Women’s Political Representation in Feminist Perspectives: Case Study in the Bone Regency People's Representative Council

: Women and politics are inseparable but intertwined. This study aims to explore the concept and implementation of women's political representation in Bone Regency by using qualitative methods through interviews with DPRD members, institutions, and the community. Although women's participation in political parties has met the 30% quota according to the KPU, women's representation in the Regional Representative Council (DPRD) of Bone Regency is only 4 out of 45 elected members (2019-2024). The analysis shows that the implementation of women's political representation has not been maximized, influenced by structural, cultural, religious stigma, and economic factors. Local regulations do not fully reflect women's needs and rights. Proposed solutions include political education, broad access for women, increasing awareness and confidence, and building political and social networks. This research shows that a concerted effort is needed from relevant parties to improve structures, overcome cultural and religious stigma, and create economic conditions that support women in actively participating in politics.


A. Introduction
The discourse on women's representation on the political stage has been a continuing issue to be discussed. 1This is because women's political representation has not been fully maximized and still left behind. 2The lack of women's representation in political institutions will eliminate women's voices in general, which impacts structural and cultural imbalances in government. 3esides, their presence is not only a factor in decision-making.On the other hand, their presence can positively impact the fulfilment of life needs and political rights in development at the national and regional levels.
Although the number of women's political representation nationally has progressed lately, the gap exists between women's and men's representation in the legislature.The International Women's Association, in 2019, revealed that the proportion of women in national parliaments in several regions of the world is different. 4Women's representation in the legislature quantitatively fluctuates in Indonesia.In the 2009 elections, women's representation in the House of Representatives reached 101 out of 560 members with a percentage of 17.86%, decreased in the 2014 elections to 17.32% and increased again in the 2019 elections to 120 out of 575 members with a percentage of 20.8%. 5 At the regional level, there is a consistent representation of women in the legislature, as exemplified by the case of Bone Regency.During the 2014 elections, __________ 1 Valentine M. Moghadam, "Introduction: Women and Identity Politics in Theoretical and Comparative Perspective," in Identity Politics and Women (Oxfordshire: Routledge, 2019), 3-26, https://doi.org/10.4324/9780429041051-1;Herdin Arie Saputra, Dyah Mutiarin, and Achmad Nurmandi, "Analisis Wacana: Partisipasi Perempuan dalam Politik di Indonesia Tahun 2018 -2019," Muwazah 12, no. 1 (2020) 4 Courage Mlambo and Forget Kapingura, "Factors Influencing Women Political Participation: The Case of the SADC Region," ed.Richard Meissner, Cogent Social Sciences 5, no. 1 (2019): 1681048, https://doi.org/10.1080/23311886.2019.1681048. 5 Andi Aulia Nabila and Arham Alfandi, "Reformasi Keterwakilan Perempuan di Parlemen Melalui Gayatri Curriculum Program Guna Meningkatkan Daya Saing Perempuan dalam Ranah Politik," Legislatif 2, no. 2 (2019): 100-117, https://doi.org/10.20956/jl.v2i2.10223.the representation of women in the DPRD was limited to only 6 out of a total of 45 members.In the 2019 elections, the number of DPRD in Bone Regency decreased significantly from 45 to only 4. In addition, the results of preliminary observations of female candidates from the Golkar Party in electoral district 2 in the 2019 legislative elections said that the decline in women's representation in the Bone Regency DPRD was due to a lack of awareness, preparation, and lack of regeneration for female candidates and only just filling the quota mandated by legislation.The data shows a considerable lag in women's political representation in the legislature in Bone Regency.
Fundamentally, women and men have the same position in law and government and share the same freedom to live with their respective rights as citizens in international law.The Convention on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women (CEDAW) 1979 explicitly guaranteed women's political rights.Furthermore, Indonesia has ratified the Convention on Women's Political Rights. 6The Convention aims to achieve equality (nondiscrimination), ensure participation in decision-making, opportunities to fill bureaucratic positions and women's participation in socio-political organizations at the central and local levels.
The government has attempted to make a few regulations, such as in Election Law Number 7 of 2017, to maximize women's participation and representation.The law emphasizes that the list of candidates for members of the House of Representatives (DPR), provincial Regional People's Representative Council (DPRD), and Regency/City DPRD is at least 30% female representation.Unfortunately, the mandate is not following the reality of women's political representation in the field.This article aims explicitly to find out: 1) the concept and application of women's political representation in the Bone Regency DPRD for the 2019-2024 period; 2) what factors cause the lack of women's political representation in the Bone Regency DPRD for the 2019-2024 period; 3) what is the solution to increasing women's political representation according to the perspective of feminism and al-Qur'an studies.This research assumes that women and politics are not separate entities but an inseparable unity.One of the most popular socio-political ideologies __________ today is feminism.Feminism emphasizes the importance of equal status for every human being in all aspects of life, whether in society, education, health, law, or politics.Nancy Fraser revealed that capitalism is an economic system and an institutionalized social order.The patriarchal culture that still sees women as sexual objects and is only limited to domestic roles is still an assumption of women's political constraints.The way this theory works will see how the composition of women's representation and the form of policies implemented in paying attention to the needs and rights of women in the legislative council of Bone Regency.
In the field of politics, in general, Islam was revealed for the sake of humanity through the rules of law that it carries.However, the majority of Muslims have a lack of interpretation or perspective regarding women over men, especially in politics.This is based on the textual interpretation of verses in the Qur'an.Several empirical studies on women and politics have been carried out in general.However, research that examines women's political representation from the perspective of feminism and Qur'anic studies is still rare, especially in the legislative body of the Bone Regency DPRD in the Bone (Bugis) subculture in South Sulawesi.Several existing studies on women and politics are: first, research shows that the main thing about Chusnuni's election as deputy governor of Lampung Province is her practical political communication skills, including solid social roles and networks as well as mass loyalty, and the right target group/campaign priorities. 7Second, the election patterns of women and men as several factors influenced legislative members: 1) patriarchal culture, 2) political parties, 3) media, and 4) lack of networks to advocate for women's representation among mass organizations, NGOs, and political parties. 8urthermore, religious, economic, and patriarchal mindsets are the main factors that hinder women in politics. 9The 30 percent quota rule for women in political party management and legislative candidate lists is believed to be an effective tool for increasing the number of women's representation in parliament. 10On the one hand, the role of women in Indonesian politics, especially in affirmative action, is still limited to increasing volume based on needs as a representation of 'political presence.' 11he novelty of this study to previous research lies in the theory used.This research uses Nancy Fraser's theory of socialist feminism and relates it to studying the Qur'an.This research contributes academically to the problem of women in the legislature, especially in Indonesia's Bone (Bugis) subculture.The practical contribution is to provide policy recommendations on how to strategically increase the role of women by strengthening the implementation of laws and regulations, followed by the regional budget and collaborative work with social organizations and NGOs as a support system.

B. Method
This study utilizes an empirical legal approach 12 to examine informants' experiences and opinions about women's political representation in the Bone Regency DPRD South Sulawesi Province, Indonesia.This research is a field study, and the data was collected through observation, interviews, and documentation. 13The data was obtained through an exploratory study using qualitative and in-depth semi-structured interviews with research informants, then categorized based on the research instruments.This research also uses Nancy Fraser's socialist feminist theory and connects it with al-Qur'an studies.
The informants were asked to share their understanding and experience of women's political representation in Bone Regency.After making appointments with informants over the phone, the researcher conducted the interviews.Each interview lasted about half an hour.The interviews were recorded with the informants' consent and then transcribed.
The primary data from this research comes from critical informants consisting of 5 Regional People's Representative Council (DPRD) members, a sub-coordinator of the legislation/design section of the Bone Regency Regional People's Representative Council (DPRD) secretariat, 2 Regional General Election Commission (KPUD) members, the Secretary of the Women's and Children's Empowerment Office, the Chairperson of the Bone Women's Empowerment Institute (LPP), and people who understand women's political representation in the Bone Regency DPRD.In addition to different positions, the level of education of informants in this study varies greatly from degree to Ph.D.These six elements were chosen because, in addition to their focus and close relation to the issues raised by the researcher, they also have distinct identities and institutions.
The secondary data in this research are collected from books, articles, and 3 documents, in the form of a list of permanent candidates for DPRD members, a list of elected candidates for members of the Bone Regency DPRD in the 2019 election, and regional regulations (PERDA) for Bone Regency for 2019-2022.The data uses qualitative research based on 1) data collection, 2) data reduction, 3) data presentation, and 4) conclusion.

Concept and Application of Women's Political Representation in the Regional People's Representative Council of Bone Regency
This research aims to get an overview of women's political representation and analyze factors and efforts to increase women's representation from the perspective of feminism and al-Qur'an studies in the Regional People's Representative Council (DPRD) of Bone Regency for the 2019-2024 period.
The empirical evidence of this research explains that the women's nomination in the legislative political contest in the Bone regency in 2019 has already reached 30%.Moreover, all the political party's enrolment in the general election commission of Bone regency has surpassed the minimal nomination stated in the law. 14That relates to Velinta's research outcomes that the policy of 30% women involvement supported by the government has positively impacted women's participation in the local House of Representatives in Manado regency with an approximate percentage of 37.5%. 15Women's involvement in legislative institutions in general election commissions of Bone Regency in 2019 can be seen as stated in Figure 1.Based on Figure 2, it can be explained that the list of the selected local House of Representative officers of Bone R This can be seen from the 20 political parties participating in the Bone Regency Regional People's Representative Council (DPRD) Election in 2019, only 4 political parties had female representation, including: the Greater Indonesia Movement Party (GERINDRA) 1 person, the Golongan Karya Party (GOLKAR) 1 person, National Democratic Party (NASDEM) 1 person, National Mandate Party (PAN) 1 person, during 2019-2024 includes 45 people, 41 male, and four female.
That is aligned with the research outcomes stating that women's representation in legislative institutions is low.Even though all parties have already applied a quota system based on the regulation of legislative members' nomination that is enrolled in the general election commission, Fadli said that the application of an "affirmative action system" that is integrated into Indonesia's politics is still limited to improving participation rate to fulfil the requirements as political representation in the legislative institution.However, their national and local participation is still dominated by masculinity politics ideologically and structurally. 16art from the representation aspect, the policy aspect assigned from 2019 to 2022 does not maximally accommodate the needs and rights of women, as illustrated in Table 1, which shows the research results from 2019-2022.The local regulation explicitly states that there are no explicit policy outcomes related to women's needs and rights.

The Factors Hindered the Women's Political Representation in Regional People's Representative Council of Bone Regency
The lack of women's representation in Bone Regency's local House of Representatives is caused by several factors.Generally, it could be classified into three categories: 1) Structural.The structural obstacle in political parties contributes to the low rate of women's representation in Bone Regency's local House of Representatives.That is aligned with other sources demonstrating that men lead the leaders in the political party in Bone Regency. 172) The culture and religious stigma.The failure of women in politics is still affected by patriarchal culture and religious stigma among the communities.It is strengthened by the Bugis culture that women are shy people and must be involved in managing house-related work. 18conomic factors also contribute to women's lack of representation.The lack of economic and financial strength for women to participate in political events is one of the obstacles to their involvement in and election in politics. 19

The Solutions in Increasing Women's Political Representation in Regional People's Representative Council of Bone Regency
The empirical evidence found in this study is that there are several solutions to enhance women's political representation in Regional People's Representative __________ 17 Rs, interview, 2023 18 Ce, interview. 19An and Rt, interview.
Council of Bone Regency (DPRD) 20 : 1) Political education and broad access for women.Political education can shift the mindset of women in participating in electoral contestations so that women do not just participate as a requirement to fulfill the quota of political parties registering with the KPU.Still, their participation is based on the quality of superior resources and readiness to become representatives of the people in the legislative body. 212) Raising awareness and self-confidence.The presence of women in the legislature is essential as decision-makers and policymakers for fulfilling their life necessities and political rights. 223) Building political networks, work teams, and social networks.Women's representation in political institutions is determined by their ability to define the strategies and steps used so that they have the power and assets to win the legislative election contest. 23

D. Discussions The Concept and Application of Women's Political Representation in Regional People's Representative Council of Bone Regency
Women's representation in politics is defined as women proportion as the representatives in legislative institutions at the local and national levels.The history of women's representation in Indonesia's government is not fully run despite increasing participation in local legislative institutions in the Bone Regency.
Anderson stated that the election system impacts the improvement of women's political participation. 24Women's participation in politics increases women's confidence, impacting their ability to act based on formal political rules and respecting their rights as a formal political subject in the community. 25On the other hand, Barnes stated that the opportunities for __________ 20 Ce As, Yd , Rt, Ar, interview. 21 women being in the legislative give good space for women.However, their presence should be analyzed critically in their circumstances. 26hat is aligned with the research outcomes stating that women's representation in legislative institutions is low.Even though all parties have already applied a quota system based on the regulation of legislative members' nomination that is enrolled in the general election commission, Fadli said that the application of an "affirmative action system" that is integrated into Indonesia's politics is still limited to improving participation rate to fulfill the requirements as political representation in the legislative institution.However, their national and local participation is still dominated by masculinity politics ideologically and structurally. 27hillip denoted that women are supposed to have interest and experience because it is essential to support them in working in the legislative.It is due to the needs, interests, and special attention linked with women's experience, which will be less supported in politics that males dominate. 28Besides that, women's representation has the same political influence as men in the legislative. 29he presence of women in political parties is the foundation for fulfilling their political rights. 30In addition, the government has committed to respect their political rights maximally. 31 Philips stated that gender-related politics in the legislation is crucial in affecting the policy.Consequently, this could be one of the bases of the importance of representative equity in political institutions, both for men and women. 32The more women get involved in political parties, the more people will struggle for women's rights. 33The condition reflects that in formulating governmental regulation, there is a need to consider gender aspects through the quality and quantity of support for the needs and rights of women in politics.

Structural
It is relevant to Aklima's research outcomes that masculinity domination in politics is still one of the main issues in women's political representation.Additionally, the lack of political party's attention in struggling for women's political rights in general election contest impacts women being selected in the legislative institution.Tremblay acknowledged that gender in political party leadership is critical in selecting the appointed candidate in the election. 34The party's leaders tend to have moral authority and respect to approach the appointed candidate by choosing them, helping them build the network, and supporting them in the political party's candidacy process. 35xton and Hughes state that a political party that a woman leads will impact the gender composition of the candidate list in the political process.That is based on three reasons.Firstly, the political party has more qualified women in their network.Secondly, women could use different recruitment methods compared to men.Lastly, they are easier to collaborate to overcome the obstacles for women in getting their selected positions. 36nerally, political parties in the Bone regency have not entirely run the recruitment of women's candidates based on the candidate's quality.Instead, it focuses more on fulfilling the 30% quota as representation to enroll in the general election commission in the election contest.Based on his research, Niro acknowledged that the political parties are not serious about women's inclusion in the election since fewer women are placed in the first position. 37The paradigm of institutions and structural changes like the norm and the support from the political party are fundamental to improving women's inclusion in political positions in the local House of Representatives of Bone Regency.

The Cultural and Religious Stigma
Patriarchal culture, religious stigma, and social norms affect the people in the community.On the other hand, others believe that men should be the decision-makers and the leaders while women should be more involved in housework.
The social norm rooted firmly in the community has become one of the indicators challenging women's inclusion in public roles outside of their House, including political parties.It is aligned with Sumba's statement that culturerelated hurdles still prevent women from being involved massively in local political contests compared to other factors, such as institutional and structural factors. 38Cultural factors impact not only the process of candidacy and selection for women but also the representation and governing process after being selected for the political party.The patriarchal norms in the community and political parties have become the challenges that lower women's representation in legislative institutions.Choi stated that women are more supported to inherit political power because they are not considered ambitious politically but good at managing family matters.They start their political career when they have a conducive private life, such as when their children are grown up, have flexible working schedules, and trust the network their male family members share. 40Like Choi's research outcomes, Richard argues that institutional and cultural factors challenge women in political institutions. 41On the other hand, women have more hesitation than men regarding the capacity aspect and their characters, which are needed in electoral politics and their involvement in campaign mechanisms. 42n addition, the partial religious stigma among the community is still one of the factors inhibiting the lack of women's representation in Bone district.With a narrative built on a hadith narrated by al-Bukhari, "It will not be fortunate for a people to hand over their affairs (leadership) to a woman".This narrative is then reaffirmed through QS. al-Nisā'; "men are the leaders of women".Latief et al. revealed that religious, economic, and patriarchal mindsets are the main elements inhibiting women in politics. 43It is under Ridwan's research that women's political leadership is unnatural and inconsistent with religious teachings.Apart from that, the presence of women as political leaders is still a matter of debate due to patriarchal culture, social values, and religious justifications. 44conomic factors also contribute to women's lack of representation.The lack of economic and financial strength for women to participate in political events is one of the obstacles to their involvement in and election in politics. 45alalzai noted that women's socioeconomics plays an instrumental role in promoting women's participation and representation in public decision-making bodies. 46Socio-economic factors include development or female labor force participation. 47An established job will increase women's opportunities to meet high-achieving professional women who demonstrate their competence as decision-makers. 48omen's economic independence can enhance support for representation in political institutions. 49Choi pointed out that many Asian voters favor men over women in political office since men have the resources and capital to run in high-cost political battles. 50Women can only survive male oppression in political institutions if they can overcome economic resources and societal capitalism. 51herefore, the success of women politicians in the legislature can be determined by the level of economic development in the community in participating in the election contestation.

Political Education and Broad Access for Women
Zigomo expressed, that more policy measures are required to increase women's representation, such as voter education programs, advocacy, initiatives and enforcement of government and political party quotas for women. 52Increasing women's participation, empowerment, and recognition of their political rights will help redistribute power and resources to women. 53imilarly, Wollstonecraft argues that women can be equal to men if provided with the same education and opportunities. 54The institutional system, candidate nomination, and the availability of strategies from political parties significantly impact women's success in political contestation, including in legislative elections. 55ising awareness and self-confidence.Women politicians are frequently praised for their feminist political qualities, such as being inclusive, consultative, collaborative, more tolerant, people-oriented, and solution-focused. 56Derichs believes that Asian women politicians have used their moral capital, such as honesty, humility, and religiosity, to mobilize support and gain political influence 57 .In addition, women's socio-economic development will shape and influence their representation in political institutions. 58

Building Political Networks, Work Teams, and Social Networks
This aligns with Ehrhart's argument that women must seek solidarity at any level of society, institutions, and parliament to empower and strengthen their presence and electability in political institutions. 59Women's effective political representation depends on their continuous agency in negotiating and constructing their political subjectivity. 60Nancy Fraser delineated that in __________ increasing the legitimacy of democracy and equal political contestation for women in parliament, at least three dimensions must be strengthened: Redistribution, Recognition, and Representation . 61

Qur'anic Studies on Women in Politics
The Qur'an is the source of Islamic teachings, which contain universal values to guide humankind in the past, present, and future.These values include humanity, justice, freedom, and equality.Men and women are equal, but not in the Westernized sense 62 There is no such discrimination between women and men in Islam.One of the missions of Islam is the liberation of humans from various forms of anarchy and injustice. 63Islam even places women as equal partners of men. 64In the al-Qur'an and Hadith, Islam provides equal rights for women and men as stated in Surah al-Nisā' verse 124 and al-Naḥl verse 97, which asserts that Allah has created humans from a man and a woman as the most perfect and noble creatures, among others.The reason is that human beings possess reason hearts and receive guidance.
Mahmud Shaltut, former supreme leader of al-Azhar, Egypt, claims that the human characteristics of men and women are the same. 65Women and men have responsibilities when carrying out their activities and are given potential and abilities, both in general.Likewise, Surah al-Ḥujurāt: 13; al-Najm: 45; al-Nabā': 8, which is relatively specific regarding sexual differences, still shows the equality.
Generally, there is no specific prohibition for women to participate in politics. 66They are included in taking roles in social and government sectors. 67

__________
Islam textually and contextually values and respects women participating in the political world. 68In other words, without neglecting their natural function as women, the quality, capacity, capability, and accessibility of women in plural societies are widely open. 69Therefore, it is believed that women are permissible to be involved in politics if they can carry out their duties and roles in the family, community, nation, and state.

E. Conclusion
The findings show that the conception and implementation of women's political representation in Regional People's Representative Council (DPRD) of Bone Regency has not been optimally implemented, even though women's participation in political parties has met the 30% quota to participate in the election contest.However, women's representation is only 4 out of 45 elected DPRD members for the 2019-2024.In addition, local regulations stipulated as the legal basis for implementing local government programs do not fully represent the rights and needs of women-factors including structure, culture, religious stigma, and economy cause these.The possible solutions to increase women's political representation are political education and providing broad access for women, raising confidence and self-awareness, building political networks, teamwork, and social networks.On the other hand, the Qur'an does not prohibit women from involving themselves in politics if they can carry out their duties and obligations in the family, community, nation and state.
As for suggestions in this research, political parties provide ample space for women, including in the regeneration and nomination of women in electoral contestation.The findings also reveal the need for further research, as this study could not encompass all DPRD members in the Bone Regency, including both male and female politicians.Apart from that, we recommend that the research be carried out in the future by increasing the number of informants to be interviewed from each political party representative to get more valid information and more accurate data in the field related to the problem of __________ 67 Hadi, "Posisi Wanita dalam Sistem Politik Islam Perspektif Fenomelogi." 68 Adrianus Chatib, "Politisi Perempuan di Tingkat Lokal," Harakat An-Nisa: Jurnal Studi Gender dan Anak 5, no. 1 (2021), https://doi.org/10.30631/harakatan-nisa.2020.women's political representation in the legislature as well as using distinct theories and approaches to this research.[s]

Figure 1
Figure 1 Candidates of Regional People's Representative Council of Bone Regency