Gender Quotas, Electoral Laws, and the Election of Women

TLDR

Gender quotas are widely promoted as a means to remedy the severe underrepresentation of women in legislatures worldwide. This study examines how gender quota laws affect the election of women legislators and how other electoral rules modify that effect. Argentina’s provinces, with diverse electoral law arrangements, provide a natural setting to investigate the impact of quotas. Gender quota laws significantly raise the share of women elected, but the effectiveness depends strongly on the type of party list, underscoring the need for reformers to tailor quotas to the institutional context.

Abstract

Gender quotas represent a commonly advocated method by which to address the severe underrepresentation of women in the world's legislatures. This study analyzes the effect of gender quota laws on the election of women legislators. It also examines the extent to which other electoral rules can influence the effect of quotas on the election of women. Argentina's provinces employ a wide variety of electoral law arrangements for the election of their provincial legislatures, thereby providing a unique population with which to explore the effect of quotas. The use of a gender quota law is found to have a significant positive impact on the percentage of women elected to the Argentine provincial legislatures. At the same time, the type of party list used is found to have a potent influence on the efficacy of gender quota laws in increasing the percentage of women elected. The study provides considerable support for the position of gender quota advocates. It also suggests that reformers must pay close attention to the institutional environment in which a quota law is being implemented.