Do Gender Quotas Erode Democratic Legitimacy? Women's Political Representation in Comparative Perspective

Do Gender Quotas Erode Democratic Legitimacy? Women's Political Representation in Comparative Perspective
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Women's political representation confers legitimacy to decision-making processes and outcomes, but does this outcome hold when gender quotas are in place? Using survey experiments conducted across the Americas and Europe, we show that "quota penalties" exist, but are small. The legitimacy-conferring effects of women's political inclusion remain even when women obtain elected office through quotas.

Jennifer M. Piscopo is Associate Professor and Chair of Politics at Occidental College in Los Angeles, CA. As of 1 September 2023, she is Professor of Politics and Gender at Royal Holloway University of London. Her research on gender, political representation, and elections has appeared in over 30 academic journals, including The American Political Science Review, The American Journal of Political Science, Politics & Gender, and Comparative Political Studies. She also consults regularly for UN Women and other international organizations on the topic of increasing women's participation in politics.

Date & time

Thu 18 May 2023, 11am–12.30pm

Location

RSSS room 3.72 or Online via Zoom

Speakers

Jennifer Piscopo

Contacts

Quynh Nguyen

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