Abstract
AbstractThroughout history, most positions of political power have been held by men, and despite numerous laws and regulations aimed at increasing gender equality in society and politics, the majority of democratic assemblies remain predominantly composed of men. What makes this gender composition persistent over time? Using data from Swedish population registers from 1982 to 2014 and demographic statistics from 1749 to 1859, I study how historical social norms shape the present-day gender balance in local politics. The results show that where family formation was more traditional in the past, there are fewer women in local politics today. The analysis also shows that family formation is a likely mechanism for the transmission of social norms across generations. The findings contribute to our understanding of the historical persistence of social structures and the reasons why gender balance in politics is not easily achieved.
Highlights
Throughout history, most positions of political power have been held by men, and despite numerous laws and regulations aimed at increasing gender equality in society and politics, the majority of democratic assemblies remain predominantly composed of men
What explains the persistence of male-biased compositions of political assemblies? A fast-growing literature in economics on the origins of gender norms shows that history matters for shaping gender roles and that such norms often persist over long periods
I set out to study why some societies reach a higher level of gender equality in politics than others
Summary
Throughout history, most positions of political power have been held by men, and despite numerous laws and regulations aimed at increasing gender equality in society and politics, the majority of democratic assemblies remain predominantly composed of men. I use Sweden, one of the most gender-equal countries in the world, to study whether the persistence of historical social norms can shed light on why some places have reached a higher level of gender balance in politics than others. Using administrative register data from 1982 to 2014 (Statistics Sweden) and historical registers from 1749 to 1859 (Tabellverket 2018), I study the persistence of social norms measured as family formation structures — the shares of women and of unmarried women — across a larger time span than previously studied. The administrative register data provide an excellent opportunity to measure gender balance in local politics (elected and nominated candidates) and family formation, as they contain demographic and socioeconomic statistics on all Swedish working-age citizens and politicians. Where family formation patterns were traditional in the past, family formation patterns are more likely to be traditional today
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