HPS³ - Ana Catalano Weeks - Gender Quota Laws and Women in Cabinet

The Hamburg Political Science Seminar Series (HPS³) features international speakers presenting cutting-edge research in empirical political science and political economy.

We welcome on 

09 January 2025,  17:15-18:45 CET in VMP9 B130

Ana Catalano Weeks (University of Bath) 
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Title: Gender Quota Laws and Women in Cabinets 

Abstract: Do legislative gender quotas increase women’s presence in executive cabinets? Women are traditionally underrepresented in politics, especially in top leadership roles. As a remedy, quotas, requiring women to be nominated as candidates or elected in reserved seats, have been adopted for national parliaments in over 80 countries. But, can quotas work beyond the positions to which they apply? We argue that legislative quotas increase women in the executive branch by augmenting the supply of women ministers. Using a difference-in-differences approach, we analyze the impact of quotas on the gender composition of cabinets worldwide (1990-2022). We find quotas increase women in cabinets by 2.2 percentage points. Consistent with our supply-side argument, effects are concentrated in parliamentary democracies, countries sustaining a high `shock' to women in parliament post-quota implementation, and low-prestige portfolios. Our findings suggest quotas have important spillover effects, shaping women's prospects for representation in not only parliaments but also governments. 

Keywords: gender quotas, political representation, cabinets, gender and politics 

The HPS³ seminars take place in person at the UHH. Please find the seminar program on the HPS³ Website.

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