Between Facts and Norms: Contributions to a Discourse Theory of Law and Democracy

Justice and the Politics of Difference

In scores of countries, the adoption of gender quotas has boosted the numbers of women elected to national legislatures. How does the growing presence of women affect legislative behavior regarding women’s rights? Using an original dataset of all the bills submitted to the Argentine Congress between 1983 and 2007, we analyze the relationship between women’s presence in Congress and the introduction and approval of bills related to women’s rights. Our dataset allows us to compare three periods with varying levels of women’s presence in both legislative chambers (the first without quotas, the second with a quota in one chamber, and the third with full quota implementation in both chambers). Our results confirm the necessity of distinguishing between the process of legislative behavior and its outcome. We show that many more women’s rights bills were introduced when women held a greater share of seats in both chambers. However, the approval rates of these bills actually declined. Despite their greater presence, women continue to be marginalized in the legislature and to suffer reduced political efficacy.

https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/pdf/10.1177/1866802X1300500105

Does Women's Presence Change Legislative Behavior? Evidence from Argentina, 1983-2007

This article examines two decades of strengthening, expansion, and diffusion of gender quota laws in Latin America. The analysis departs from studies of quotas' adoption, numerical effectiveness, or policy impacts, instead focusing on states' use of coercive power to integrate women into public and private institutions. Viewing these policies in light of feminist theories of the poststructuralist state reveals how state institutions act to restructure government and promote gender equality. In building this argument, the article presents an up-to-date empirical survey and conceptual understanding of quota evolution in Latin America, including recent developments in countries such as Chile, Colombia, Bolivia, Ecuador, Mexico, Nicaragua, and Uruguay.

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States as Gender Equality Activists: The Evolution of Quota Laws in Latin America

Electoral quotas have emerged as one of the critical political reforms of the last two decades, affecting a wide range of representative processes. However, the evidence is not yet conclusive with regard to what quotas ‘mean’ more broadly, either for politics at large or for the empowerment of group members. Taking up this challenge, this special issue brings together articles that collectively expand the current research agenda to theorise and assess the wider impact of electoral quotas. A unifying theme is the use of comparative research strategies to illuminate dynamics indicating the possibilities and limits of what quotas can achieve. This introductory article reviews the existing literature and then details the research strategies and theoretical and empirical findings of the articles that follow, concluding with directions for future research and implications of this work for connecting central debates within political science.

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Electoral quotas and political representation: Comparative perspectives

Focusing on the case of Bolivia, this paper analyzes when and why marginalized groups gain access to political power. The country’s experience is puzzling. Though we would have expected the indigenous-led government that came to power in early 2006 to be more receptive to the claims of indigenous movements than to women, the opposite occurred. Indigenous groups received a mere five percent of parliamentary seats and women got a gender parity law. What explains these different results of women’s and indigenous demands for political inclusion? Adopting an intersectional approach, we view marginalized groups not as a single category but as a collection of categories. Rather than a premise of politics, group unity is a political achievement. While women overcame divisions between white, urban feminists and indigenous women from popular sectors to lobby for gender parity, the indigenous movement remained divided over reserved seats and the project of indigenous autonomy more generally. Our analysis helps explain why quotas have brought women into power but not changed other features of politics and why empowerment has produced new hierarchies within the indigenous movement.

Political Inclusion of Marginalized Groups: Indigenous Reservations and Gender Parity in Bolivia

Focusing on the case of Bolivia, this paper analyzes when and why marginalized groups gain access to political power. The country's experience is puzzling. Though we would have expected the indigenous-led government that came to power in early 2006 to be more receptive to the claims of indigenous movements than to women, the opposite occurred. Indigenous groups received a mere 5% of parliamentary seats and women got a gender parity law. What explains these different results of women's and indigenous demands for political inclusion? Adopting an intersectional approach, we view marginalized groups not as a single category but as a collection of categories. Rather than a premise of politics, group unity is a political achievement. While women overcame divisions between white, urban feminists and indigenous women from popular sectors to lobby for gender parity, the indigenous movement remained divided over reserved seats and the project of indigenous autonomy more generally. Our analysis helps explain why quo...

Juan Pablo Ossa

Papers

Political Inclusion of Marginalized Groups: Indigenous Reservations and Gender Parity in Bolivia

Political inclusion of marginalized groups: indigenous reservations and gender parity in Bolivia