When Does Women’s Political Representation Lead to Policy Change?

Summary

Development Dissertation Brief 2024:05

Over recent decades, women’s participation in politics and civil society has
risen globally, impacting both women and societies at large. My dissertation
examines whether and under what conditions the increased numbers of women
in politics, termed ‘descriptive representation’, influences their substantive
representation – policy areas prioritised by women. The argument is that
women’s presence in politics will not automatically lead to change in policy
outcomes, but that the societal and institutional conditions under which this
happens matter too. Drawing from five papers using comparative and historical
datasets, my dissertation shows that institutional interventions, like gender
quotas, enhance women’s substantive representation. Active women-led civil
society organisations can also increase the chances of women’s priorities being
realised. However, the relationship is conditioned on a certain level of
democratic competition and on the absence of corruption. Overall, the
dissertation underlines that while women’s political representation can advance
the interests of women as a group, this will not happen without specific societal
and institutional conditions