The Impact of Regional International Parliaments on Governments’ Policy Frameworks for Gender Equality

Abstract

AbstractCountries around the world adopt different types of gender equality principles in government action plans, and these principles play a critical role in determining public policies regarding gender issues. International actors may prod countries in this direction; these actors include regional international parliaments. However, the power of regional international parliaments varies, allowing us to investigate the extent to which they have an impact on national governments’ adoption of policy frameworks for gender equality. This study analyzes the impact of regional international parliaments on governments’ gender equality policy frameworks. A three-dimension scale was developed to measure the degree to which governments have developed policy frameworks for gender equality. In multivariate modeling using a broad range of control variables, the study finds that the strength of regional international parliaments has a robust impact on governments’ policy frameworks for gender equality.