Electoral Rules, Nomination Strategies, and Women’s Representation in Japan and Taiwan

Japan and Taiwan conducted similar electoral reforms in 1994 and 2005. Following the transition from the single nontransferable vote (SNTV) to the mixed-member majoritarian (MMM), at the district level, both countries’ numbers of female representatives have increased, contrary to expectations. What, then, explains the increase in Japan’s and Taiwan’s women’s representation at the district level? We argue that electoral systems can only partly explain the variation in female representation and that the critical factor explaining women’s representation is not the women’s electability, but the earlier stage of nomination. This article examines continuity and change in the candidate selection methods of major parties in Japan and Taiwan and identifies factors that may affect the likelihood of women becoming candidates. Although major parties have adopted different nomination strategies following the reforms, the increase in female representatives has been associated with the centralized process, and whether a woman is an incumbent or not is key to her nomination. Moreover, path dependence matters, and given that Taiwan had more female incumbent representatives than Japan under the SNTV, this might explain the differences in the starting point for female representation between Taiwan and Japan when both switched to the MMM and there was a persistent gap between the two countries.