Women's Political Participation in Contemporary China

Abstract

The rise of feminism began in the 18th century, and it attached great importance to the struggle for women's political rights and the improvement of women's political status. Whether women can have the right to speak in the political field is a prerequisite for women to strive for other rights in social life. China's equality between men and women was written into the Constitution in 1954, put forward as a national policy in 1995, supported by the Law on the Protection of Women's Rights and Interests in 2005, and then reflected in Report to the 20th CPC National Congress. This developmental trajectory signifies the ongoing progress of women's political participation in present-day China. However, owing to deeply ingrained traditional ideologies and historical institutional factors, women's status and political engagement remain suboptimal and continue to encounter obstacles. The study begins by explaining the research topic from a theoretical perspective and further analyzes it in the context of China based on previous studies. This thesis attempts to describe the present situation of Chinese women's political participation, focusing on the low proportion, the slow growth rate, and their political marginalization in China, exploring the problems and reasons behind it through superficial phenomena,...