Pathways to women’s electoral representation: the global effectiveness of legislative gender quotas over time

Abstract

ABSTRACT This inquiry investigates the effectiveness of legislative gender quotas on women’s electoral representation and how it evolves over time and across countries. Using 190 countries spanning between 1947 and 2015, the findings suggest that quotas’ effectiveness is conditional on types and features, varies with time and imprinted with countries’ historical representation status. Reserved seats usher in more women when featuring high legislative thresholds and the effects are stable; Candidate quotas signal countries’ historical disadvantage but show an acceleration effect on women’s representation over time. Strong placement rules increase women’s representation, yet the effects decelerate. Strong sanctions indicate countries’ historical disadvantage, nevertheless, accelerate women’s representation over time. The interactive dynamics between time and quota types and features prove nuanced, presenting good room for policy learning and future policy design.