A Thousand Steps to Parliament: Constructing Electable Women in Mongolia

A Thousand Steps to Parliament explores how women in Mongolia navigate complex and contradictory paths to political representation, mirroring global trends. The book highlights how electoral campaigns have replaced governance functions, requiring wealth and power beyond the reach of most women candidates. Successful women candidates employ strategies of self-polishing to cultivate charisma and a reputation for being oyunlag, drawing from neoliberal practices that have commercialized elections. The book calls for a global examination of the encroaching effects of neoliberalism in democratic systems.

Format: Paperback / softback
Length: 288 pages
Publication date: 15 November 2022
Publisher: The University of Chicago Press

Mongolia has often been hailed as an "island of democracy," celebrated for its swift transition from totalitarian socialism to free and democratic elections. However, the democratizing era also brought about a phenomenon known as "electionization," characterized by the restructuring of elections from time-bound events into a continuous neoliberal force that governs everyday life beyond the electoral period. This transformation has led to the substitution of electoral campaigns for the functions of governance, encompassing social welfare and the private sector. Consequently, women candidates face significant barriers to success, as they require an accumulation of wealth and power that surpasses the reach of most candidates.

In her book, A Thousand Steps to Parliament, Manduhai Buyandelger explores how successful women candidates navigate these challenges. She demonstrates how these women employ strategies of self-polishing to cultivate charisma and a reputation for being oyunlag, or intellectually capable. This carefully crafted identity can be termed the "electable self," where women candidates treat their bodies and minds as pliable and renewable, drawing from the same practices of neoliberalism that have unsustainably commercialized elections. By tracing the intricate and contradictory paths to representation that women in Mongolia must tread, A Thousand Steps to Parliament serves as a powerful mirror to democracies around the world, highlighting an urgent need to address the encroaching effects of neoliberalism in our global political systems.

Weight: 442g
Dimension: 152 x 228 x 21 (mm)
ISBN-13: 9780226818740