TY - BOOK
T1 - Seeing Women, Strengthening Democracy
T2 - How Women in Politics Foster Connected Citizens
AU - Hinojosa, Magda
AU - Kittilson, Miki Caul
N1 - Publisher Copyright:
© Oxford University Press 2020.
PY - 2021/1/1
Y1 - 2021/1/1
N2 - How does the more equitable representation of women in positions of power affect male and female citizens? We argue that the election of women to political office-particularly where women’s presence is highly visible to the public-strengthens the connections between women and the democratic process. For women, seeing more “people like me” in politics changes attitudes and orientations toward the democratic process. Substantial variation persists across Latin America in gender gaps in political engagement and political support. To assess the effects that women’s officeholding has on these, we pair comparative survey data from Latin American countries with case study evidence from Uruguay. The Uruguayan case offers a unique laboratory for testing the impact of women’s representation in elected positions of power on political engagement and support. Our panel survey of Uruguayan citizens reveals that the expected gender gaps in political knowledge, political interest, and other forms of political engagement were alive and well six weeks before the elections. Yet, just six weeks following the election-after the use of a gender quota had led to a doubling of women’s representation in the Senate-those gender gaps had largely disappeared or had significantly waned. Our findings indicate that far-reaching gender gaps can be overcome by more equitable representation in our political institutions.
AB - How does the more equitable representation of women in positions of power affect male and female citizens? We argue that the election of women to political office-particularly where women’s presence is highly visible to the public-strengthens the connections between women and the democratic process. For women, seeing more “people like me” in politics changes attitudes and orientations toward the democratic process. Substantial variation persists across Latin America in gender gaps in political engagement and political support. To assess the effects that women’s officeholding has on these, we pair comparative survey data from Latin American countries with case study evidence from Uruguay. The Uruguayan case offers a unique laboratory for testing the impact of women’s representation in elected positions of power on political engagement and support. Our panel survey of Uruguayan citizens reveals that the expected gender gaps in political knowledge, political interest, and other forms of political engagement were alive and well six weeks before the elections. Yet, just six weeks following the election-after the use of a gender quota had led to a doubling of women’s representation in the Senate-those gender gaps had largely disappeared or had significantly waned. Our findings indicate that far-reaching gender gaps can be overcome by more equitable representation in our political institutions.
KW - Descriptive representation
KW - Gender quota
KW - Symbolic representation
KW - Women and politics
KW - Women legislators
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85109468932&partnerID=8YFLogxK
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U2 - 10.1093/oso/9780197526941.001.0001
DO - 10.1093/oso/9780197526941.001.0001
M3 - Book
AN - SCOPUS:85109468932
BT - Seeing Women, Strengthening Democracy
PB - Oxford University Press
ER -