Making Quotas Work: The Effect of Gender Quota Laws On the Election of Women

Gender quota laws are intended to increase the number of women elected to legislatures, but initial evidence suggests that many laws have had little effect. I present a cross-national, statistical test that analyzes how three key dimensions of candidate quota laws affect women's representation....

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Legislative studies quarterly 2009-02, Vol.34 (1), p.5-28
Main Author: SCHWINDT-BAYER, LESLIE A.
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Ballots
Countries
District magnitude
Election laws
Elections
Females
Law
Law enforcement
Legislative Bodies
Legislatures
Political candidates
Political parties
Political Representation
Quotas
Womens studies
Work quotas
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Summary:Gender quota laws are intended to increase the number of women elected to legislatures, but initial evidence suggests that many laws have had little effect. I present a cross-national, statistical test that analyzes how three key dimensions of candidate quota laws affect women's representation. My results show that quotas that require more women to be on party ballots lead to the election of more women, independent of placement mandates and enforcement mechanisms, but rules governing where female candidates are listed on the ballot and sanctions for noncompliance amplify that effect. Candidate quotas can increase women's representation, but the quotas' effectiveness depends on their design.
ISSN:0362-9805
1939-9162
DOI:10.3162/036298009787500330