Women in upper houses : a global perspective

Abstract

In analyses of female representation in lower houses, the adoption of quotas, the electoral system and the religious aspect have been indentified as the main explanatory variables. In the case upper houses, I see a relationship between their political strength and womens presence in them: when they are weak, the presence of female representatives tends to be larger; when they are strong, womens presence is smaller. Furthermore, the article shows that an analysis based solely on the number of seats held women is insufficient for one to gather the true dimension of their participation in politics. Evaluating the role and expressiveness of the institutions in which they are present is also necessary.