6f-69b5835b3cf2
Spatial / Geographical Coverage Location Array
Relevant Countries Papua New Guinea
License Public
[Open Data]
Author Array