The issue of the ratio of women and men in central and local government: the European Union and Ukraine

Gender mainstreaming is an integral part of the process of building a democratic society, including in thepolitical sphere. In order to draw conclusions about gender equality in the political sphere, it is necessaryto constantly investigate the current situation. An indicator of gender equality in the political sphere is therepresentation of women and men in the governmental institutions. Therefore, there is a need to analyse thegender structure of central and local authorities in the European Union.The aim of the paper is to analyse the representation of women and men in elected authorities andgovernments of the European Union and Ukraine. The author explored the participation of men and womenin the European Parliament, national parliaments of European countries, national governmental authorities,regional and local parliaments of the EU and Ukraine.The gender structures of different authorities were compared. The countries with gender equality in thepolitical sphere and the countries with the largest imbalances were identified.The author analysed the factors that contributed to the establishment of equality in countries with indicatorsas close as possible to gender balance (Scandinavian countries). Among such factors the most interesting are:emancipation of women; high level of social development; institutional factors and legislation as incentives.A comparison of the gender structures of the central executive and legislative bodies and local councils ofUkraine and Poland was made.