Building upon “Women and Politics in Asia 2005: Discovering the Gender Face of Politics”,Women and Politics in Asia 2007: A Springboard for Democracy? aims to reflect upon the links between democracy and the feminization of the halls of political power within Asia. This region of the world is interesting for students of democracy for a number of reasons: many Asian countries have acceded to democratic government in the past few years; the vast majority boast extremely diverse populations, which generates enormous challenges for the establishment of balanced political representation; many countries have adopted affirmative action measures to increase the representation of women and ethnic groups in their parliaments; finally, many countries in Asia have elected women to the highest positions of executive and legislative power. This conference is soliciting papers for the four themes listed below.

Political Actors and Institutions		Public Policy
Political Theory and Citizenship Discourses		Feminist Movements

PAPER PROPOSALS: Please send 1) the name and institutional location of the presenter; 2) the title of the presentation; 3) a 250 words paper proposal by 15 April 2007 to rcwp.wpa07@uottawa.ca and wpa07@wpaf.org.