Political Power and Women's Representation in Latin America - Softcover

Schwindt-Bayer, Leslie A.

Softcover

ISBN 10: 0199938660 ISBN 13: 9780199938667

Publisher: Oxford University Press, 2012

Synopsis

The number of women elected to Latin American legislatures has grown significantly over the past thirty years. This increase in the number of women elected to national office is due, in large part, to gender-friendly electoral rules such as gender quotas and proportional electoral systems, and it has, in turn, fostered constituent support for representative democracy. Still, this book argues that women are gaining political voice and bringing women's issues to state agendas, but they are not gaining political power. Women are marginalized by the male majority in office and relegated to the least powerful committees and leadership posts, hindering progress toward real political equality.

In Political Power and Women's Representation in Latin America, Leslie Schwindt-Bayer examines the causes and consequences of women's representation in Latin America. She does so by asking a series of politically relevant and theoretically challenging questions, including why the numbers of women in office have increased in some countries but vary across others; what the presence of women in office means for the way representatives legislate; and what consequences the election of women bears for representative democracy more generally.

Schwindt-Bayer articulates a comprehensive theory of women's representation that analyzes and connects trends in relation to four facets of political representation: formal, descriptive, substantive and symbolic. She then tests this theory empirically using aggregate data from all eighteen Latin American democracies and original fieldwork in Argentina, Colombia and Costa Rica. Ultimately, this book communicates the complex and often incomplete nature of women's political representation in Latin America.

About this title

About the Author:

Leslie A. Schwindt-Bayer is Associate Professor of Political Science at the University of Missouri. She has published in the American Journal of Political Science, The Journal of Politics, British Journal of Political Science, Comparative Political Studies, Electoral Studies, and Legislative Studies Quarterly.

Review:

"Exceptionally well theorized, methodologically rigorous and carefully empirical, Leslie Schwindt-Bayer's study of women's political representation in Latin America is a welcome addition to the women and representation scholarship that has until now relied on North American and West European cases... Political Power and Women's Representation in Latin America will be required reading for students of women and representation, and of representation and democracy more generally."--Karen Beckwith, Flora Stone Mather Professor of Political Science, Case Western Reserve University

"This book catapults the study of women's political representation to a new level. Schwindt-Bayer's theory links formal, descriptive, substantive and symbolic representation whereas previous research generally considered these four types of representation separately. She advances clear hypotheses about the impact of women in legislative office, then tests them against a wealth of original data that includes bill introductions, committee assignments, leadership positions, and constituent service. Schwindt-Bayer supplements this with surveys from male and female Latin American legislators as well as in-depth interviews. This book reorients existing debates about women and political power and deserves a wide audience."--Lisa Baldez, Associate Professor of Government, Dartmouth College

"Schwindt-Bayer sheds a much-needed spotlight on a fascinating trend in Latin American politics. Highly recommended."--CHOICE

"While no one book will resolve all debates over the impact of women's increasing presence in legislative bodies, Political Power and Women's Representation in Latin America shifts the terms of the debate, prompting scholars to think about representation in new and more holistic ways."--Perspectives on Politics

"[T]heoretically and methodologically rigorous, thoroughly researched, and well-written."-- Comparative Political Studies

"Schwindt-Bayer's book provides a great starting point for students and scholars wanting to better understand the phenomenon in Latin American democracies. Methodologically, this book provides a sophisticated example of the mixed-methods approach. The author successfully combines complex statistical models, survey analyses, and interviews. She creates a superb narrative of the dynamic relationship between the dimensions of representation. But it is the theory developed by the author that makes this book a must-read for scholars involved in the study of women's representation and gender-related policymaking. This book goes beyond static explanations of how women get elected and who represents women in a political system. It moves the debate toward a dynamic approach to how political institutions and elected women influence policymaking and how these factors influence citizens'attitudes toward government institutions."-- Journal of Women, Politics & Policy

About this edition

• Publisher: Oxford University Press
• Publication date: 2012
• ISBN 10: 0199938660
• ISBN 13: 9780199938667
• Binding: Paperback
• Number of pages: 274