Parliamentary representation of women: From discourses of justice to strategies of accountability

The 1990s have witnessed a wide range of initiatives at national and international levels to increase the parliamentary representation of women. It is argued here that the "underrepresentation of women" is an inherently ambiguous slogan that has wrapped up in it quite different families of arguments, including the right to represent, the need for representativeness, and the representation of interests. This ambiguity is politically powerful but may cause problems for the practice of representation. The article concludes that "making a difference" discourse may lead to an over-emphasis on embodiment and a neglect of issues of accountability.