Women and Politics in Latin America: Perspectives and Limits of the Institutional Aspects of Women's Political Representation

Abstract

This article attempts to offera general panorama of some issues related to political representation of women in Latin America. Specifically, it analyzes the advances made in the representation of women in politics during the 1990s. It offers a descriptive analysis of nationalcases in Latin Americafrom an institutionalfocus. In spiteof the importance that structural, social and psychological elements havein the differentaccounts of women representation in the developing countries, in this text emphasiswill be made on the effects of political-institutionalreforms. Results from reforms havevariedconsiderably between and within countries. They haveonly been incoherent and disconnected policies implemented to increase female representation during the '90s. We can only deduce, therefore, the existence of intentionson thepart of governments to enhance the status of women, notwithstanding that numerous political, institutional, economical and social constrictions continually reproduce inequalities. Some Initial ConsiderationsDuring the past 20 years, the debate around the political representation of women has become a frequent theme of numerous studies in sociology as well as in political science. Diverse important empirical studies from a good number of countries based on solid quantitative analysis of comparative style have been carried out. Authors have highlighted that elements incurring in feminine representation at a national level are very different from the economic, social and cultural status of women. Especially significant for

How Development Matters

“…Simply reviewing the rankings of nations according to women's share of their parliaments adds intuitive strength to scholarly conclusions: wealthy countries like Japan and France rank relatively low in their levels of female representation (9% and 12.2% respectively), while poorer countries like Mozambique and Costa Rica rank relatively high (34.8% and 35.1% respectively) (Inter-Parliamentary Union, 2006). It is not surprising, then, when scholars state that women's legislative representation 'seems to be independent from the socioeconomic development of these societies' (del Campo, 2005(del Campo, : 1705.…”

Pathways to Empowerment

“…Women also mobilize for economic empowerment in popular movements. For instance, women have mobilized to improve their economic positions in the context of broad popular movements against authoritarian regimes and around standard-of-living issues (Campo 2005; Safa 1990). Much of this activism has occurred in the context of crisis, when women joined human rights and pro-democracy groups to protest abuses by military dictatorships, or took to the streets to bring attention to unacceptable living conditions exacerbated by economic instability (Jaquette 1994).…”

“…For instance, women have mobilized to improve their economic positions in the context of broad popular movements against authoritarian regimes and around standard-of-living issues (Campo 2005;Safa 1990). For instance, women have mobilized to improve their economic positions in the context of broad popular movements against authoritarian regimes and around standard-of-living issues (Campo 2005;Safa 1990).…”

The Effects of Political Institutions on Women’s Political Representation

“…As such, a developed economy can create more opportunities for women to acquire the qualifications needed to serve in top government posts. Conversely, others argue that women tend to enter politics during times of crisis, so that as economic distress becomes more severe women get involved in politics to advocate for changes that will ameliorate their immediate situations (Del Campo 2005). Clearly, that Rwanda and Sweden rank 1st and 2nd in women’s parliamentary representation, respectively, suggests that one cannot assume that women do better in Western, industrialized nations, nor is it reasonable to suppose that the factors aiding women in Sweden are the same as those advancing women in Rwanda.…”