The Effects of Political Institutions on Women's Political Representation: A Comparative Analysis of 168 Countries from 1992 to 2010
In: Political research quarterly: PRQ ; official journal of the Western Political Science Association and other associations, Band 66, Heft 2, S. 306-321
ISSN: 1938-274X
Women's political representation exhibits substantial cross-national variation. While mechanisms shaping these variations are well understood for Western democracies, there is little consensus on how these same factors operate in less developed countries. Effects of two political institutions-electoral systems and gender quotas-are tested across 168 countries from 1992 to 2010. Findings indicate that key causal factors interact with a country's socioeconomic development, shifting their importance and possibly even direction at various development thresholds. Generalizing broadly across countries, therefore, does not adequately represent the effects of these political institutions. Rather, different institutional changes are advised to increase women's presence in national governments. Adapted from the source document.