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The purpose of this indicator is to measure representation in parliamentary decision-making with respect to the sex and age of members of parliament.

The legislative sub-component of indicator 16.7.1 aims to measure how representative of the general population are the individuals occupying key decision-making positions in national legislatures. More specifically, this indicator measures the proportional representation of various demographic groups (women, age groups) in the national population amongst individuals occupying the following positions in national legislatures: (1) Members, (2) Speakers and (3) Chairs of permanent committees in charge of the following portfolios: Foreign Affairs, Defence, Finance, Human Rights and Gender Equality. Furthermore, it looks at the electoral and constitutional provisions adopted by countries to secure representation in national legislatures of persons with disabilities and contextually relevant population groups.

The public service sub-component of indicator 16.7.1 measures representation in the public service with respect to the sex, age, disability and population group status of public servants. It assesses the extent to which the proportion of female, or disabled, or indigenous public servants – to name a few possible sub-groups tracked by this indicator – corresponds to the proportion of these groups in society as a whole.

The judiciary sub-component of indicator 16.7.1 aims to measure how representative of the general population are the individuals occupying two key decision-making positions in the judiciary. More specifically, this indicator measures the proportional representation of various socio-demographic groups in the national population (with a particular focus on sex, age, disability, and population groups) amongst individuals occupying the positions of (1) judges and (2) registrars in the judiciary.

Public Utility Commission

Public Utility Commission

Annual

Percentage (%)

Indicator 16.7.1(a) focuses on descriptive representation. The underlying assumption is that when parliament reflects the social diversity of a nation, this may lead to greater legitimacy of the parliament in the eyes of the electorate, as members resemble the people they represent in respect to gender, age, ethnicity and disability. Descriptive representation has been found to be associated with higher levels of trust in public institutions, as people feel closer to elected representatives who resemble them and perceive more visibly representative political bodies with better quality and fairness of policy decisions, and with less undue influence of vested interests over decision-making. Such descriptive representation should then enhance the substantive influence of population groups.

Indicator 16.7.1(b) focuses on proportional representation in public institutions; it measures the extent to which a country’s public institutions are representative of the general population. Proportional representation (also known as ‘descriptive representation’) in the public service is concerned with the extent to which the composition of the public service mirrors the various socio-demographic groups in the national population. The underlying assumption is that when the public service reflects the social diversity of a nation, this may lead to greater legitimacy of the public service in the eyes of citizens, as public servants resemble the people, they provide services to, in respect to sex, age, nationally relevant population groups (e.g. ethnic, linguistic, indigenous or other groups) and disability status. Proportional representation has been found to be associated with higher levels of trust in public institutions, as people perceive more inclusive policymaking processes to improve the quality and fairness of policy decisions, and to help curb the undue influence of vested interests over decision-making.

The judiciary is the system of courts that constitutes the branch of central authority in a country concerned with the administration of justice. The judiciary sub-component of SDG indicator 16.7.1 focuses on the formal court system and does not include within its scope informal mechanisms (e.g., religious, tribal, or traditional dispute resolution mechanisms).

The indicator is based on the following key concepts and terms: 

• National legislature: A legislature (alternatively called ‘assembly’ or ‘parliament’) is the multi-member branch of government that considers public issues, makes laws and oversees the executive. 
• Unicameral / bicameral parliaments: A legislature may consist of a single chamber (unicameral parliament) or two chambers (bicameral parliament). The organization of a country’s legislature is prescribed by its constitution. Around the world, about 59% of all countries have unicameral legislatures, while the remaining 41% are bicameral. To allow for a comprehensive analysis, this indicator will consider both chambers in bicameral parliaments.
• Member of Parliament (MP): A person who is formally an elected or appointed member of a national legislature. This metadata considers all members of lower and upper chamber regardless of the selection modality (direct election, indirect election and appointment).
• Speaker: A Speaker (alternatively called ‘president’ or ‘chairperson’ of the legislature) is the presiding officer of the legislature.
• Permanent committee (alternatively called ‘standing committee’): established for the full duration of the legislature and generally aligned with the specific policy areas of key government departments.
• Permanent Committee Chair: A person designated to preside over the work of a permanent committee, selected through nomination by political parties, election by MPs, appointment by the Speaker, or other means.
• Disability: long-term physical, mental, intellectual or sensory impairments which in interaction with various barriers may hinder the full and effective participation of disabled persons in society on an equal basis with others.
• Population group: The population of a country is a mosaic of different population groups that can be identified according to racial or ethnic, language, migration status, religious affiliation, sexual orientation, as well as disability status (UNECE). The indicator adopts a broad definition of population groups, not limited to minorities and indigenous peoples, in order to capture all nationally relevant groups tracked by a given parliament, which depends on the constitutional and electoral measures in place to guarantee the representation of certain groups. Such measures sometimes extend to groups other than ‘minorities’, such as, for instance, occupational groups.

• Sex (Male/Female)
• Age: Cut-off age of 45 years of age or younger at the time of election, for members of the current legislature. For the Speaker and permanent committee Chairs, same cut-off age of 45 years of age or younger at the time of nomination to the position.
• Disability: List of electoral or constitutional provisions guaranteeing representation of persons with disabilities in parliament.
• Contextually relevant population groups

(e.g. Indigenous/linguistic/ethnic/religious/occupational groups): List of electoral or constitutional provisions guaranteeing representation of various population groups in parliament.

Indicator 16.7.1(a) aims to compare the proportion of various demographic groups (by sex and age) represented in national parliaments, relative to the proportion of these same groups in the national population above the age of eligibility.

To report on indicator 16.7.1(a), two ratios must be calculated, namely:

1. For ‘young’ MPs (aged 45 and below)
2. For female MPs

1. To calculate the ratio for ‘young’ MPs (aged 45 and below), the following formula is to be used:

Ratio 1 =  Proportion of MPs aged 45 and below in parliament

                     Proportion of the national population aged 45 and below

(with the age of eligibility as a lower boundary)

Where:

The numerator is the number of seats held by MPs aged 45 and below, divided by the total number of members in parliament

The denominator can be computed using national population figures as follows:

[Size of national population < or = to 45] – [Size of national population < to age of eligibility]

Size of the national population

1. To calculate the ratio for female MPs, the following formula is to be used:

Ratio 2 = Proportion of women in parliament      Proportion of women in the national population

(with the age of eligibility as a lower boundary)

Where:

The numerator is the number of seats held by female MPs, divided by the total number of members in parliament

The denominator can be computed using national population figures as follows:

[Size of female national population > or = to age of eligibility]

Size of the national population > or = to age of eligibility

Note: The above is only a small portion of the full/complete formula provided for SDG 16.7.1. 

This indicator can be used to effectively measure gender representation and gender equality in positions in public or government institutions.

• The significance of descriptive representation has been challenged in different ways. First, there is the question of what and who should be mirrored in the representative body; why be attentive to some groups (women, young people, minorities etc) but not others (the poor, LGBTI, "ethnic" groups who might not be officially recognized etc)? Second, the mirror notion of descriptive representation may be deemed dangerous if it precludes citizens from choosing representatives who do not look like them. One of the base tenets of democracy is freedom of choice at the ballot box and if one is corralled into having to vote for a candidate of your own sex or ethnicity, then that intrinsic liberty is constrained. Third, descriptive representation has the danger of ultimately becoming an end in itself. Concerns about effective representation should not end once parliament has the appropriate number of members for each minority groups.
• Representation needs to go hand in hand with participation, with both concepts being part of target 16.7. Without meaningful opportunities for citizens to participate in parliamentary decision-making, representation alone is unlikely to automatically lead to effective popular control of the government - one of the fundamental principles of democracy (International IDEA, 2013).
• The age and sex of individuals holding decision-making positions in parliament provide an indication at the symbolic level of the way in which power is shared within this institution. However, there is no certainty that because a Speaker or committee Chair is young (or old), a woman (or a man), or belongs to a minority group, s/he will bring to the fore issues of interest to groups with the same socio-demographic profile.
• Tracking the age of MPs over time offers some measure of youth representation in parliament. However, in most parliaments around the world, leadership positions such as Speaker and permanent committee Chairs are considered senior functions which require considerable experience and are awarded in recognition of parliamentary achievement. This means that such positions are by nature unlikely to be held by members below the ‘youth’ age bracket of ‘45 years old and under’. As such, for the positions of Speaker and committee Chairs, more relevant insights will be generated on the basis of sex disaggregation.
• Tracking the age of public servants offers some measure of youth representation in the public service. However, in most ministries and agencies constituting the public service around the world, leadership positions such as those falling in the category of ‘Managers’ are considered senior functions which require considerable experience and are awarded on the basis of seniority. This means that such positions are by nature unlikely to be held by individuals in the younger age brackets. As such, for positions falling in the category of ‘Managers’, more relevant insights will be generated on the basis of sex disaggregation, or disaggregation based on disability or population group status.

All the metadata shown in this document was gathered from United Nation Statistics Division. The metadata was extracted from https://unstats.un.org/sdgs/metadata/.