Female Leadership: Gender Quotas and Women's Descriptive Representation in Latin America

Abstract

This study aims at examining the way in which electoral rules affect the impact of gender quotas on female representation in Latin American parliaments. Considering evidence that suggests that a specific legal corpus of the quotas and non-preferential electoral systems are necessary conditions for the effectiveness of gender quotas, the institutional context in thirteen Latin American countries has been examined over a period of time that includes sixty-six legislatures, from 1991 to 2020. The countries that have been selected are Argentina, Bolivia, Brasil, Chile, Colombia, Costa Rica, Ecuador, El Salvador, Honduras, México, Nicaragua, Perú y Uruguay. The results show that the strength of the gender quota design is particularly relevant for understanding how this mechanism affect the variation of the numbers of women over time, no matter the type of orientation of the electoral system, and that voters’ greater ability to influence ballot structures through preferential voting does not necessarily represent an obstacle to gender parity.