Gender Quotas Database
Taiwan
Eastern Asia
Single / Lower House
Legislative Yuan
| Total seats | 113 |
| Total women | 47 |
| Percentage of women | 42% |
| Election year | 2024 |
| Electoral system | Parallel |
| Quota type | Reserved seats |
| Election details | IDEA Voter Turnout - IPU Parline |
| Legal source | Details | |
|---|---|---|
| Quota type: Reserved seats | Constitution | Article 64 of the Constitution provides that among the members of the Legislative Yuan to be elected in line with the relevant provisions, the number of women shall be prescribed by law. Furthermore, Article 134 stipulates that ‘in the various kinds of elections, the number of women to be elected shall be fixed, and measures pertaining thereto shall be prescribed by law’. |
| Electoral law |
… The quota of women electees of each political party referred to in the preceding paragraph shall not be less than 1/2. See also article 43. |
|
| Rank order/placement rules | Electoral law |
The quota allocated to women by each political party shall be allocated in the order of the list of candidates registered by each political party; When the number of elected female representatives is less than the required quota for election, the female candidates ranked lower on the list shall be given priority in allocation of seats. If the number of women candidates is less than the allocated quota of women candidates, it will be regarded as a vacancy. (Article 67.4) |
| Is the provision of direct public funding to political parties related to gender equality among candidates? | No |
No information in legislation or other sources that a connection between direct public funding and the gender equality is in use. See more in International IDEA's Political Finance database |
| Are there provisions for other financial advantages to encourage gender equality in political parties? | No |
No information in legislation or other sources that a connection between direct public funding and the gender equality is in use. See more in International IDEA's Political Finance database |
Quota at the Sub-National Level
| Quota type | Reserved seats |
| Legal source | Details | |
|---|---|---|
| Quota type: Reserved seats | Constitution |
In the various kinds of elections, the number of women to be elected shall be fixed, and measures pertaining thereto shall be prescribed by law. (Constitution, Article 134). |
| Electoral law |
For the election of local public officials, if the women elect are less than the due quota, the votes of the women candidates shall be calculated separately, and those who get the comparative majority vote shall be elected; the calculation shall be conducted pursuant to the following provisions: At the local level, 1 seat out of every 4 is reserved for women, if there are more than 4 seats. Further, 1 seat out of every 4 seats reserved for the indigenous population is reserved for a woman from the indigenous population, if there are more than 4 seats (Local Governments Act, Article 33). |
Voluntary Political Party Quotas*
| Party | Official Name | Details, Quota provisions |
|---|---|---|
| No data available. | ||
* Only political parties represented in parliament are included. When a country has legislated quotas in place, only political parties that have voluntary quotas that exceed the percentage/number of the national quota legislation are presented in this table.
Additional information
Until 1992 the National Assembly, a large elected body with delegates from the mainland and the Taiwan constituencies, was the main legislative organ responsible for amending the constitution and electing the president. However, the National Assembly became largely defunct because of its inability to renew its composition due to the term extension of mainland delegates. In 1992, the president became directly elected by the people, and in 2000 the National Assembly was stripped of most powers, transferring legislative powers to the Legislative Yuan. In 2005, the National Assembly was abolished completely and amendments to the constitution are now ultimately decided by popular ballot. During its existence, the National Assembly had several reserved seats for delegates from women's organizations. Under the single non-transferable vote system, until the elections in 2005, there were multimember constituencies; in those with more than four members, one was reserved for women candidates who obtained the highest number of votes. The aggregate number of seats this system reserved for women equalled 10 per cent (Matland 2006: 288–89).
In light of a constitutional amendment in the early 1990s, it was proposed that 25 per cent of all legislative seats be reserved for women. This bill did not pass through parliament.
In 2005, a gender quota of 50% was stipulated for the number of women elected in proportion to the votes won by a political party in the Legislative Yuan election.
Sources
Legal Sources:
- Constitution of Taiwan - Link
- Public officials Election And Recall Act - Link
- Political Party Law - Link
- Local Government Act - Link
Other Sources:
- Parliament of Taiwan - Link
- Central Electoral Commission - Link
- Legal regulation related to women’s rights - Link
- Matland, R. E., ‘Electoral Quotas: Frequency and Effectiveness’, in D. Dahlerup (ed.), Women, Quotas and Politics (New York: Routledge, 2006)
Additional reading
- Huang, Chang-Ling. 2002. ‘Democracy and the Politics of Difference: Gender Quota in Taiwan.’ Paper presented at The Annual Meeting of the American Political Science Association. Boston, MA, August 29-September 1.
- Clark, Janet and Cal Clark. 2000. ‘The Reserved Seats System in Taiwan.’ in Rose J. Lee and Cal Clark (eds.). Democracy & the Status of Women in East Asia. Boulder: Lynne Rienner. pp. 61-76.
- Lee, Rose J. 2000. ‘Electoral Reform and Women's Empowerment: Taiwan and South Korea.’ Rose J. Lee and Cal Clark (eds.). Democracy & the Status of Women in East Asia. Boulder: Lynne Rienner. Pp 47-59.
- Chou, Bih-er and Janet Clark. 1994. ‘Electoral Systems and Women's Representation in Taiwan: The Impact of the Reserved Seat System.’ Wilma Rule and Joseph F. Zimmerman (eds.) Electoral Systems in Comparative Perspective: The Impact on Women and Minorities. Westport: Greenwood Press. pp. 161-170.
- Chou, Bih-er, Cal Clark, and Janet Clark. 1990. Women in Taiwan Politics: Overcoming Barriers to Women's Participation in a Modernizing Society. Boulder: Lynne Rienner.
- Taiwan Government Information Office, http://www.gio.gov.tw/
Explore more resources: Asia | Global
Know about useful additional reading for Taiwan? Tell us!
Submit feedback
Submit questions or comments about the Data or Tool
How did you find out about this? What do you like about it? What did you expect but did not find in using the Data or Tool?
To see how we handle your personal data, please read our Privacy Policy.
