Document Type
Article
Publication Date
7-19-2021
Disciplines
Comparative Politics
Abstract
This study investigates women’s under-representation in national legislative elections and the gendered legacies embedded in Brazil’s electoral system and party dynamics. Focusing on the historical period prior to the 1996 implementation of a quota law, this article applies a feminist historical institutionalist approach to identify institutions and actors influencing women’s representation. Brazil’s electoral rules for legislative elections, that is, an open-list proportional representation system, remained surprisingly stable throughout periods of regime change and institutional uncertainty in the 20th century. It was not until the return to democracy and the 1986 constituent election that women were able to carve some space in Brazil’s National Congress. This research argues that the relaxing of rules dictating the creation of political parties and the strengthening of women’s movements in the prior decade were influential in creating a propitious moment for increasing the presence of women in national legislative politics.
Copyright Statement
In copyright. CC-BY
Recommended Citation
To cite this article: dos Santos, P. (2021) Gendered path dependency: women’s representation in 20th-century Brazil, European Journal of Politics and Gender, vol 4,
no 3, 441–458, DOI: 10.1332/251510821X16236819716267
Comments
Published in European Journal of Politics and Gender • vol 4 • no 3 • 441–458. https://doi.org/10.1332/251510821X16236819716267 Accepted for publication 14 June 2021 • First published online 19 July 2021 Open access