Androcracy
Androcracy or
andrarchy is a
form of government in which the government rulers are men.
In modern societies, most governments are ruled by men. The rise of
feminism in the 20th century brought access to contraception and increased equal opportunities for women, both of which enabled women to challenge the traditional hegemony of androcratic institutions. Nevertheless, studies have been conducted in Africa, Australia, and Europe which continue to demonstrate a disproportionate representation of men in government.As of 2004, women represented 15.5 percent of all parliamentarians. Nordic countries have the highest representation at close to 40 percent, while Arab states have the lowest, near 6 percent.
Androcracy as a gender bias may influence the decision-making process in many countries, and women's issues may or may not be poorly represented as a result of gender discrimination. Kleinberg and Boris point to a dominant paradigm which promotes wage-earning fathers with financially dependent mothers, the exclusion of same-sex couples, and the marginalization of single-parent families.
The opposite of androcracy is gynecocracy, sometimes referred to as
gynocracy, or rule by women. It is related to but not synonymous with
matriarchy. Evidence indicating historical gynecocracies survives mostly in mythology and in some archaeological records, although it is disputed by some authors, like Cynthia Ell in her book
the Myth of Matriarchal_Prehistory. The occasionally proposed theory of a "Universal Matriarchy" of prehistorical times is generally considered to be mythical and not a historical fact.
* Eller, Cynthia (2001) :
The Myth of Matriarchal Prehistory : Why An Invented Past Will Not Give Women a Future ISBN 0807067938
*Flanders, Laura. (2004).
Bushwomen: Tales of a Cynical Species. Verso. ISBN 1859845878.
*Flanders, Laura (ed). (2004).
The W Effect : Bush's War on Women. The Feminist Press at CUNY. ISBN 1558614710
* Martin, Mart. (2001).
The Almanac of Women and Minorities in American Politics 2002. Westview Press. ISBN 0813398177
* Matland, Richard E. Montgomery, Kathleen A. (2003).
Women's Access to Political Power in Post-Communist Europe. Oxford University Press. ISBN 0199246858
*Melich, Tanya. (1996).
The Republican War Against Women : An Insider's Report from Behind the Lines. Bantam. ISBN 0553378163
* Pusey, Michael. (1989).
Economic Rationalism in Canberra: A Nation-Building State Changes its Mind. Cambridge University Press. ISBN 0521336619
* Studler, Donley T. Welch, Susan. (1987). Understanding the Iron Law of Andrarchy: The Effects of Candidate Gender on Voting Scotland.
Comparative Political Studies. 20. July. 174-191.
* Hakim, C. (2003).
Family Matters. Australian Institute of Family Studies. 52. Sept.
* Boris, E. Kleinberg, S.J. (2003). Mothers and other workers: (re)conceiving labor, maternalism, and the state.
Journal of Women's History. 15. 3. 90. Sept.
* Maddison, Sarah. (2003). Bombing the patriarchy or outfitting a cab: challenges facing the next generation of feminist activists.
Women in Action. Aug.
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Patriarchy*
Inter-Parliamentary Union, Women in Parliaments: World and Regional Averages
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Africa - Report details andrarchy in seven African countries
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Macedonia - Andrarchy in Macedonian political system
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Joel Aberbach - UCLA
