Women, Quotas And Politics

Although highly controversial, electoral gender quotas have been introduced in more than fifty countries around the world to improve women's representation in national parliaments and political parties. Women, Quotas and Politics offers the first global comparative analysis of the new trend to introduce gender quotas in public elections in order to achieve gender balance in political institutions. This book presents cutting-edge research about the discursive controversies and actual implementation processes in countries with quota provisions. Providing a quantitative and qualitative assessment of these quotas in a variety of political systems, from developing nations and new democracies to established democracies, the contributors evaluate how they have been implemented; where these quotas have succeeded and failed; and how they can contribute to the political empowerment of women. Making an important contribution to our knowledge about gender politics worldwide, this book will be ofinterest to students and scholars of democracy, policy-making, comparative politics and gender studies.