West European Politics · 2012 · 105 citations · 19 references
Social SciencesGender StudiesPolitical ScienceDemocratizationGender PolicyLegislative InstitutionsDemocracyEuropean PoliticsGender EqualityGender Equality PolicyParty SystemsPolitical Representation PolicyEqual Political RepresentationFemale Political RepresentationParty System ReformPolitical Representation Of WomenPolitical Representation QuotasQuota ReformQuotas For Gender EqualityWomen's Representation In Parties
Spain has pursued gender equality in politics through an incremental track since 1978, achieving high female representation and parity via early party quotas that sparked a contagion effect, and later adopting a legislative quota in 2007. The article examines the specific measures Spain implemented to institutionalise gender equality in political representation. Despite political and juridical opposition, Spain successfully introduced the legal quota without constitutional reform.
This article accounts for the particular steps Spain took to institutionalise gender equality in political representation. While some West European countries, where the 'incremental track' was considered too slow or too ineffective, recently shifted to the 'fast track' (notably, Belgium, France, Italy and Portugal), Spain adopted a legislative quota in 2007, when women's representation had already reached very high levels. Indeed, 10 years earlier, the quotas adopted by left-wing Spanish parties in the late 1980s had already reached parity and triggered a contagion effect within the party system. Comparatively speaking, Spain has followed the incremental track in a narrow time frame since democracy was restored in 1978. Finally, although the legal quota reform encountered political and juridical opposition, Spain managed to introduce it without the need for constitutional reform.
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