Women, Politics, and Democracy in Latin America: An Introduction

Gender Policies of the new Developmental State: The Case of Indonesian new Participatory Village Governance

“…If the New Developmental states tend to be conservative and avoid the strategic but sensitive policy moves, they also refrain from making groundbreaking policy with regards to gender equality and women's empowerment in places where there are deeply ingrained gender inequities. Some studies on gender equality policies in countries of Latin America that have embraced New Developmentalism (Boesten, 2012; Došek et al 2017; Franzoni and Voorend, 2012; Friedman, 2009; Gideon and Molyneux, 2012; Gideon, 2012) have found a tendency towards socially conservative policies with regard to gender. For example, Staab (2012), in the case of Chilian social policy, and Franzoni and Voorend (2012) in the case of the impact of Conditional Cash Transfer (CCT) programmes in Chile, Costa Rica, and El Salvador, show that while governments have done much to improve women's well-being, women are absent from the policymaking process, and gender inequality remains unchanged.…”

Legislative Quotas and the Gender Gap in Campaign Finance: The Case of the 2014 and 2018 Legislative Elections in Colombia

“…It is especially with regard to corporate funding that women appear to be disadvantaged. Women have less access to large, male-dominated political and financial networks (Casas-Zamora and Falguera 2017, 27–31; Muñoz-Pogossian and Finn 2017, 181; Hinojosa and Vázquez Correa 2018, 46–47). More particularly, women are not as well connected to the mostly male-dominated business community, which is generally the main funder of campaigns (Hillman 2018, 330).…”

“…But the Constitutional Court abrogated the quota rules with regard to elected mandates, with the argument that this was a violation of the parties’ freedom of association. (Puyana 2017, 187–212; Pachón and Lacouture 2018, 228–44). It was only in 2011 that a quota rule of 30 percent was imposed for candidates in local, regional, and national elections.…”

Spillover effects of quota or parity laws: The case of Ecuador women mayors

“…As evidenced by Atkeson (2003), the simple presence of female candidates is not enough to increase political engagement, but the presence of competitive female candidates is a key factor to increasing women's political involvement and interest. Thus, reforms should include public and private financing of programs that promote female political participation and competitiveness (Muñoz‐Pogossian & Freidenberg, 2020). Examples of possible reforms include publicly funded women's leadership training programs, such as those implemented in Panama, Mexico, Costa Rica, Colombia, Brazil, and Honduras; special campaign financing for women, such as Brazil's free airtime specifically for female candidates; or financial incentives for political parties that get women elected, as in Chile and Costa Rica.…”