Through the use of an original data set of bill initiation activity in six presidential democracies, we advance scholarly understanding of how the institutional incentives faced by legislative candidates influence representation. We extend and adapt theory, derived primarily from the experience of the U.S. Congress, demonstrating its viability, once assumed constants from the U.S. case are explicitly modeled, in quite distinct institutional contexts. In particular, we find the focus of individual legislators on national versus parochial concerns responds to the incentives provided by the candidate selection process, general election rules, legislator career patterns, and interbranch relations.

We examine factors that affect the supply of and demand for female cabinet ministers in Latin America and seek to understand the frequency with which women join cabinets and the types of portfolios women receive. Our analysis covers 18 Latin American democracies from 1980 to 2003. We find that presidents from parties of the left appoint more women. Increases in the percentage of women in the legislature and higher human development correlate with more women in the cabinet. Intense partisan competition increases the likelihood that a cabinet will contain a woman. Women are more likely to receive high-prestige cabinet posts from leftist presidents and when the percentage of women in the legislature increases. In addition, an international diffusion effect appears to explain the rapid expansion of women in Latin American cabinets. F or many years, there has been international and domestic interest in expanding women's representation in politics. The U.N. Convention on the Elimination of all Forms of Discrimination against Women (1979) and the Fourth World Conference on Women (Beijing 1995) put women's representation on the global agenda. Women's movements pressured governments to address gender inequality in economic, social, and political spheres and to follow through on international commitments.In response to this pressure, some democracies have seen a significant expansion in women's representation. In Argentina, the 1991 Ley de Cupos established a 30% quota for women in electable positions on party lists for the Chamber of Deputies, and women's representation increased from 5% in 19835% in to 21% in 19935% in , and 32% in 20015% in (Jones 1996. Women's representation in Costa Rica's Legislative Assembly increased from 7% in 1974 to 19% in 1998 before implementation of a 40% gender quota law; to 35% in 2002 after the law took effect. In Scandinavia, women have reached near parity with men in legislatures, and there is significant representation of women in cabinets (Skjeie 1991).Globally, gender parity remains the exception and even where women's numbers in legislatures are increas-Maria Escobar-Lemmon is assistant professor of political science, Texas A&M University, TAMU-4348, College Station, TX 77843-4348 (escobar@polisci.tamu.edu). Michelle M. Taylor-Robinson is associate professor of political science, Texas A&M University, TAMU-4348, College Station, TX 77843-4348 (e339mt@polisci.tamu.edu).We thank Mark Jones and Leslie A. Schwindt-Bayer for lending us data for this project. We thank Judith Baer, Lisa Baldez, and Mark Jones for commenting on the article and David A.M. Peterson for helpful discussions regarding methodology and analysis. Finally we thank Zeynep Somer and Christina Suthammanont for extensive data entry for this project. Any errors are our own. ing, women typically hold few top executive posts. Latin America, however, provides a puzzle. Relative to the global average of women filling 12% of ministerial and viceministerial posts, many women serve in Latin American cabinets. In 2003, 18% ...

We examine factors that affect the supply of and demand for female cabinet ministers in Latin America and seek to understand the frequency with which women join cabinets and the types of portfolios women receive. Our analysis covers 18 Latin American democracies from 1980 to 2003. We find that presidents from parties of the left appoint more women. Increases in the percentage of women in the legislature and higher human development correlate with more women in the cabinet. Intense partisan competition increases the likelihood that a cabinet will contain a woman. Women are more likely to receive high-prestige cabinet posts from leftist presidents and when the percentage of women in the legislature increases. In addition, an international diffusion effect appears to explain the rapid expansion of women in Latin American cabinets. F or many years, there has been international and domestic interest in expanding women's representation in politics. The U.N. Convention on the Elimination of all Forms of Discrimination against Women (1979) and the Fourth World Conference on Women (Beijing 1995) put women's representation on the global agenda. Women's movements pressured governments to address gender inequality in economic, social, and political spheres and to follow through on international commitments.In response to this pressure, some democracies have seen a significant expansion in women's representation. In Argentina, the 1991 Ley de Cupos established a 30% quota for women in electable positions on party lists for the Chamber of Deputies, and women's representation increased from 5% in 19835% in to 21% in 19935% in , and 32% in 20015% in (Jones 1996. Women's representation in Costa Rica's Legislative Assembly increased from 7% in 1974 to 19% in 1998 before implementation of a 40% gender quota law; to 35% in 2002 after the law took effect. In Scandinavia, women have reached near parity with men in legislatures, and there is significant representation of women in cabinets (Skjeie 1991).Globally, gender parity remains the exception and even where women's numbers in legislatures are increas-Maria Escobar-Lemmon is assistant professor of political science, Texas A&M University, TAMU-4348, College Station, TX 77843-4348 (escobar@polisci.tamu.edu). Michelle M. Taylor-Robinson is associate professor of political science, Texas A&M University, TAMU-4348, College Station, TX 77843-4348 (e339mt@polisci.tamu.edu).We thank Mark Jones and Leslie A. Schwindt-Bayer for lending us data for this project. We thank Judith Baer, Lisa Baldez, and Mark Jones for commenting on the article and David A.M. Peterson for helpful discussions regarding methodology and analysis. Finally we thank Zeynep Somer and Christina Suthammanont for extensive data entry for this project. Any errors are our own. ing, women typically hold few top executive posts. Latin America, however, provides a puzzle. Relative to the global average of women filling 12% of ministerial and viceministerial posts, many women serve in Latin American cabinets. In 2003, 18% ...