Constitutions and the Political Agency of Women: A Cross-Country Study
The underrepresentation of women in parliaments worldwide warrants attention to discern underlying sources. This study examines one potential source: the countries’ constitutions. Based on a large cross-country dataset from 2011, the study demonstrates that women's representation in parliament...
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| Format: | Journal Article |
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Taylor & Francis
2016
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| Online Access: | http://hdl.handle.net/20.500.11937/33646 |
| _version_ | 1848754005199552512 |
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| author | Austen, Siobhan Mavisakalyan, Astghik |
| author_facet | Austen, Siobhan Mavisakalyan, Astghik |
| author_sort | Austen, Siobhan |
| building | Curtin Institutional Repository |
| collection | Online Access |
| description | The underrepresentation of women in parliaments worldwide warrants attention to discern underlying sources. This study examines one potential source: the countries’ constitutions. Based on a large cross-country dataset from 2011, the study demonstrates that women's representation in parliament is larger in countries with constitutional protection from gender-based discrimination. Baseline estimates suggest that the presence of such protection results in over a 3.5 percentage point increase in women's share of parliamentary seats. The study probes some underlying mechanisms and shows that places with constitutional protection from gender-based discrimination are likely to have legislation directly targeting women's underrepresentation. The results underscore the role of constitutional design in promoting women's political agency. |
| first_indexed | 2025-11-14T08:33:32Z |
| format | Journal Article |
| id | curtin-20.500.11937-33646 |
| institution | Curtin University Malaysia |
| institution_category | Local University |
| last_indexed | 2025-11-14T08:33:32Z |
| publishDate | 2016 |
| publisher | Taylor & Francis |
| recordtype | eprints |
| repository_type | Digital Repository |
| spelling | curtin-20.500.11937-336462017-09-13T15:35:34Z Constitutions and the Political Agency of Women: A Cross-Country Study Austen, Siobhan Mavisakalyan, Astghik political agency parliamentary representation laws gender equality women Constitutions The underrepresentation of women in parliaments worldwide warrants attention to discern underlying sources. This study examines one potential source: the countries’ constitutions. Based on a large cross-country dataset from 2011, the study demonstrates that women's representation in parliament is larger in countries with constitutional protection from gender-based discrimination. Baseline estimates suggest that the presence of such protection results in over a 3.5 percentage point increase in women's share of parliamentary seats. The study probes some underlying mechanisms and shows that places with constitutional protection from gender-based discrimination are likely to have legislation directly targeting women's underrepresentation. The results underscore the role of constitutional design in promoting women's political agency. 2016 Journal Article http://hdl.handle.net/20.500.11937/33646 10.1080/13545701.2015.1075656 Taylor & Francis fulltext |
| spellingShingle | political agency parliamentary representation laws gender equality women Constitutions Austen, Siobhan Mavisakalyan, Astghik Constitutions and the Political Agency of Women: A Cross-Country Study |
| title | Constitutions and the Political Agency of Women: A Cross-Country Study |
| title_full | Constitutions and the Political Agency of Women: A Cross-Country Study |
| title_fullStr | Constitutions and the Political Agency of Women: A Cross-Country Study |
| title_full_unstemmed | Constitutions and the Political Agency of Women: A Cross-Country Study |
| title_short | Constitutions and the Political Agency of Women: A Cross-Country Study |
| title_sort | constitutions and the political agency of women: a cross-country study |
| topic | political agency parliamentary representation laws gender equality women Constitutions |
| url | http://hdl.handle.net/20.500.11937/33646 |