FERBOPO ERA ChairThe FERBOPO project is pleased to highlight a new research publication examining the complex relationship between gender, political representation, and democratic processes published in Women’s Studies International Forum.
This study provides an in-depth analysis of the parliamentary discourse of Diana Iovanovici-Șoșoacă during her mandate in the Romanian Senate (2020–2024). By examining 103 official declarations, the authors explore how political discourse can contribute to democratic backsliding
The article offers an important contribution to scholarship on gender and politics by showing that women politicians can also act as agents of democratic backsliding. Most notably, the analysis highlights how Șoșoacă’s discourse normalizes uncivic values, delegitimizes political opponents, and promotes narratives that undermine democratic norms.
This publication aligns closely with FERBOPO’s research agenda on state, institutions, and body politics, contributing to a deeper understanding of how gender intersects with political discourse and institutional dynamics.
Article Details
Article title: Women as agents of democratic backsliding: Diana Iovanovici-Sosoaca in Romania
Authors: Celina Ferent, Rodica Miena Zaharia, Lavinia Stan
Year: 2026
Journal: Women’s Studies International Forum
Link: Article
Full Citation: Ferent, C., Zaharia, R.M. & Stan, L., 2026. Women on corporate boards in developed markets. Women’s Studies International Forum, Volume 117, July–August 2026, 103338. doi: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.wsif.2026.103338
Article Abstract
Through a close examination of all 103 declarations delivered by Diana Ivanovici Șoșoacă in the Romanian Senate during her mandate (2020–2024), this analysis complements scholarship on women’s representation and women agents of democratic backsliding by showing that a woman legislator promoted undemocratic values that facilitate backsliding. Șoșoacă does so not through the bills she supported or rejected in Parliament, but through a discourse that normalizes uncivic values, delegitimizes her political rivals, and calls for civil disobedience and violent vigilante actions. Whereas other critics of democracy embrace a strident anti-gender and anti-feminist perspective, Șoșoacă’s declarations do not. Women are mentioned in these important official statements only when Șoșoacă considers them useful to boost her own profile and undermine her political rivals, an instrumentalization that limits substantive representation and fuels backsliding.
