Implementation of Quotas Latin American Experiences

The Implementation of Quotas:
Latin American Experiences

Workshop Report
Lima, Peru
23-24 February 2003
© International Institute for Democracy and Electoral Assistance 2003
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Preface
The International Institute for Democracy and tion on quotas, IDEA is convening a series of regio-
Electoral Assistance (IDEA), an intergovernmental nal workshops. This report documents the discus-
organization with member states across all conti- sion at, and the findings from, the second in the seri-
nents, seeks to support sustainable democracy in es, The Implementation of Quotas: Latin American
both new and long-established democracies. Experiences, which is to be followed by workshops
Drawing on comparative analysis and experience, in Africa, Eastern Europe and the Caucasus, and the
IDEA works to strengthen electoral processes, Arab World. The workshop was held in Lima, Peru,
enhance political equality and participation and to where IDEA has been operating a country program-
develop democratic institutions and practices. The me since 2002.
inclusive and responsive nature of those institutions Many individuals and organizations in Peru sup-
is considered of particular importance if there is to ported IDEA’s workshop on quotas in Latin
be effective governance, benefiting a wide spectrum America, and we are grateful for their enthusiasm
of groups in society. In this context, IDEA is com- and experience. We thank Professor Drude Dahlerup
mitted to promoting women’s participation and from Stockholm University for her expertise and
representation in political life. knowledge in organizing the event, staff and consul-
The implementation of gender quotas is increa- tants at IDEA’s offices in Lima and Stockholm, espe-
singly viewed as an important policy measure for cially Violeta Bermúdez, Lorena Prieto, Andrea
increasing women’s access to decision-making bodi- Stiglich and Yee Yin Yap, for assisting with logistics
es. The introduction of gender quota systems is high- and arrangements for this event, and Julie
ly influenced by recommendations from internatio- Ballington, Christina Alnevall and Violeta Bermúdez
nal organizations and cross-country inspiration. In for helping to compile this report.
1995, the Beijing Platform for Action called on We also thank the speakers and authors who made
governments to take measures to ensure women’s this report possible, particularly Clara Araújo,
equal access to, and full participation in, power Christina Alnevall, Jimena Costa Benavides, Violeta
structures and decision-making fora, and to set spe- Bermúdez, Drude Dahlerup, Ana Isabel García
cific targets and to implement measures to increase Quesada, Maria José Lubertino, Jacqueline Peschard,
substantially the number of women in politics, Gregory D. Schmidt, Rocío Villanueva Flores and
including through positive action. Gender quotas Ana María Yáñez. From IDEA we are especially gra-
present us with new challenges, both in practice and teful for the expertise and untiring efforts of Julie
as a new field of research. IDEA is engaged in a glo- Ballington, Manager of the Gender Project, and
bal research project on the implementation and prac- Myriam Méndez-Montalvo, former Manager of the
tice of quotas worldwide in cooperation with Peru Project. We also thank Dr Patrick Molutsi,
Stockholm University’s Department of Political Director of the Political Parties and Institutions
Science. By comparing the use of gender quotas in Programme, and Dr Daniel Zovatto, Director of the
different political contexts it is possible to gauge Latin American Programme. Lastly, we would like to
whether, and under what conditions, quotas can be thank IDEA’s member states, for the support that
implemented successfully. This project aims to raise made this event possible.
awareness about the use of gender quotas as an
instrument to increase women’s political representa-
tion and to show that they can and are being appli-
ed successfully. IDEA also seeks to develop skills and
knowledge, as well as to establish useful networks
and to identify partners, among the interested parti-
es to assist them in making progress in this impor- Karen Fogg
tant policy area. Secretary-General
As a means of generating comparative informa- International IDEA
3
4
Table of Contents
About the Project and the Report 6
1. Quota Systems: An Overview 8
1.1. Overview of the Session 8

Papers Presented:
Drude Dahlerup, “Comparative Studies of Electoral Gender Quotas” 10
Jacqueline Peschard, “An Overview of Quota Systems in Latin America” 20
2. Introducing Quotas in Latin America: Discourses and Legal Reforms 30
2.1. Overview of Presentations 30

2.2. Overview of Discussion 31
Papers Presented:
María José Lubertino, “Pioneering Quotas: The Argentine Experience and Beyond” 32
Gregory D. Schmidt, “The Implementation of Gender Quotas in Peru:
Legal Reform, Discourses, and Impacts” 42
Rocío Villanueva Flores, “Taking Stock of the Implementation of Quotas in Peru” 52
3. Quotas in Practice: The Challenge of Implementation and Enforcement 68

Papers Presented:
Clara Araújo, “Quotas for Women in the Brazilian Legislative System” 72
Ana Isabel García Quesada, “Putting the Mandate into Practice:
Legal Reform in Costa Rica” 88
Jacqueline Peschard, “Quota Implementation in Mexico” 102
Jimena Costa Benavides, “Women’s Political Participation in Bolivia:
Progress and Obstacles” 104
4. Democracy and Electoral Systems 112

Papers Presented:
Ana María Yáñez, “Quotas and Democracy in Peru” 114
Gregory D. Schmidt, “Unanticipated Successes:
Lessons from Peru’s Experiences with Gender Quotas in
Majoritarian Closed List and Open List PR Systems” 120
5. Conclusion: Lessons Learned from

the Latin American Experience with Quotas 134
6. About the Authors 138
7. List of Participants 140
5
About the Project and the Report
Obstacles to women’s political participation exist ject is the first global comparative analysis of the dis-
throughout the world in prevailing social and econo- cursive controversies about quotas and how they
mic regimes, as well as in existing political structures. work in practice. It aims to study the debates and
In 2003, the representation of women stands at 15 decision-making processes that led to their introduc-
percent globally. Although this total has increased in tion, and to look at the implementation of various
recent years, minimal progress throughout the world types of quota, including formal and informal quo-
means that the ideal of parity remains distant. Given tas, and their consequences.
the slow rate at which the representation of women As a first step in this process, a Global Database of
is increasing, various methods, such as electoral quo- Quotas for Women web site has been produced, pro-
tas, have been proposed or implemented to address viding an overview of the use of electoral quotas for
the present gender imbalance in decision-making. women worldwide (www.quotaproject.org). It is a
Governments and political parties have experimen- joint project between IDEA and Stockholm
ted with different types of quotas; electoral quotas University’s Department of Political Science. The
may be constitutionally or legislatively mandated or web site provides information on the various types of
take the form of political party quotas. They usually quotas in existence today, detailing the percentages
set a target or minimum threshold for women, and and targets in countries where they are applicable.
may apply to the number of women candidates pro- Data is presented for over 90 countries, including 74
posed by a party for election, or they may take the countries where quotas have been implemented in
form of reserved seats in the legislature. the constitution, regulations and laws or where poli-
Increasing women’s representation and participa- tical parties have implemented their own internal
tion in decision-making bodies requires well-develo- quotas. However, as the web site provides quantitati-
ped strategies and information about which measu- ve information about quota types and rules, it does
res have worked successfully in different countries not seek to draw conclusions about the connection
with different political systems. In terms of informa- between types of quota provisions and the represen-
tion on quotas, limited comparative research exists tation of women globally. Further qualitative rese-
on how quotas have been or have not been success- arch is needed to illustrate the effect of quotas for
fully implemented and enforced. Certain country women and quota enforcement in different countri-
case studies or regional analyses are available, but es, and the impact of other factors that affect the
there is a pressing need to examine different country representation of women, such as the strength of the
and regional examples to assess the pros and cons of women’s movement.
quota implementation on a global and comparative Consequently, IDEA is convening a series of
basis. regional workshops that will bring together resear-
As the debate about the use of quotas as a tool to chers and practitioners to collect country- and
increase the political participation of women gains region-specific information on quota implementa-
momentum, IDEA is collaborating with Stockholm tion and enforcement, and to develop a network of
University in a global research project that will lead researchers and experts working in this field. The
to the production of a body of comparative practical first in the series examined Asian experiences with
knowledge on electoral quotas for women. The pro- quotas, and was held in Jakarta, Indonesia, in
6
September 2002. The workshop held in Lima on civil society organizations and political institutions
Latin American experiences with quotas was the involved in gender equality advocacy, democracy and
second in the series. electoral issues in Peru.
Latin America is an interesting region in terms of This report is structured around the themes
gauging both successes and failures in experimenting addressed in the Latin American context, providing
with quotas. The legislated quota system is widely an overview of the presentations and the discussion
used in Latin America, while in other regions infor- that emerged. The full papers submitted by the
mal political party quotas are the most utilized. experts are also included. The themes addressed
Argentina was the first country in Latin America to include comparative experiences of quotas, how to
legislate a gender quota in 1991, Ley de Cupos; ten lobby for and implement quotas, the challenges to
other countries in the region followed suit between implementation and enforcement, and democracy
1996 and 1997. There are also important examples and electoral systems. Conclusions and areas for fur-
of strict sanctions for the enforcement of quotas (also ther research are also documented. In this way it is
called compulsory quotas), where the law stipulates hoped that the report will serve not just as a record
how the percentage is to be met by specifying the of activity but also as a reference and information
alternation or sequencing of candidates-for example, source for ongoing discussions and planning regar-
that at least one of every three candidates must be a ding the political participation of women in Latin
woman. There is now a tradition of quota imple- America.
mentation in the region, and an emerging consensus The project will result in a number of outputs,
that quotas have been instrumental in ensuring including a continually updated web site on electoral
female access to decision-making bodies in the quotas for women, a handbook or series of policy
region. papers that allow the aforementioned information to
The aim of the workshop was to provide a forum be provided in a format accessible to a wide audien-
to appraise comparative information and trends, to ce, and an academic book-to be produced by Drude
share experiences and to provide networking oppor- Dahlerup of Stockholm University-provisionally
tunities for those involved in this debate in the entitled Quotas: A key to Equality? An international
region. The workshop also sought to encourage fur- comparison of the use of electoral quotas to obtain equal
ther research on quotas for women. Key issues exa- political citizenship for women. More information
mined included what types of quotas are in use in about the project and on quotas for women is avai-
the region (including legislated and political party lable at www.quotaproject.org, or by contacting
quotas), when, where and how have quotas worked, IDEA.
the challenges to implementation and enforcement,
and what are the controversies surrounding, and the Julie Ballington
consequences of, the use of quotas. The resource
people included researchers and practitioners from Programme Officer, Political Parties and
Argentina, Bolivia, Brazil, Costa Rica, Mexico, Peru, Institutions Programme
International IDEA
Sweden, and the United States. Other participants
included researchers from, and representatives of,
7
1
1. Quota Systems: An Overview
1.1. Overview of the Session The introduction of gender quota systems is high-
The first session of the workshop provided an intro- ly influenced by the recommendations of internatio-
ductory overview of the use of quotas worldwide, nal organizations and cross-country inspiration. The
and defined the types and methods of quota imple- latter is especially obvious in Latin America, where,
mentation in Latin America. as Dr Jacqueline Peschard shows, there is great diver-
Professor Drude Dahlerup notes that gender quo- sity between states in regard to the ways in which
tas are controversial, yet they are implemented quota systems have been implemented. But there is
throughout the world. Other quota systems, based little doubt that international organizations like the
on geography, ethnicity, religion, or other factors, are United Nations (UN), the Organization for Security
not usually considered as controversial as a quota sys- and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE), the Inter-
tem based on gender. The region where electoral Parliamentary Union (IPU) and the European
gender quota systems have been implemented most Union (EU), and such international agreements as
extensively is Latin America. the 1979 United Nations Convention on the
There are different quota systems: constitutional, Elimination of all forms of Discrimination Against
legislative, and political party lists. These different Women (CEDAW) and the 1995 Beijing Platform
types of quotas are documented on the for Action, have all influenced this new political
IDEA/Stockholm University web site on quotas agenda. The change in international norms and the
(www.quotaproject.org). In Latin America the legis- fact that a significant number of countries have rati-
lative quota system (legislated in either political fied the CEDAW and subscribed to the Platform for
party or electoral laws) is widely used. Argentina was Action in 1995 (at the Women’s World Conference
the first country in Latin America to legislate a gen- in Beijing, China) give new impetus to women’s
der quota, the Ley de Cupos of 1991; ten other movements worldwide, which base their demands
countries in the region followed suit between 1996 on these international conventions.
and 1997. The process of gender quota implementa- While there has been a gradual increase in wome-
tion has now progressed to a second level in Costa n’s representation globally (the world average in
Rica and Mexico, where there has been a shift from lower houses of parliament was 15.1 percent in
legislative recommendations to a quota system based March 2003), the national differences are enormous.
on constitutional law combined with strict enforce- There has been great interest in the Scandinavian
ment sanctions-recommendations about quota countries, where the representation of women is
implementation were insufficient in practice. comparatively high at around 40 percent. However,
Discussions have also recently been initiated in Peru Drude Dahlerup argues that Scandinavia should no
about a higher quota percentage than at present, in longer be seen as the ‘model’ for achieving women’s
combination with implementation enforcement representation, as this took several decades to deve-
sanctions. lop and was part of a broader process of attaining
Gender quotas present us with new challenges, gender justice in these countries. In Latin America,
both in practice and as a new field of research. As gender quotas should be considered in relation to the
Drude Dahlerup argues, the idea of gender quotas process of democratic transition and an outcome of
confronts very different contexts, and country-speci- women’s participation in, and the mobilization of,
fic research and comparative studies are important to social movements, women’s organizations and politi-
gain a broadened understanding and to develop a cal parties. The issue of guaranteeing human rights,
strong base of knowledge. By comparing the use of particularly the right to equality between men and
gender quotas in different political contexts it is pos- women, became a part of the political agenda for
sible to gauge whether, and under what conditions, Latin American governments and political actors.
quotas can be implemented successfully, and whet- Jacqueline Peschard explains the different types of
her they actually lead to the empowerment of quotas that are in existence in the region, where there
women. is a tendency for quotas to be legislated. When con-
8
sidering the legal framework, though, a distinction
needs to be made between indicative quotas, where
the quota percentage is established without specify-
ing how it is to be met, and compulsory quotas,
which denote how the percentage is to be met by
specifying the alternation or sequencing of candida-
tes-for example, that at least one of every three can-
didates must be a woman. Indicative quotas exist in
Brazil and Paraguay, whereas Argentina, Bolivia,
Costa Rica, and Uruguay have compulsory quotas.
Peschard also argues that it is important to bear in
mind the factors that influence the efficiency of quo-
tas, including the type of electoral system. The pro-
portional representation (PR) system easily lends
itself to the implementation of quotas, because of
placement mandates that can be applied to political
party lists. However, whether lists are open or closed
is important to consider, as voters may be able to
influence the number of women elected by voting
for women in open list systems. This is not possible
in a closed list system, where the political party
determines the rank ordering of candidates. Finally,
it was noted that, in Latin America, there is now a
tradition of quota implementation, and a general
consensus that quotas have been beneficial to ensu-
ring women’s participation in decision-making bodi-
es in the region.
9
Comparative Studies of
Electoral Gender Quotas
Drude Dahlerup
Comparative Analysis of Gender Quotas:

A New Research Agenda
The number of countries that have introduced some What happens when electoral gender quotas are
type of quota system is much larger than expected. introduced in political systems as dissimilar as those
Although highly controversial, electoral gender quo- of Argentina, France, India, Pakistan, South Africa,
tas are now being introduced at an amazing speed all Sweden and Uganda? What are the theoretical and
over the world (see www.quotaproject.org). Having methodological problems implied in comparing the
gathered data on quotas globally, it is time to esta- introduction of electoral quotas in extremely diffe-
blish a new research agenda to compare quota sys- rent political systems around the globe? My research
tems. interest is in the relation between the discursive con-
troversies surrounding the introduction of quotas,
Comparative quota research might focus on:
the actual implementation or non-implementation
• the discourse;
of quota systems and the outcome. Under what con-
• the decision-making process;
ditions do quotas contribute to the empowerment of
• implementation; and
women? When do gender quotas lead to unintended
• the consequences of quotas.
negative effects like stigmatization and marginaliza-
The outcome of introducing quotas should be studi- tion?
ed in quantitative and qualitative terms. Electoral With some outstanding exceptions, research on
statistics can tell the number of women elected. But, quotas has, until now, primarily been limited to one
unfortunately, the official electoral statistics of many country, or to the employment of quotas in different
countries do not contain sufficient data on those electoral systems. It is, however, relevant to widen
nominated by sex, which must be provided through the perspective, and to discuss how to conduct rese-
other channels such as through the political parties. arch that compares quota discourse and implemen-
The consequences of quotas should also be studied tation processes and results under different electoral
in qualitative terms, looking into the intended and systems, different political cultures and different
unintended ramifications (for instance, stigma glass gender regimes. Existing one-country studies seem
ceilings preventing the percentage of women from to come up with quite different conclusions about
rising above the quota requirement, or unintended the ability of quota systems to empower women. Yet,
splits between different groups of women). those differences might derive from the chosen
10
approach rather than from actual differences bet- This extraordinarily high level of representation,

ween countries. seen in a global perspective, has led to the question:
The introduction of quotas is increasingly influ- how did you come that far? What can we learn from
enced by recommendations from international orga- the Scandinavian experience? As Nordic researchers
nizations and by cross-country inspiration. However, we have tried to answer these questions by pointing
the new international idea of quotas, or ‘quota fever’, to structural changes in these countries, such as secu-
as it is now called in Southeast Asia, confronts very larization, the strength of social-democratic parties
different contexts. Today, electoral gender quotas are and the development of an extended welfare state,
being introduced in countries where women have women’s entrance into the labour market in large
been almost entirely excluded from politics, as well numbers in the 1960s, the educational boom of the
as in countries with a long history of mobilization of 1960s, and the electoral system. Strategic factors are
women into the labour market and into political life- also seen as important, especially the various strate-
such as in the Scandinavian countries, where electo- gies employed by women’s organizations in the
ral quotas were not introduced until the 1980s, Nordic states in order to raise women’s political
when women’s parliamentary representation already representation.
exceeded 25 percent. I will, however, argue that the Scandinavian expe-
The introduction of effective quota systems repre- rience cannot be considered a model today, because
sents a change in public equality policy, from ‘equal it took 80 years to get that far. Today, the women of
opportunities’ to ‘equality of results’. Quota systems the world are not willing to wait that long. The
thus represent a break with the widespread gradua- introduction of electoral quotas is a symbol of their
lism in equality policies. Seen in this perspective, the impatience, as well as an often efficient tool for
history of the Scandinavian countries can no longer increasing female representation. A very good exam-
be considered a model for obtaining equal political ple is South Africa, where the introduction of quotas
representation around the globe. by the African National Congress (ANC) resulted in
female representation in this new democracy jum-
Why Scandinavia is ping to an international high of about 30 percent.1
No Longer the Model
For many years feminist organizations throughout Different Quota Systems
the world have viewed the Scandinavian countries, Even if constitutional amendments and new electo-
Denmark, Finland, Norway and Sweden, as a model ral laws may seem more commanding, it is not at all
for women’s equality. One key factor has been the evident that they are more efficient when it comes to
very high representation that women have enjoyed in implementation than party quotas. It all depends on
parliaments and local councils in these countries, the actual rules and the possible sanctions for non-
especially since the 1970s. compliance, and on the general opportunity structu-
re of the country for quotas. A distinction must be
Table 1: Percentage of Women in made between quotas for: (a) the pool of potential
Scandinavian Parliaments in 2003 candidates; (b) the actual nominees; and (c) the elec-
ted. There are examples of quota requirements on all
Country Women in Year three levels, but most quota systems relate to (b).
Parliament Election Here, the crucial question relates to where, for
instance, the required 40 percent of women are pla-
Sweden 45% 2002 ced on the lists or in the districts with real chances of
Denmark 38% 2001 election. The partly unsuccessful ‘women’s short lists’
Finland 37% 1999 in England provide an example of the employment
Norway 36% 2001 of quotas on the first level, which broadens the pool
Iceland 35% 1999 from which the selection committee or the primary
may chose. ‘Reserved seats for women’ is a different
quota system, in which certain seats are set aside, as
in Uganda, for instance, where certain regional seats
11
are reserved for women. political institutions, most regulations seek to secure
The electoral quota for women may be constitu- for women a greater minimum number of seats than
tional (as in Nepal, the Philippines and Uganda), before.
legislative (as in many parts of Latin America and, Some quota systems, though, are constructed as
for example, in Belgium, Bosnia-Herzegovina, Serbia gender-neutral, which means that they aim to cor-
and Sudan) or it may take the form of a political rect the under-representation of both women and
party quota. In some countries, numerous political men or at any rate establish a maximum for both
parties apply some type of quotas, such as in sexes. In this case, the requirement may be that neit-
Argentina, Bolivia, Ecuador, Germany, Italy, Norway her gender should occupy more than 60 percent and
and Sweden. But in many other countries only one no less that 40 percent of the seats. A 50:50 quota is
or two parties have opted to use quotas. If the lea- in its nature gender-neutral, and it also sets a maxi-
ding party in a country uses quotas, however, like the mum in terms of the representation of women,
ANC in South Africa, this may have a substantial which a minimum requirement for women does not
effect on the overall representation of women. Yet, do.
most political parties around the world do not The concept of a ‘double quota’ is used to refer to
employ any kind of quota system at all. a quota system that not only requires a certain per-
Gender quotas may apply to the number of fema- centage of women on the electoral list, but also pre-
le candidates proposed by a party for election, or vents women candidates from merely being placed at
they may take the form of reserved seats in the legis- the bottom of the list with very little chance of being
lature. In some countries, quotas apply to minorities elected. Argentina and Belgium are examples of
based on regional, ethnic, linguistic or religious cle- countries with legal double quota requirements.
avages. Almost all political systems apply some kind
of geographical quota to ensure a minimum repre- Quota Controversies
sentation for densely populated areas, islands and the Quotas are very controversial, yet several countries
like. That type of quota is usually not considered as around the world, including such diverse ones as
controversial as gender quotas. Argentina, Bosnia, France, South Africa, Sweden and
Quotas work differently under different electoral Uganda, have recently introduced gender quotas in
systems. Quotas are most easily introduced in pro- public elections. An electoral gender quota system
portional representation (PR) systems and other sets up a quantitative prescription for the minimum
multi-list systems. Also several majority systems have representation of either sex, such as 40 percent.
introduced quota provisions, as the Electoral Quotas Sweden’s ‘every second a women’ and ‘parité’
for Women website shows. But even in a PR system, (France, Belgium) are other names for quota sys-
because of the few candidates elected, small parties tems.
and parties in small constituencies have difficulties In political life, quotas have often engendered
implementing quotas without controversial central vehement debate. Research on quotas so far has ten-
interference in the usual prerogatives of the local ded to concentrate on these debates and on the actu-
party organization to select their own candidates. al decision-making process. These discursive contro-
versies are also an essential part of the present rese-
Gender-Neutral Quota Provisions? arch project, but, in addition, an emphasis is being
Most quotas aim to increase women’s representation, placed on the too often neglected aspect of the trou-
since the problem to be addressed usually is the blesome implementation of quotas and on the con-
under-representation of women; this is particularly sequences of introducing quotas. From studies of
relevant since women usually constitute 50 percent single countries, we know that a decision to introdu-
of the population. An electoral gender quota regula- ce a requirement of a minimum of, for instance, 30
tion may, for example, require that at least 40 per- percent of each gender on the electoral lists does not
cent of the candidates on the electoral lists are automatically lead to women getting 30 percent of
women. A minimum requirement for women impli- the seats. Thus, by comparing the use of quotas in
es a maximum set for the representation of men. many similar and different political systems, it is pos-
Since women are the under-represented group in sible to illuminate whether and under what condi-
12
tions quotas can be considered an equal policy mea- representation had taken off in the 1970s, and not all

sure that contributes to the stated goal: equal politi- Nordic political parties use quotas-those that do are
cal citizenship of women. mostly the parties in the centre and on the left.
Introducing quotas is always highly controversial, Furthermore, the few Danish parties with quotas
yet the debates are often confused and only under- abolished the system after just a few years. The
standable if the hidden assumptions about women Swedish principle of ‘every second a women’ is not
and women’s position are scrutinized. This makes it even considered a quota system by the general
possible to see why quotas for some are seen as dis- public, even if it is in fact a radical one, demanding
crimination and a violation of the principle of fair- and, in many cases, leading to 50 percent of each sex.
ness, while others consider them to be compensation We need more international comparative studies
for the structural barriers that prevent fair competi- of quota systems and of women in politics in gene-
tion. The idea of quotas is frequently in conflict with ral.6 The many empirical single-country studies and
other notions like the prevailing discourse of fairness examinations of women in politics carried out over
and competence, and the idea of individualism. the past two decades7 have paved the way for new,
However, quotas are seen as an efficient measure to cross-national comparison research projects.
attain ‘real’ equality, that is, equality of results. Research on gender and politics has tried to ans-
An unclear debate and lack of legitimacy of the wer the two most frequently asked, yet rather com-
claim often lead to problems at the stage of imple- plicated, questions: first, how did this increase in
mentation. In an earlier survey of quotas among the women’s representation come about?8 And, second,
political parties in the Nordic countries and women’s what difference does having many women in politics
organizations in the same parties, the Norwegian make?9 The interaction between the elected women
Labour Party declared that it took three elections to and women’s organizations has been seen as impor-
implement a quota system. Why? Because the party tant to the performance of female politicians and
does not throw out a male incumbent member of vice versa.10 One conclusion is especially relevant for
parliament (MP) in order to include a women. the introduction of quotas. In almost all political sys-
The results of previous single-country studies are tems, no matter what the electoral regime, it is the
quite diverse. They range from the partial failure of political parties, not the voters, which are the real
the attempt to introduce women’s short lists in a gatekeepers in regard to elected offices.
majority electoral system like that of England, which Consequently, party nomination practices should be
nevertheless showed some positive results,2 through kept in focus.11
often ‘minimalistic’ compliance with the rules by the A new trend is also the growing interest in theore-
political parties, which has resulted in small and une- tical questions within gender studies, including the
ven gains in female representation in Latin America,3 study of gender and politics. The concept of citi-
to the somewhat negative consequences of reserved zenship has been central to many feminist research
seats for women in Uganda as they become stigmati- projects in recent years, focusing on welfare state
zed.4 development and on the historical connection bet-
ween political, social and civic citizenship.12 The con-
Research on Women in Politics cept of citizenship guides our attention to compari-
Today, we see a worldwide increase in the political sons between the political exclusion and inclusion of
representation of women, but the regional differen- women and that of other groupings or categories.
ces are immense (the world average is 15 percent in The new philosophical discussion of women as a
2003 according to the IPU). The international rese- contested category is also highly relevant for studies
arch community has taken a strong interest in the of gender and politics, and will be examined later.
results of Nordic research, because, since the 1970s,
female representation there has been extraordinary The Stockholm University Research
high by international standards. This has sometimes Project: ‘Quotas-Key to Equality?’
been attributed to the introduction of quotas.5 There is a clear consensus among comparative studi-
However, this view is not accurate, since quotas in es of female representation in parliament that quotas
the Nordic countries were introduced after women’s have a positive impact on the numbers of women
13
represented. To date, there has been no evaluation of against quotas, Phillips asks why everybody agrees on
the extent to which the form and efficacy of gender the demand for the equal participation of women,
quotas are determined by the model of citizenship but not for equal representation. The fact that
and political system operating within particular women all over the world have been excluded must
countries. This project addresses this absence. It be taken as the starting point, not the abstract prin-
seeks to establish whether the precise form and per- ciples of representation.18
ceived efficacy of quotas depend on the nature of Even if quotas are often met with suspicion, all
citizenship at the discursive level, and the nature of electoral systems include some kind of quotas, for
the political system at the institutional level. instance, geographically-based quotas, where more
The use of quotas is increasingly influenced by densely populated areas are given a disproportionate
international recommendations and by cross-coun- number of seats in parliament. The relation between
try inspiration. The international idea of quotas, gender quotas and quotas for other social groupings
however, confronts very different contexts in indivi- is complicated, since there are women in all (other)
dual countries. This phenomenon is at the core of social groups. Quotas touch on the discussion of
the project. Consequently, quotas are being introdu- why female representation is important. Three argu-
ced in countries that do not have a long history of ments can be found today as well as in the campaigns
mobilization of women and of women’s integration for suffrage:
into the labour market and political life, as was the
case in the Nordic countries.13 There is not one but • women represent half of the population and hence
several models concerning the empowerment of have the right to half of the seats (the justice argu-
women, usually defined as the ability to act and to ment);
prevent action, while citizenship refers to rights and • women have different experiences (biological or
capacities for collective action. socially constructed) that ought to be represented
(the experience argument); and
The Theoretical Discussion • women and men have partly conflicting interests
In the discussion of quotas, several important discus- and thus men cannot represent women (the interest
sions about principles merge. Quotas represent a group argument).19
change in public equality policy, from ‘equal oppor-
tunities’ to ‘equality of results’. But quotas also touch A fourth argument deals with the importance of
on fundamental questions in democratic and femi- women politicians as role models, who may pave the
nist theory, and this project intends to contribute to way for other women to enter politics.
these theoretical discussions.14 In Gender and Citizenship, Birte Siim distinguis-
In her classic text, The Concept of Representation, hes between three models of citizenship: the liberal
Hanna Pitkin argues that there is no common (UK, USA), the participatory (Scandinavia), and the
understanding about the nature of representation republican (France). The introduction of quotas by
and about what fair representation is.15 In regard to Belgium and France under the name of ‘parité’ is
the distinction between the representation of ideas supposed to transcend the controversial concept of
and social representation,16 quotas for women relate group representation. Based on and developing a
to the latter position. Opponents of quota systems republican understanding of citizenship, parité ‘does
often argue from the standpoint of the former. The not mean simply adding women but implies the
concepts of universal versus differentiated citizenship recasting of the social pact which enables women to
are under discussion here. Also at play are different be representatives of the universal, which makes
concepts regarding the role of the politician: the ample room for the recognition of a plurality that is
delegate with a closed mandate versus the true repre- irreducible to the plurality of opinions and therefore
sentative or the public servant versus the group makes room for the introduction of otherness in
representative.17 representation’.20
Anne Phillips advocates gender quotas in a system Quotas also touch on the present philosophical
that combines the politics of ideas with the politics dilemma within feminist theory concerning ‘the
of presence. Even if she sees the many arguments category women’ and point to the old problem, so
14
well known by the feminist movement, that not all P. Jones argue that the principles of gender equality

women identify with the group ‘women’. Women as in Latin America have been gradually incorporated
a group are both the Achilles’ heal of the feminist into the prevailing understanding of democracy and
movement and its raison d’être. ‘The proletariat say modernity, which gives quotas a symbolic value.
“We”, Negroes also. Regarding themselves as sub- Notions of difference versus sameness are at play in
jects, they transform the bourgeois, the whites, into these debates: whether quotas are seen as a tempora-
“others”. But women do not say “We” ... Men say ry or permanent measure can be used as a test of the
“women”, and women use the same word in referring ontological understanding of gender differences.24
to themselves’.21 The present critique within feminist Furthermore, if quotas are the answer, what then is
theory is partly a critique of Western ethnocentrism, the understanding of the problem and how is it con-
stressing the principle of multiple identities, and structed in the public debate?25
partly a poststructuralist critique, that feminism
tends to construct the very category it wants to dis- The Decision-Making Process
solve.22 But instead of labelling with static concepts The project will compare the decision-making pro-
of ‘essentialism’, the dilemmas facing, and the strate- cess in the selected countries. Here the institutional
gic choices of, women in various contexts should be setting, the party structure and the influence of the
explored empirically.23 Studying quota systems impli- women’s movement become crucial. Who were the
es analysing what concepts of representation and main actors behind the introduction of quotas?
which understanding of ‘women’ as a group are at Some countries have introduced quotas by amen-
play in global discussions of quotas for women. ding their constitution or by the passing of legisla-
A comparative research design allows for analysis tion. In these cases, the state intervenes in order to
of how quotas are introduced and how they work in secure equal representation. In the Nordic countries,
different contexts (structures as well as actors). A gender quotas have only been defined in law in the
selected number of countries from all regions of the case of appointed representation on public commit-
world will be included, the choice of which will tees and boards.26 In public elections in the Nordic
based on the expertise of the international research countries, quotas are based exclusively on the politi-
network created for this project. It will be necessary cal parties’ own decisions, as in the case of the
to supplement previous single-country studies with Swedish ‘zipper-system’. Consequently, it is easy to
comparative studies in order to fill gaps. The project remove quotas again, as the Danish case reveals.
will result in articles for scientific journals and a lar-
ger book on quotas, which will include single-coun- The Implementation of Different Kinds
try studies by internationally reputed scholars, in of Quotas
addition to chapters dealing with the comparative The project will scrutinize the implementation pro-
aspects. Furthermore, a handbook for a general audi- cess, a usually neglected aspect of quotas-by resear-
ence is planned in co-operation with the chers as well as by policy-makers. This study deals
International Institute for Democracy and Electoral only with quotas that are applied in processes of
Assistance (IDEA). The international project will selection potential or actual candidates for public
deal with the following four aspects of quotas as a elections. The issue of internal party quotas is thus
policy measure. omitted, as are quotas for public commissions and
boards. National elections are highlighted, but regio-
The Discourse nal and local public elections are only included pro-
The project will study the debate on quotas, which viding the data is available.
seems to be particular to each country, as it is con- This comparative study can contribute to a much
nected to other recent debates and to the general dis- more solid understanding of how different types of
course on the meaning of gender and democratic quotas work, seen in relation to different electoral
representation (see above). Even if discourses are and nomination systems (for instance, primaries or
increasingly international, the actual debates still not, the degree of centralization of the party organi-
take place predominantly within national or regional zations, and closed versus open lists). It is a prelimi-
linguistic boundaries. Thus, Mala Htun and Mark nary finding that quotas are less likely to be applied
15
and to succeed in electoral systems based on single- Co-operation in Europe (OSCE)-for example, in the
member constituencies, where each party only pre- United Nations Convention on the Elimination of
sents one candidate-contrary to proportional repre- All Forms of Discrimination against Women
sentation systems. But even in a PR system, small (CEDAW) and the Beijing Platform for Action, both
parties and parties in small constituencies have diffi- 1995. Many international organizations have wor-
culties implementing quotas without controversial ked on this question; IDEA, the OSCE, the IPU and
central interference in the usual prerogatives of the the EU all have projects on women and decision-
local party organization to select their own candida- making. No doubt, these international recommen-
tes.27 Thus conflicts with other principles might hin- dations have given legitimacy to the use of quotas. A
der implementation. The legitimacy of the quota sys- special study of the activities of the international
tem is crucial. It is one of the hypotheses of this pro- community pertaining to the introduction of gender
ject that the character of the debate leading to the quotas in Bosnia-Herzegovina is part of this project.
introduction of quotas is just as important to the To what extent and under which circumstances
result as the electoral system. has it been possible for actors like the women’s move-
ment to use the international recommendations and
Consequences of Quotas cross-national co-operation between organizations to
The result of introducing quotas will be studied in promote their case at home. The theoretical frame-
quantitative as well as in qualitative terms. Electoral work for this study is the present discussion as to
statistics can tell the number of women elected. whether social movements, in general, get more
Unfortunately, the official electoral statistics in many opportunities as a consequence of the processes of
countries do not have sufficient data on those nomi- internationalization and globalization or whether
nated by sex, which must be provided through other they are, in fact, disempowered by these develop-
channels, for example, through the parties. The con- ments, unless they transform from being democratic
sequences of quotas should also be studied in quali- grassroots movements and become professional non-
tative terms, looking into the intended as well as the governmental organizations (NGOs).29
unintended consequences (e.g. stigmatization, glass
ceilings preventing the percentage of women from
rising above the quota requirement - or unintended
splits between different groups of women).
The preliminary hypothesis of this project is that
quotas that rest on a previous mobilization and inte-
gration of women into all parts of society have a bet-
ter chance of success than those without this precon-
dition, that is, to lead to the permanent empower-
ment of women and equal political citizenship. Since
quotas in themselves do not remove all of the other
barriers to full female citizenship, the crucial ques-
tion is whether quotas imposed as a result of inter-
national inspiration without mobilization among
larger groups of women can achieve the goal. Does a
critical mass of women count in itself?28
The interplay between the national and the inter-
national level will also be subject to analysis, especi-
ally the influence of the many international bodies,
which increasingly issue recommendations, and even
rules, in the field of equality policy. Quotas have
been recommended by the United Nations (UN),
the Inter-Parliamentary Union (IPU), the European
Union (EU) and the Organization for Security and
16
Notes References

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18
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Difference. Princeton: Princeton University Press.
19
The Quota System in Latin
America: General Overview
Jacqueline Peschard1
Since antiquity, politics has been a sphere of public been the quota system.
life that has been reserved for men, and this has As affirmative action-type mechanisms, the quo-
meant not only that public posts, both executive and tas have involved according preferential treatment to
representative, were held by males, but that politics women. This measure is aimed at creating a balance
was read and understood in male codes and stan- in view of the inequalities women face in acceding to
dards, excluding women both in deliberations and in political posts, on forcing their entry to positions of
decision-making processes on matters of public public authority and not leaving it completely to the
interest. good faith of the political parties, nor to their tradi-
It was not until the 20th century that this situa- tional procedures for candidate selection.
tion of exclusion and injustice began to reverse. Accordingly, in 1991 Argentina, through the
Indeed, the 20th century has been identified as “the Quota Laws (Ley de Cupos), established a 30 per
century of women” as it bore witness, from its first cent quota of legislative candidates. In subsequent
years, to the suffragists’ struggles for women’s recog- years, 10 more countries have enacted laws aimed at
nition as citizens. Over the last 30 years, women’s including a minimum of women on the political par-
incorporation into public affairs took the form of ties’ lists of candidates; these laws established a mini-
their participation in social movements of all sorts, mum of 20 to 40 per cent women candidates. In
and finally saw women’s efforts to accede to positions addition, Colombia has incorporated this mecha-
of leadership and political responsibility. nism (30%) for the top-level decision-making posi-
In Latin America, women first won recognition as tions in the public administration.3
citizens in Ecuador in 1929, followed almost imme- The acceptance of gender-based quotas in Latin
diately by Chile and Uruguay in 1931. Only 30 years America is revealed in opinion polls that show that
later would the task of giving women the right to two-thirds of the population considers that quotas
vote in the region be concluded, when Paraguay and are generally beneficial for the region. In addition,
El Salvador incorporated women’s suffrage into their most people in the region (57%) agree that quotas
constitutions in 1961.2 lead to better government, as women are more
The long path taken by the Latin American coun- honest than men (66 of every 100 persons surveyed),
tries for women to win the vote stands in contrast to and better decision-makers (85%).4
the rapidity with which they joined in adopting legal While Latin American women today are far from
provisions to promote women’s access to political having achieved political equality with men, there is
positions of responsibility. One such provision has much greater awareness of the problems entailed in
20
their exclusion and discrimination. In this sense, it does not mean that their inclusion in the election
General Overview
The Quota System in Latin America:
appears that a major consensus has emerged around laws has been a mechanical and routine act, or neces-
the advisability of expanding women’s participation sarily connected with the degree of democratic deve-
in political decision-making, and that this should lopment of each country. Costa Rica, a country with
happen in the short term. In conclusion, in Latin a long democratic tradition, has a quota of 40 per
America the women’s question has come to be accep- cent, while countries such as Brazil, the Dominican
ted as part of the public agenda. Republic and Peru, with different levels of democra-
tic development, provide for 30, 25, and 25 per cent,
Quotas as an Expression of respectively. And Paraguay, with a long history of
Democratization authoritarian government, has established a 20 per
It was in the context of the processes of transition to, cent quota.
and consolidation of, democracy in Latin America in
the 1980s, with the upsurge of the social movements The Different Types of Quotas
- and of the women’s organizations that emerged wit- and How They Work
hin them - and the reappearance of the political par- The widespread adoption of these compensatory
ties and democratic institutions, that the issue of mechanisms requires that one analyse how they work
extending human rights and citizen rights, and par- as an instrument to reduce gender asymmetry in
ticularly the right to equality between men and political representation. There are different forms or
women, became a part of the political agenda for types of quotas, which affect their capacity to trans-
Latin American governments and political actors. form the inequality of women’s participation.
During these years, women joined organizations Establishing a certain percentage does not mean
pressing particular social demands in large numbers. that women candidates are actually in a position to
From there they moved on to formal politics, first translate the percentage of candidates into a similar
defending the effectiveness of the vote, joining orga- percentage of seats. Experience shows that the provi-
nizations of election observers, and later seeking to sion can be respected without respecting its spirit,
head up such movements and accede to leadership since women are placed at the bottom of the lists of
positions. Nonetheless, it was not until after the principal candidates, or as alternates, where they
Fourth World Conference on Women in Beijing in have little if any possibility of getting elected. This
1995 that the region would embrace the legal explains why in the countries with quotas, the actu-
reforms instituting quotas for women. It is no mere al level of women’s representation in the respective
coincidence that most of the countries that adopted legislative organs is currently, on average, 15.8 per
quotas did so in 1996 and 1997. This process cont- cent.
inues to move forward, given that one of the purpo- An additional provision useful for bolstering the
ses agreed upon in Beijing was for women to attain effectiveness of quotas consists of setting an obliga-
effective access to 50% of political decision-making tory distribution of women’s candidacies, and speci-
positions by the year 2005. The goal of achieving fic sanctions for failing to abide by it, such as refusal
parity democracy by 2005 was clearly embraced. on the part of the electoral authorities to register the
Today, the Latin American constitutions enshrine lists of candidates submitted to them. Along these
legal equality among citizens; some even make speci- lines, in Argentina the law provides that women can-
fic mention of women (Argentina, Colombia, didates must be positioned in proportions sufficient
Ecuador and Nicaragua). Nonetheless, this generic to get elected. In Bolivia, the law provides that one
protection is far from being translated into effective of every three candidates must be a woman, and in
equality of opportunity for access to executive and Paraguay, one of every five places on the lists must
legislative positions. Indeed, before quotas were feature a woman. In the case of Mexico, where the
introduced, on average women accounted for barely legislation requires that no more than 70 per cent of
9% of the members of Latin American legislatures.5 candidates can be of the same gender, each party
The adoption of quotas in Latin America - and the complies in keeping with its own by-laws, that is,
fact that the vast majority of the countries that have based on the political culture of its cadre and acti-
adopted them have set 30 per cent as the quota - vists. Accordingly, while for the PRI (Partido
21
Table 1: Quota laws and gender composition of the Chambers of Deputies (lower chamber)
in 12 Latin American countries
Country Year of Reform Minimum quota by law Placment mandate Type of list
Argentina 1991 30% Yes Closed

Costa Rica 1997 40% No Closed
Peru 1997 25% No Open
Dominican Republic 1997 25% No Closed
México 1996 30% No Closed
Ecuador 1997 20% Yes Open
2000 30%
Bolivia 1997 30% Yes Closed
Colombia* 2000 30% No Closed
Panama 1997 30% No Open
Venezuela** 1997 30% No Closed
Brazil 1997 30% No Open
Paraguay 1996 20% Yes Closed
Sources: Adopted from Htun, Mala and Mark Jones. 2000. “Leyes de cuotas” Cuotas y mujeres en América
Latina;. Inter-American Commission of Women, Organization of American States. Available on internet at:
http://www.oas.org/CIM/spanish/leyesdecuotas.htm.
* The quota provision refers to administrative positions.
** The quota was later rescinded.
Box 1: Types of quotas
Constitutional Enshrined in basic laws, mainly constitutions.
Legislative Established by law. In Latin America, the quotas are provided for in the election laws.
Political party quotas Some political parties use the quota systems in their procedures for selecting
internal posts.
Examples include:
The Partido de la Revolución Democrática and the Partido Revolucionario
Institucional of Mexico;
The Partido Socialista, Partido por la Democracia, and Partido Demócrata
Cristiano of Chile;
The Partido Unidad Social Cristiana of Costa Rica;
The Partido dos Trabalhadores of Brazil;
Acción Democrática of Venezuela;
Frente Farabundo Martí para la Liberación Nacional of El Salvador; and
Frente Sandinista de Liberación Nacional of Nicaragua.6
22
Box 2: Different Types of Quota Laws
General Overview
Compulsory The percentage must be allocated in a certain way in the lists of both principal and alternate
candidates, specifying alternation or sequencing (e.g., at least one of every three candidates
must be a woman). Provide for sanctions in the event that the positions are not covered in the
manner established. Examples: In Argentina, Bolivia and Paraguay, the lists of parties that do
not meet the quota are not registered.
Indicative The percentage is established without specifying how it is to be met. The political party
leadership is given a wide margin of discretion for placing the women candidates in any place
on the lists, if not in the space for the alternates. Examples: In Brazil, Panama and Peru,
and the laws do not specify the precise placement of women on the lists.
Revolucionario Institucional) and the PRD (Partido The size of the electoral districts is another ele-
de la Revolución Democrática), which have different ment of the electoral system that may favour the
quotas (50 per cent and 30 per cent, respectively), one inclusion of women, for the larger the district, the
of every three candidates is a woman, the PAN greater the opportunities for women to find a place
(Partido de Acción Nacional) has no order of priority. in a representative position,7 as there are more candi-
The sound operation of quotas also has to do with dates.
the type of electoral system in place. While the elec- Finally, the effective application of quotas also
toral systems are not the only factor determining dis- depends on other elements, such as the willingness of
parity in the political representation of men and party leaders to open up decision-making positions
women, they can make a difference in making quo- and candidacies to women. In this context, if the
tas more effective. Generally, quotas tend to work decision as to where to place women on the lists is
better in proportional representation systems than in subject to the correlation of groups within the parti-
majority-voting systems in which there is a single es, quotas will only prosper when the women have
candidate per electoral district. succeeded in penetrating the party structures and
In countries in which the lists of candidates for securing places for themselves in mid-level and
legislative seats are open, such as Brazil, Ecuador, upper-level directing positions, that is, when they are
Panama and Peru, promoting women candidates is involved in internal decisions on a regular and mea-
left to the voters. In other words, it is the voters who ningful basis.
determine the placement of the winners, and there-
fore the election of women to the legislatures. Even Implementing Quotas in Latin
so, generally, the dominant political culture is repro- America
duced, that is, male candidates are favoured. In assessing the implementation of quotas in the
Additionally, all the countries of the region where region, one must bear in mind that they have been
the lists of candidates are closed and blocked, leaving adopted very recently, and therefore have not yet
the promotion of women candidates to the party been in effect long enough to gauge their effective-
cadre and internal competition, also fail to offer any ness. Nonetheless, in this context, the more immedi-
guarantee of equality, given the traditional predomi- ate criterion for evaluating their success turns out to
nance of men among the party cadre. Accordingly, if be the percentage of women who currently hold
there is no express provision for nominating women legislative seats.
candidates, the objective of having quotas tends to By 2002, Argentina, which was the first country
get diluted, as it is left either in the hands of the poli- to introduce quotas, and which also specified their
tical party leaders, who for the most part are men, or placement and provided for sanctions,8 had 30.7 per
the voting public, which shares the dominant values cent women representatives in the Chamber of
and considerations about political affairs, leaving Deputies and 35.2 per cent in the Senate, that is,
women at a disadvantage. Argentina’s Quota Law has already been successful.
23
Costa Rica, which has the highest quota (40%) in gender equity, just one element that facilitates it.
addition to a long democratic tradition and a socie- This is why political history and cultural traditions
ty known to be liberal and open, had only 19.3 per play a determinant role when it comes to women
cent women in the legislature until the decision of winning positions of political responsibility.
the Supreme Electoral Tribunal in 2000. In 2002, In effect, it is not sufficient to have a democratic
with implementation of the Tribunal’s decision, system, or even a democratic tradition, to guarantee
which requires that the parties place women in win- better opportunities for women. Chile and Uruguay,
nable positions, Costa Rica attained 35 per cent known for their long democratic tradition, have not
women legislators. Cuba and Nicaragua, which do incorporated quotas into their legislation, and in
not have quotas, have 27.6 per cent and 20.7 per 2002 had only 12.5 per cent and 12.1 per cent
cent women legislators, respectively, which suggests women deputies, respectively. In addition, the exi-
that quotas are not the decisive factor for ensuring stence of a democratic political culture among the
Table 2: Composition by gender of the Chambers of Deputies and Senates

in the different areas of Latin America
Region/Country Election Quota % Women Representatives % Women Senators %
Southern Cone
Argentina Oct 2001 30 30.7 35.2
Chile Dec 2001 12.5 4.1
Uruguay Oct 1999 12.1 9.7
Paraguay May 1998 20 2.5 17.8
Brazil Oct 1998 30 6.8 6.3
Average 12.9 14.6
Andean Region
Bolivia* Jun 1997 30 11.5 3.7
Peru Apr 2001 25 17.5 Single House
Colombia Mar 2002 12.6 9.8
Ecuador May 1998 20/30 14.6 Single House
Venezuela Jul 2000 9.7 Single House
Average 13.2 6.8
Central America
Costa Rica Feb 2002 40 35.0 Single House
El Salvador Mar 2000 9.5 Single House
Guatemala Nov 1999 8.8 Single House
Honduras Nov 1997 9.4 Single House
Nicaragua Nov 2001 20.7 Single House
Panama May 1999 30 9.9 Single House
Average 15.2
Others
México Jul 2000 30 16.0 15.6
Dominican Republic May 1998 25 16.1 6.7
Source: Adapted from: Inter-Parliamentary Union. Women in National Parliaments: World Classification. February 2002.
[Internet]: http//www.ipu.org/wmn-e/classif.htm
* In the case of Bolivia, the sequence in which women must occupy a candidacy on the lists is different depending on
whether it’s for the Senate or the Chamber of Deputies. For the Chamber of Deputies, one of every three candidates must
be a woman, while in the Senate it must be one of every four.
24
elite9 does not translate directly into a culture of equ- not have them have an average of 12.6 per cent; in
General Overview
ity. Indeed, in Uruguay, when quotas were discussed other words, there is not a statistically significant dif-
in 1988, the legislators rejected them, considering ference. Seen from this regional perspective, Central
them unconstitutional, as they were seen to violate America has the highest percentage of women legis-
the principle according to which there must be equal lators (15.2%), although only Costa Rica and
treatment as between the sexes. In addition, it was Panama have quotas, while in the Andean region,
argued, it was better for women to win elective posts where three of the five countries have them, the ave-
based on their merits.10 rage is only 13.2% women legislators; and in the
Furthermore, in Ecuador, which has one of the Southern Cone, where two of the five countries have
most advanced quota laws (it provides that the per- quotas, 12.9% of the legislators are women.
centage of women candidates is to increase 5 per cent One variable to be considered is the extent of soci-
in each successive election, with a view to attaining al homogeneity in terms of opportunities for
parity between men and women) women held only women. Societies more open to gender equity in the
14.6 per cent of the legislative seats in 2002.11 social, cultural and educational realms are better
Similarly, in Colombia, which is the only country positioned for women to be able to compete effecti-
with binding quotas for high-level executive posts, vely to accede to public office, in both the legislative
only 11.2 per cent of the legislators are women. The and executive branches. Of course, cultural and reli-
situation is somewhat similar in Brazil, which in gious considerations play a significant part: in the
2000 increased its quotas from 25 to 30 per cent, countries with a tradition of separation between
and where women account for only 6.8 per cent of Church and state, such as Mexico, Costa Rica and
the members of Congress. All the foregoing reveals Cuba, there is greater recognition of women’s right
that neither consensus on the need to open the poli- to participation on an equal footing.
tical systems to women nor gains in the law suffice to Another factor to be considered is that political
make political systems more fair when it comes to parties by nature have hierarchical structures, with
gender issues. highly centralized decision-making, which gives rise
As was mentioned earlier, to make quotas more to resistance to the demands of other groups within
effective and reduce the deficit between what they them. Thus, so long as the political parties do not
entail and what really happens in practice, one of the genuinely democratize internally, the demand for
first measures that would have to be adopted is that gender equity in political representation will face
quotas must include specific placement for women major obstacles no matter how much social legitima-
candidates, and non-compliance with this require- cy this demand enjoys.
ment by any party should result in failure to register Finally, quotas are not a formula for having an
the lists from that party. Nonetheless, of the five immediate impact, and there are some contradic-
countries that have quotas that prescribe specific pla- tions between quotas and actual practice. One of
cement on the lists, only Argentina has levels of these is clearly evidenced in the difference of results
women’s representation that corresponds to the per- in some countries that have quotas for elections to
centage of the quota, while Bolivia, Paraguay, and both houses of the legislature, such as Paraguay.12
Ecuador have deficits in representation with respect While Latin America has intermediate rates of fema-
to the quotas of 18.5, 17.5, and 15.4 per cent, le representation,13 it is still far from attaining the
respectively, which shows the insufficiency of the objective of political equality. Nonetheless, it is pos-
measure in contexts of incipient democratic develop- sible to identify a series of benefits of quotas.
ment.
To explain the differences both in the application The Benefits of Quotas
of quotas and in the reluctance of some countries to Quotas have had an important symbolic effect
adopt them, one must incorporate an analysis of because they have been raising the population’s awa-
other variables that go beyond democratic develop- reness of the problem of inequality, and of the situa-
ment. First, one must note that in the countries that tion of women and the problems they face. In addi-
do have quotas today, the average level of representation, the debate on whether to adopt quotas has hel-
tion of women is 15.8 per cent, while those that do ped instill the habit of thinking of women as profes-
25
sionally and politically capable of holding positions representation of women in its ultimate expression,
of public responsibility. Furthermore, the presence of not in its causes, on which this under-representation
larger numbers of women dedicated to politics has is ultimately based. Accordingly, they can only be
made it possible to accumulate institutional resour- introductory, necessarily temporary, and merely a
ces for increasing the representation of women, and catalyst of consistent public policies aimed at making
for drawing attention to the particular problems reparation for women’s unequal status. Quotas are
women face, i.e. to promote decisions and public merely spearheads that prepare the terrain for deve-
policies with a gender approach. loping public policies and programmes to address
Quotas result from the greater political presence women’s demands, as a necessary condition for buil-
of women, and are useful for encouraging a larger ding more egalitarian societies whose political
mobilization along these lines, in order to constitute expression is parity democracy.
a “critical mass”, which it is believed is reached with
about 30 per cent representation. It must be under-
stood that for a given position and a particular set of
interests to find their way into the decisions of a
given organization or institution, it does not suffice
for there to be just a few representatives of such
interests: in fact, many are needed, to ensure that
their position is not ignored.14
Possible Solutions to the Lack of

Political Equality
Beyond the specific analysis of the effects of quotas
on the representation of women in Latin America,
perhaps the most important factor in defining addi-
tional strategies to foster gender equity in politics is
to analyse and address the causes of the persistence of
political inequality.
The quotas will bear immediate fruit to the extent
that these mechanisms are accompanied by processes
of change capable of generating a more balanced
social fabric between males and females in terms of
access to education, health care, and employment.
This would mean introducing a set of reformist soci-
al welfare policies aimed at ensuring the existence of
social institutions that effectively support domestic
tasks, such as day-care centers, unemployment insur-
ance, child care centers, and maternity leave. At pre-
sent in Latin America the family has taken the place
of these social institutions, that is, it is family solida-
rity, and not a social structure of support mecha-
nisms organized by the state, that enables women to
find employment outside the home. In relying on
family solidarity, women are depending on a con-
tingent and increasingly scarce resource.
Quotas should be part of a set of comprehensive
strategies to support participation, which together
constitute a basic framework, a firm platform from
which to take off. At first, quotas attack the under-
26
Endnotes 10 Nohlen, Dieter, Sonia Picado and Daniel
General Overview
1 This paper was originally published in Zovatto (eds). 1998. “Tratado de derecho elec-
International IDEA Mujeres en el Parlamento. toral comparado de América Latina”. Mexico
Más allá de los números, Stockholm, Sweden City: Inter-American Institute of Human
2002. (This translation may vary slightly from Rights, University of Heidelberg, Electoral
the original text. If there are discrepancies in the Tribunal of the Mexican Judiciary, Federal
meaning, the original Spanish version is the Electoral Institute, Fondo de Cultura
definitive text). Económica, p. 416.
2 It should be noted that although the right to 11 It should be noted that this 14.6 per cent
vote was granted to women in El Salvador in women legislators were elected in the 1998 elec-
1939, the right to be run for elective office was tion, i.e. before approval of the provision on the
not granted until 1961. Inter-Parliamentary gradual increase of 5 per cent in the quotas and
Union. Women’s Suffrage. A World Chronology of the alternation and sequencing in the lists.
the Recognition of Women’s Rights to Vote and 12 In countries such as Argentina, Brazil and
Stand for Election. Available on the internet at Mexico, which have bicameral legislatures,
http://www.ipu.org/wmn-e/suffrage.htm. women’s presence is similar or less in the Senate
3 Morales Hoyos, Vivian. 2001. “Cuotas”. Paper than in the Chamber of Deputies. In others,
presented at the Parlamento de Mujeres. Mexico such as Bolivia, the Dominican Republic and
City: Congress of Mexico. p. 5. Paraguay, where the rule makes no distinction,
4 Inter-American Dialogue/Gallup. 2000. the percentage of women legislators is much
“Latinoamericanas en el mando. Una encuesta a higher in the Senate.
la opinión pública”. Executive compilation for 13 Inter-Parliamentary Union. Women in National
public dissemination. November. Available on Parliaments: World Classification, February 2002.
the internet at http://www.thedialogue.org/ Available on the internet at
Gallupsummary_spanish.htm. http://www.ipu.org/wmn-e/classif.htm.
5 Htun, Mala. 2001. “Women’s Leadership in 14 Dahlerup, Drude. 1993. “De una pequeña a
Latin America: Trends and Challenges”, in una gran minoría: una teoría de la ‘masa crítica’
Inter-American Dialogue. Politics Matter: A aplicada el caso de las mujeres en la política
Dialogue of Women Political Leaders. escandinava”. In: Debate feminista. Year 4, Vol.
Washington, D.C.: Inter-American Dialogue. 8. Mexico City. p. 174.
p. 25.
6 Htun, Mala. 2001. p. 19.
7 Htun, Mala and Mark Jones. 2002.
“Engendering the Right to Participate in
Decision-Making: Electoral Quotas and
Women’s Leadership in Latin America”. In:
Nikki Craske and Maxine Molyneux (eds.),
Gender and the Politics of Rights and Democracy
in Latin America. London: Palgrave.
8 This mechanism was adopted later, among
other reasons, in response to pressure from the
women’s organizations to ensure that the quotas
were respected.
9 Martínez, Antonia. 1997. “Elites parlamentarias
y cultura política en América Latina”. In: Del
Castillo, Pilar and Ismael Crespo (eds). Cultura
política. Valencia: Tirant lo blanch. p. 136.
27
References and Further Reading Nohlen, Dieter, Sonia Picado and Daniel Zovatto
Dahlerup, Drude. 1993. “De una pequeña a una (eds). 1998. “Tratado de derecho electoral compara-
gran minoría: una teoría de la ‘masa crítica’ aplicada do de América Latina”. Mexico City: Inter-
el caso de las mujeres en la política escandinava”. American Institute of Human Rights, University of
In: Debate feminista. Year 4, Vol. 8. Mexico City. Heidelberg, Electoral Tribunal of the Mexican
pp. 165-206. Judiciary, Federal Electoral Institute, Fondo de
Cultura Económica.
Inter-American Dialogue/Gallup. 2000.
“Latinoamericanas en el mando. Una encuesta a la Inter-Parliamentary Union. Women’s Suffrage. A
opinión pública”. Executive compilation for public World Chronology of the Recognition of Women’s
dissemination. November. Available on the internet Rights to Vote and Stand for Election. Available on
at http://www.thedialogue.org/Gallupsummary_ the internet at http://www.ipu.org/wmn-e/suffra-
spanish.htm. ge.htm
Htun, Mala. 1998. “Women’s Political Inter-Parliamentary Union. Women in National
Participation, Representation and Leadership in Parliaments: World Classification, February 2002.
Latin America”. In: Resumen de la Conferencia sobre Available on the internet at
Liderazgo de la Mujer en América. Inter-American http://www.ipu.org/wmn-e/classif.htm
Dialogue/International Center for Research on
Women, November. Available on the internet at
http://www.thedialogue.org/publications/htunpol.ht
ml.
Htun, Mala. 2001. “Women’s Leadership in Latin
America: Trends and Challenges”, in Inter-
American Dialogue. Politics Matter: A Dialogue of
Women Political Leaders. Washington, D.C.: Inter-
American Dialogue.
Htun, Mala and Mark Jones. 2002. “Engendering
the Right to Participate in Decision-Making:
Electoral Quotas and Women’s Leadership in Latin
America”. In: Nikki Craske and Maxine Molyneux
(eds). Gender and the Politics of Rights and
Democracy in Latin America. London: Palgrave.
Martínez, Antonia. 1997. “Elites parlamentarias y
cultura política en América Latina”. In: Del
Castillo, Pilar and Ismael Crespo (eds), Cultura
política. Valencia: Tirant lo blanch.
Morales Hoyos, Vivian. 2001. “Cuotas”. Paper pre-
sented at the Parlamento de Mujeres. Mexico City:
Congress of Mexico.
28
General Overview
29
2
2. Introducing Quotas in Latin America:
Discourses and Legal Reforms
2.1. Overview of Presentations the same sex, and requiring that, for every two candi-
The aim of the second session was to identify the dis- dates of the same gender, there would be at least one
course surrounding quotas in Latin America and how of the other sex. The Senate and the Chamber of
it is translated into practice through legal reform. It Deputies approved the bill in September 1990 and
examined key questions concerning how quotas came November 1991 respectively.
to be seen as an important way to increase the repre- Resistance was part of this process, and in the elec-
sentation of women, how mobilization around quotas tions of 1993 there were few lists where the quota was
by the women’s movement translated into legal reform respected. All political parties violated the law: the
and whether mobilization was a necessary component male leadership upheld 30 percent on the lists, but not
to ensure effective implementation of quotas. The case in actual legislative representation. Consequently, dif-
studies examined were Argentina and Peru. ferent strategies were developed to confront this mat-
In the past couple of decades, there has been inter- ter and to reform the law. Lawsuits were taken to the
action between women’s organizations in Latin Supreme Court in Argentina and the Inter-American
America and women’s organizations around the Court of Human Rights and the women’s movement
world, which has led to an exchange of knowledge and continued to lobby political parties. In 1994, an
resources and to empowerment. The number of coun- amendment to the constitution was approved which
tries that have pledged support for the CEDAW and put an end to the argument about the ‘unconstitutio-
the Beijing Platform for Action has provided an nality of positive action’. The Argentina case underli-
important lobbying platform for the global women’s nes the importance of developing clear and detailed
movement. laws regarding the implementation and enforcement
As María José Lubertino argues about Argentina, of quotas. Lubertino concluded by noting that the
the return to democracy in 1983, the presence of challenge for Argentina is now to translate numbers
some Argentinean women at the Women’s World into real changes in politics.
Conference in Nairobi, Kenya, in 1985, the adoption The Argentine case had an impact on the demand
of the CEDAW convention, and the interaction of for, and the development of, gender quotas in other
women in Argentina with those who pushed for quo- Latin American countries, especially in Peru. Gregory
tas abroad (including in Germany and Spain) marked Schmidt argues that feminists were encouraged by the
a starting point for a new discourse in which demands adoption of the quota law in Argentina, and that the
for positive action were a central part. Women had momentum for quotas was further strengthened by
been active in the struggle against the dictatorship, the Beijing Platform for Action and an IPU meeting
which resulted in their effective participation in poli- on gender in New Delhi, India, in 1997. In terms of
tical parties in the 1980s. There were both quantitati- legal reform, an important opportunity opened up as
ve and qualitative changes within the women’s move- a result of the deliberations of the Constitution
ment, and in this situation a gender quota law was Committee of the Peruvian Congress in the late 1990s
seen as a necessary instrument to hasten the cultural regarding a new electoral law. At least three proposals
change needed, a culture that oppresses women. The were submitted for quotas to be included in the law,
demand for gender quotas also unified women across although they were rejected. Nevertheless, women’s
political parties. groups, women in political parties and the Committee
Lubertino’s paper provides important insights into on Women continued to flag the issue. Mobilization
the development of the demand for gender quotas and in regard to gender quotas came largely from below,
the way they came to be legislated. Different strategi- but in the Peruvian case, it took the intervention of
es were debated, such as promoting quotas in political then President Alberto Fujimori to incorporate quotas
parties or pushing for the adoption of a law, and whet- into national electoral legislation. Once Fujimori
her to introduce a bill in the Senate or the Chamber expressed his support for the reform, opponents in his
of Deputies. After pursuing all strategies simultane- own party quickly fell into line. A gender-neutral for-
ously, a bill was drafted according to which the lists of mulation of quotas, where women and men must each
candidates could not include more than 70 percent of comprise at least 25 percent of the list, eventually
30
became law in 1997. Soon after, the figure was raised examine and scrutinize how political parties compile
to 30 percent. their lists of candidates for election, in order to com-
Discourses, however, seem to have global commo- ply with the quota provision.
nality, where the normative arguments for and against
quotas demonstrate similarities across countries. 2.2. Overview of Discussion
Schmidt notes that proponents of quotas contended The presentations resulted in a discussion on the les-
that gender is a relevant criteria for differential treat- sons learned from the cases of Argentina and Peru. It
ment, and that positive action was needed to com- was noted that a thorough analysis of the electoral sys-
pensate for social or institutional bias that works tem and process needs to be undertaken before draf-
against women. But opponents argued that quotas ting laws on quotas and the different stages of imple-
violated the constitutional provision of equality and mentation. It is apparent from the case of Peru that
the voter’s right to choose, and they questioned why laws should be drafted that leave little room for mis-
other groups, such as ethnic minorities, were not interpretation, and that a dispute resolution mecha-
included. Quotas were also deemed to be discrimina- nism should be put in place to deal with misinterpre-
tory, but a gender-neutral formulation of the law over- tation of the law. It was also pointed out that not all
came this argument. Once Fujimori came out in electoral management bodies are independent, and,
favour of quotas, male opponents in the party towed therefore, may not interpret all laws in an unbiased
the party line. According to Schmidt, Fujimori’s gen- way.
der-sensitive political discourse was one way in which In terms of legal reform, it was stated that different
he tapped into the female ‘political market’. strategies are needed simultaneously to lobby for quo-
The importance of the women’s movement, or as tas. While support of the women’s movement has
Schmidt puts it, women’s mobilization, was even more been critical in some countries, it was cautioned that
important than the quota itself in the 1998 municipal one should not generalize about the nature of the
elections in Lima, showing that research has to adopt women’s movement, as it is country-specific. Relation-
a bottom-up perspective when investigating the intro- ships between women and men in political parties,
duction and implementation of the gender quota. The between women from different parties and women in
paper presented by Rocío Villanueva Flores illustrates civil society can have a great effect on the implemen-
the problems of interpretation (or misinterpretation) tation of a law. The discussion also focused on the role
of legal reform in Peru, and the role of the Office of of the media, and how it may or may not be a sup-
the Ombudsman, which has overseen every election porting resource for women. It is apparent that having
since 1998. The protection of human rights is the the media on side will be advantageous. In the case of
most crucial activity of the latter, which has participa- Argentina, it was noted that it was hard work to get
ted in debates on quotas since 1997. the media onboard, but by building relationships with
The first elections in which the 25 percent quota journalists and developing communication skills, the
law applied were the municipal polls of 1998, yet media can be an effective channel for gaining public
Villanueva argues that the National Elections Board, support.
the Jurado Nacional de Elecciones (JNE), interpreted The discussion also shifted to focus on other issues,
the law in a way that resulted in problems with imple- such as a double quota, defined as a quota that not
mentation and non-compliance with the quota provi- only applies to women, but also to diverse groups like
sions. Despite problems in calculating the minimum indigenous communities. It was highlighted that some
quota, the number of women councillors increased indigenous groups are fighting for quotas, and that we
from eight to 24 percent in one election. Similar pro- must not exclude sectoral representation in discus-
blems were encountered again in the general election sions on quotas in Latin America. It was also stated
of April 2000, although 26 women were elected (22 that where there are preferential or open list systems,
percent), up from 11 percent in the previous legisla- women might be at a disadvantage in terms of cam-
ture. The application of the quota law has continually paigning and mobilizing the resources to compete
been monitored and evaluated by the Office of the with male candidates. Finally, the importance of
Ombudsman and civil society organizations, resulting having political parties with the will to affect change
in ongoing discourse about legal reform and quota and to adhere to the laws was underscored.
application in Peru. There is also an apparent need to
31
Pioneering Quotas:
The Argentine Experience

and Beyond
María José Lubertino
From Women’s Political Participation to the Need for Quotas
The main objective of this document is to highlight social organizations and from different walks of life,
the causes and to describe briefly the history of how and for collectively mobilizing to pursue shared gri-
the Quota Law (Ley de Cuotas, Law 24,012) came evances. With respect to interactions between those
to be adopted in Argentina. What was the starting of us who pushed for quotas and women from abro-
point? In what circumstances did the debate unfold? ad, the most fluid and fruitful contacts took place-
What was the role of women politicians? Why was a for reasons of history, language, proximity, ideologi-
law such as this chosen, and in the context of what cal affinity, or financing-in Europe, with the women
strategy? I will analyse the causes that led to the pro- of the PSOE (Spain), the SPD (Germany), and the
cess via which the law was adopted, the causes that former Communist Party of Italy (PDS), and in
influenced the timing of the beginning of the deba- Latin America with the Uruguayan women from the
te, and the factors that came into play. Frente Amplio (Broad Front), Chilean women from
The historical moment in which the conditions the Socialist Party, Brazilian women from the
for the debate were created was the return to demo- Workers’ Party, and Paraguayan women generally.
cracy in 1983. This was due not only to the return to At the outset of the discussion about the need for
the normal functioning of institutions, and, therefo- mechanisms for position discrimination, the viabili-
re, the necessary functioning of the political parties, ty of a quota system and its imposition by law, the
but also to the participatory climate that emerged in following all had an important impact: the travel of
those years, and the role that many women had play- some Argentine women to the United Nations
ed in the struggle against the dictatorship. This resul- Women’s Conference in Nairobi, Kenya, in 1985;
ted in the effective participation of women in the dissemination of the documents produced at that
political parties, on a (massive) scale hitherto unseen. meeting and of the text of the United Nations
Indeed, the majority of the members of all of the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of
political parties (except the Justicialista party) were Discrimination Against Women; personal discus-
women. sions with Spanish socialist women when they tra-
So democracy was a necessary condition for the velled to Argentina in the early years of the transi-
establishment of contacts and relationships between tion; contact with politically active women from
political women in Argentina and abroad, for the Costa Rica; distribution of the first proposed legisla-
development of relationships with women in other tion on real equality for women, in March 1988;
32
and, finally, the resolutions of the XVIII Congress of been exclusive to each sector, to share experiences
The Argentine Experience and Beyond

Pioneering Quotas:
the Socialist International, in June 1989, in and, accordingly, to strengthen all women.
Stockholm, Sweden. Women’s participation in politics from 1983-89
A qualitative change came about in political was substantial and active; nonetheless, women’s
women as a group. Their ‘feminization’ enabled representation in decision-making positions was
them to become cognizant of their status as women, scant. This was the situation at the outset, which
beyond their different political ideals or ideologies, women worked to highlight in the search for con-
allowing them to perceive how they were discrimina- sensus recognition of the need for quotas. The basic
ted against. This led them to deepen the analysis of data on which we insisted were that women accoun-
the causes and possibilities of their removal, which ted for more than half of the electorate, and that, by
led them to make their numbers visible and felt and 1991, if the current situation persisted, women
to detect their absence in real decision-making posi- would account for only three percent of the repre-
tions, not only qualitatively, but quantitatively, lea- sentatives in Congress. In addition, we highlighted
ding them in turn to alter their language, and the the fact that women accounted for 48 percent of all
content of the discourse, and to initiate new practi- of the members of the political parties nationwide-
ces. according to data from the Dirección Nacional
It is within this framework that the adoption of Electoral, September 1988, and that women were
the quota laws should be seen as a necessary yet present in the same numbers as men, if not constitu-
insufficient instrument for accelerating cultural ting the majority in most of the political parties and
change. It was like a banner that made it possible to in most of the most densely populated districts.
unify politically active women, leading to other more From the outset, different strategies were discus-
substantive discussions. For some, it was the spear- sed: promoting quotas in the political parties, or pus-
head for penetrating the patriarchal system at a very hing for the adoption of a law, and whether to intro-
weak point, but without losing sight of the fact that duce this in the Chamber of Deputies or the Senate.
one must acknowledge the differences and be able to It was decided to pursue all lines simultaneously, and
respect them and live with them for mutual benefit, to go with whichever moved most quickly. On 6
redefining ‘public space’ and ‘private space’, and November 1989, the national Senator of the Unión
devolving to politics its ethical dimension. It is an Cívica Radical (UCR) Party for the province of
effort that clearly involves expanding democracy. Mendoza, Margarita Malharro de Torres, introduced
With the return of constitutional government, legislation to amend the national Electoral Code so
many changes ensued, not only because women’s as to require all political parties to have at least 30
participation grew significantly, but also because of percent of women on the lists of candidates for elec-
changes of attitude in a wide array of different sec- tive office and in proportions such that they would
tors, all seeking common ground and specific shared have a real chance of being elected, which was based
objectives. The ‘historical feminists’ began to worry on the debate that some women had raised in the
about developing practices and strategies to reach National Congress of UCR Women held in October
women as a whole, sharing with them their experi- 1989 in Santiago del Estero.
ences in developing theory; most of the women’s On 16 November 1989, national UCR Deputy
movement understood that the struggle against for the City of Buenos Aires Norma Alegrone de
women’s oppression should not be subordinated to Fonte, accompanied by deputies Florentina Gómez
other struggles, as it is compatible with them and Miranda (UCR), Inés Botella (Justicialista), Matilde
should be taken up simultaneously with them. Fernández de Quaracino (Democracia Popular),
Specifically, women from the political parties with a Blanca Macedo de Gómez (UCR), and Ruth
popular base made strides in furthering gender awa- Monjardín (Federal Party), introduced similar legis-
reness, raising and adopting feminist demands and lation, according to which the lists could not inclu-
the discourse on power. These changes in the theore- de more than 70 percent of persons of the same sex,
tical approaches and the testing of reiterated cohe- and required that, for every two candidates of the
rent practices made it possible to remove slowly same sex, there be at least one of the other sex, alter-
mutual prejudices, to open up the spheres that had nating from the first place in the list. The proposed
33
legislation took firm hold among the mid-level fema- tical parties, which took the form, in 1990, of the
le leadership in all of the political parties, who assu- Red de Feministas Políticas. This formation took on
med that they had found a way out of the fact that Latin American scope at the Latin American and
they constantly lagged behind in numbers and the Caribbean Feminist Gathering in San Bernardo,
frustration of always being relegated to secondary Argentina. In Argentina, the network engaged in
roles. On 20 September 1990, the bill was debated major media events and fostered greater awareness
and approved overwhelmingly by the Senate, as the on a massive scale, for example through women’s ses-
various blocs came together, with the explicit oppo- sions in the provincial legislatures and the National
sition of only two senators from the Justicialista Congress.
party. On 6 November 1991, the bill was debated in the
We succeeded in mobilizing a large number of Chamber of Deputies, having been approved by the
women for the discussion of the legislation introdu- Senate, and was passed, becoming law. Although its
ced by Malharro, even though it was uncertain what wording could have been improved, priority was
would come of the bill, because it was reported to accorded to passing it quickly. The law gained the
the floor with an unfavourable opinion from the consensus backing of all of the blocs except the
majority committees. Women’s presence that night Unión del Centro Democrático and the Movimiento
and the pressure that they exerted from the galleries al Socialismo; the role of the executive was decisive,
‘turned the session around’ and, one-by-one, the without its decision, the Justicialista party would not
senators who had opposed it, albeit expressing all of have allowed a quorum.
their reservations, ended up voting for it. The sustai-
ned resistance of women resulted in the bill being
adopted by the Senate, calling from the galleries, in
the early morning hours, for their inclusion in deci-
sion-making. This proved the existence of ‘women’s
power’. Crucial to our success was the coordinated
and crosscutting work of women from all of the poli-
Table 1: Number of Women Legislators in Both Chambers, 1983-2003
Year 1983 1993 1995 2003
Chamber Women Total % Women Total % Women Total % Women Total %

Deputies 12 255 4.71 36 257 14.0 71 257 27.6 77 258 29.84
Senators 3 46 6.52 * * * * * * 26 72 36.11
* In terms of the Senate, the rules on the women’s quota were not applied until 2001, when the provisions of
the constitutional amendment that provided for the direct and simultaneous election of three senators per district
entered into force.
34
Resistance and Strategies for which Law 24,012 became a public law.

Pioneering Quotas:
Guaranteeing its Implementation In 1994, the amendment to the national constitu-
In 1992, then President Carlos Menem signed the tion was approved, and the women’s movement
regulatory decree for Law 24,012, which determined (which thanks to the quotas now provided 100 of
the place that women candidates were to occupy. the 300 members of the constitutional assembly)
While the decree violated the floor established in cal- succeeded in introducing the following texts, which
culating the percentage in many cases, in others since have served as a protective umbrella and have
(such as when there were two seats up for re-election, defeated the usual traditional male argument regar-
which was the case in many provinces) it proved ding the ‘unconstitutionality of positive action’ as a
decisive for determining that the quota would be 50 violation of the right to equality before the law:
percent. The regulation of the law was an important
step forward, but it did not permeate the conscien- Article 37, second part: ‘real equality of opportu-
ces of the country’s political leadership. nity as between men and women for access to elec-
When the lists of candidates to the Chamber of tive and political party office shall be guaranteed
Deputies were drawn up for the 1993 elections, very by positive action in regulating the political parti-
few lists respected the female quota. All of the poli- es and the electoral regime’.
tical parties violated the law, and in every province.
Both in their discourse and in their arguments befo- Article 75, section 22: ‘the Convention on the
re the courts later on, the majority of the male lea- Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination
dership upheld 30 percent on the lists but not in Against Women ... is of constitutional rank’.
actual legislative representation.
Even though this law amended the national Article 75, section 23, first part (among the areas
Electoral Code, the electoral judges did not accept of competence of the National Congress): ‘To
the argument that it was a ‘public’ law. Accordingly, legislate and foster positive action measures that
only the candidates themselves could legally chal- guarantee equal opportunity and treatment, and
lenge the lists. Women then decided on a strategy to the full enjoyment and exercise of the rights recog-
address this situation. We communicated with the nized by this Constitution and by the internatio-
women candidates from all of the political parties nal treaties in force on human rights, in particular
whose lists did not comply with the law, and they with respect to women ...’.
organized operations with lawyers who would repre-
sent them in each province with resources from the Second transitory provision: ‘The positive actions
Consejo Nacional de la Mujer and with the support alluded to in Article 37, final paragraph, may not
of many different quarters. Even though we lacked a be less than those in force at the time this
structure and the electoral deadlines were very short Constitution is adopted, and shall last as long as
and strict, we had to act simultaneously in the coun- the law determines’.
try’s 24 electoral districts, with a total of 213 lists.
An information network had to be organized to The 1995 election found Argentina with new legal
determine quickly the make-up of all of the parties’ and political tools at its disposal. In that election, all
lists. Mindful of that complex situation, and there of the original lists had at least one woman in the
not being at that moment any possibility in third slot. In 1996, the constitution of the City of
Argentine law of the lists being challenged by anyo- Buenos Aires was passed; it is one of the most advan-
ne other than the candidate, ‘preventive writs of ced bodies of law in this respect, and certainly one of
amparo’ were dismissed in limine in every case. Some the most progressive in Latin America. Since the
judges dismissed the submissions, but did not offici- return to democracy, men and women have taken
ally accept the lists, instead sending them back to the many collective strides towards equality in our soci-
political parties, to have them reconstituted in kee- ety. Yet many of the rights and political and legal
ping with the law and its regulation. In this way, we instruments embodied in the new constitution of the
obtained the first rulings by the national electoral City of Buenos Aires can only be explained by the
chamber and the Supreme Court, according to ownership felt by and commitment of many mem-
35
bers of the constitutional convention to the feminist participatory basis (Article 38), and to implement
movement, their other experiences, and the fact that ‘positive action’ (Articles 11, 36, and others). Thus,
they have regularly received updated information on the placing of women and men on an equal footing,
comparative legislation in this area. This constitu- to which the state commits itself, should aim to
tion recognizes women as full citizens in the context ensure ‘equal access’ and ‘equality in starting point’
of a ‘plural citizenry’ in which men and women are (Article 12)-not only equal opportunity, but ‘equal
understood to be heterogeneous subjects with diver- treatment’, since we are seeking ‘equality of outco-
se dimensions and interests; in this respect, it stands mes’.
in contrast to other provincial constitutions. Women The same constitution enshrines the need for
are not stigmatized as mothers or wives. Nor is a list ‘positive action in all entities and at all levels, which
of rights presented for women as a sector or collecti- cannot be less than those now in place’ (Article 36).
ve body-because, moreover, we are not that-but, Accordingly, the legislature must pass legislation on
instead, a truly egalitarian relationship is sought bet- the subject (Article 80, section 7) and the executive
ween the sexes in all areas, one that is respectful of must adopt those measures ‘in all areas, at all hierar-
the differences. In other words, the idea is to esta- chical levels, and in all agencies’ (Article 104, section
blish mechanisms to move towards parity democracy. 28). Concrete positive action is also included in this
This is why it speaks of real equality of opportuni- constitution, explicitly referring to: the composition
ty and treatment in both the public and private sphe- of the lists of candidates for the legislature, the Juntas
res, which will be sought through ‘positive action’. Comunales; the composition of the Judicial Council
This presupposes acknowledging the search for equ- in terms of judges and attorneys and of the list for
ality of outcomes, on the understanding that it is not the jurado de enjuiciamiento (tribunal to try a judge-
attained via formal equality before the law or non- ’s malfeasance or misfeasance) in terms of judges,
discrimination (Article 11) or through equal oppor- attorneys, and legislators (as arises from a consistent
tunity, since there is structural inequality, given the interpretation of Articles 36, 130, 115, and 121); the
lack of ‘equality of initial conditions’ as Sartori states. list of collegial bodies designated by, or requiring the
Nonetheless, this is not a search for an equality in approval of, the legislature (such as, the Office of the
which everyone is the same-which is why the ‘right Attorney General (Procuración General), the Office
to be different’ is recognized (Article 11)-but, rather, of the Auditor General, the Single Regulatory
one that involves ensuring that women and men are Agency of Public Services; the composition of the
on the same footing. In Spanish we say ‘se equiparan’, Judicial Council-Articles 36, 134, 136, 139, and
that is, ‘they are placed on a par with one another’,, 115; and the composition of the neighbourhood
‘they are peers’, ‘they recognize one another as peers’; courts and of the Superior Court of Justice
only those who are distinct, different, the others, (Transitory clause 12(e) and Article 111).
those who are not equal. And here is one of the keys This is a major advance in relation to the national
to democracy: it is only real among those who are constitution, which only provided for ‘positive
different and recognize one another as peers. This action’ for the legislative branch, and for the conduct
constitution seeks to put both sexes on an equal foo- of the political parties. Here, too, it is required that
ting in both public life, through positive action in the political parties take action to make effective
politics and the workplace, and in private life, esta- women’s access to leadership positions, but it also
blishing equality in the exercise of sexual and repro- adds to accede to ‘financial management’, which
ductive rights and in the family. anticipates a whole debate on the financing of the
The writ of amparo (Article 14) and the right to political parties and on the relationship between
avail oneself of the Office of the Human Rights women and men and money, and it clarifies that at
Ombudsman (Defensoría del Pueblo, Article 137), all levels and in all areas’ (Article 36). In addition,
among others, are declared to be parity rights of male the state should promote and encourage such mea-
and female citizens, and they contain instruments to sures designed to put women and men on an equal
uphold these rights; but mainly, the state is required footing in private enterprises-as is already done in
to incorporate the ‘gender perspective’ in all of its other countries of the world, which call them
public policies, to formulate an ‘Equality Plan’ on a ‘women-friendly’ measures-when they reorganize
36
their personnel and salary structures to ensure equa- Table 2: Provincial Laws Passed

Pioneering Quotas:
lity between the sexes. with Quota Provisions
The state’s obligation to incorporate a gender per-
spective into the design and implementation of all Province Law No.
public policies, with special mention of education
(Article 24) and the participatory preparation of the Buenos Aires 11,733, November 1995
Plan for Equality of Men and Women (Article 38), Catamarca 4,916, July 1997
presupposes the existence of a women’s policy area in Córdoba 8,365, March 1994
the government that can coordinate movement Corrientes 4,673, November 1992
towards real equality with all other areas of the cabi- Chaco 3,747, May 1992
net. There are numerous precedents in Europe and Chubut Decree 813. Adopts National
Latin America, at both the national and local levels, Law 24,012, a decree is
of public policy-making incorporating a gender per- issued for each election. 1999.
spective, and the design of equality plans, as govern- Entre Ríos None
ment instruments, with the involvement of various Formosa 1,155, July 1995
non-governmental organizations (NGOs) devoted to Jujuy None
the issue. The provincial laws were brought forward La Pampa 1,593, December 1994
in this decade by the effort and pressure of women. La Rioja 5,705, May 1992
In general, laws similar to the national law were Mendoza 5,888, August 1992
adopted, with various mistakes and one aggravating Misiones 3,011, April 1993
factor: they failed to consider the particularities of Neuquen 2,161, March 1996
the provincial electoral systems. See Table 2. Río Negro 2,642, June 1993
The adoption of laws with errors, which were not Salta 6,782, January 1995
corrected afterwards by appropriate regulation, was a San Luis 5,105, March 1997
serious limitation in most cases. The exceptions were San Juan 6,515, October 1994
those provinces that had a history of women’s orga- Santa Fe 10,802, May 1992
nization and leadership, and sufficient political clout Santa Cruz 2,302, November 1992
to adapt the laws and their regulation, and to wage a Santiago del Estero 6,286, May 1996
political battle when it came to defining the final Tucumán 6,582, September 1994
make-up of the lists. In the provinces, women’s pre- Tierra del Fuego 408, July 1998
sence on the lists continues to depend on their will,
given the absence of guarantees of automatic judici-
al enforcement of the law. Of the 24 jurisdictions, at result in fractions less than one, the concept of
present, the provinces of Entre Ríos and Jujuy do not minimum quantity shall be the next greater unit,
have a quota law. and shall be governed by the table which, as Annex
Due to the pressure brought to bear by the wome- 1, is an integral part of this Decree.”
n’s movement, on 8 March 2001, President
Fernando de la Rúa issued National Decree Evaluation of the Results of Quotas
1246/2000, regulating Law 24,012, which resolved Positive action has been implemented in Argentina
any outstanding doubts, improved on the wording of since 1991. In 1994, the Convention on the
the previous decree, and provided for future senato- Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against
rial elections (henceforth, three instead of two sena- Women was made part of the national constitution.
tors would be elected per province, and in a single Article 4 stipulates that transitory positive action
election). should not be considered discriminatory, and that, to
the contrary, it should be promoted to attain real
Article 12: ‘The thirty percent (30%) of posts to be equality between women and men. In addition, in
filled by women as prescribed by Law No. 24,012 1994, a paragraph was incorporated that authorizes
is a minimum. In those cases in which the mathe- Congress to adopt legislation to achieve real equality
matical application of this percentage were to of opportunity and equal treatment between women
37
Table 3: Minimum Number hout modifying the reality of the majority of
of Women on Party Lists women, we also know-and this is an empirical and
scientific finding-that, if there are no women in deci-
Seats up Minimum Seats up Minimum sion-making positions, it is difficult for there to be
for election for election public policies, legislation, and case law that account
for, modify, and are sensitive to the human rights
2 1 21 7 situation of most women.
3 1 22 7 This does not mean that only women can be sen-
4 2 23 7 sitive. Indeed, we believe that it is good and necessa-
5 2 24 8 ry that there be more men involved in the commit-
6 2 25 8 ment to human rights, and, therefore, to parity bet-
7 3 26 8 ween the sexes. Yet we also believe that the process of
8 3 27 9 integrating diversity and promoting democratic par-
9 3 28 9 ticipation benefits when the persons directly affec-
10 3 29 9 ted by human rights violations-those who have suf-
11 4 30 9 fered from segregation, domination and exclusion-
12 4 31 10 become the ones who explain and lead initiatives to
13 4 32 10 emerge from such situations.
14 5 33 10 In the 2002 shadow report to the 1979
15 5 34 11 Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of
16 5 35 11 Discrimination against Women (CEDAW), prepa-
17 6 36 11 red by a group of Argentine NGOs, we indicated,
18 6 37 12 with empirical findings, which human rights viola-
19 6 38 12 tions women continue to experience today. In gene-
20 6 39 12 ral, the most critical areas are sexual and reproducti-
ve rights, economic and social rights, violations of
which are felt most keenly by women, including the
and men, and, specifically, positive action. sexual exploitation and violence with which we are
At the national level we have implemented the 30 all familiar. International human rights organizations
percent quota for deputies and senators in the natio- have issued repeated recommendations, including in
nal Congress; 22 of the 24 provinces also have quota regard to: non-punishable abortions being perfor-
laws. These laws have been applied with different med in public hospitals in dignified conditions; a
results, depending on the different electoral systems, gender perspective being incorporated into the
and, in addition, the fate of the women who have fil- national budget; value being attached to unremune-
led the quota-based positions has varied. Many have rated work by women, which should be included in
been disappointed by the lack of a gender commit- the national accounts; the more precise data that
ment on the part of these women, and by styles that needs to be collected on the situation of women
we thought were going to be changed with the inclu- involved in prostitution; and the state of sexual
sion of women, who had been excluded from tradi- exploitation in Argentina. By simply looking, in this
tional power practices. assessment, at the areas in which the state has not
Evaluating the situation ten years after these laws taken action, it is clear that we must demand that the
were first enforced, what lies behind all of this-bey- candidates in the next election-both men and
ond the political right of women to gain equal access women, but mainly those women who will be inclu-
to decision-making positions- is actually the back- ded in the lists via the application of the quota law-
drop to the dramatic socio-economic and human come up with solutions to these problems, which are
rights situation confronted by women in Argentina. continuing to violate women’s human rights.
This is what leads us to the conviction that, while it In this regard, our evaluation of positive action in
is true that many women may hold decision-making the legislature is favourable, not only in terms of
positions without having much of an impact, wit- numbers, but also because many laws-such as those
38
on violence and reproductive health in the provin- introduced legislation along these lines: María Elena

Pioneering Quotas:
ces-would not have been passed had there not been Barbagelatta, Diana Conti and Elisa Carrío were
women parliamentarians committed to these issues. among the few who sought to extend positive action
We also saw other advances that turned on the pre- to the executive and judiciary. It was achieved in the
sence of women in the legislature, such as the incor- constitution of the City of Buenos Aires, drawing on
poration in the constitution of the city of Buenos German laws and the equality plans of German citi-
Aires of positive action at the judicial level, as well as es. We were able to include it in the constitution of
in some executive agencies, such as the Board of the City of Buenos Aires, but, unfortunately, at the
Directors of Banco Ciudad, the Ombudsman, the national level there has been little progress-beyond
public services regulatory agencies, and the Judicial the title of the 1998 Equality Plan-in extending posi-
Council. tive action not only to the executive and judicial
Nonetheless, there is still a long way to go, especi- branches, but also to specific policies, and the indi-
ally in two respects. On the one hand, in the legisla- cators and results of those public policies.
tive branches, in addition to the two provinces that One of our objectives at this time is to be able to
have not adopted any form of quota law, we believe find common ground on some draft language for
that the concern that needs to be raised is linked to legislation along these lines, but also in other areas.
the debate over the electoral and political reform cal- One must bear in mind that, with regard to profes-
led for by citizens. The calling into question of sional schools, universities, professional councils and
‘straight ballot’ voting (la lista sábana) in Argentina other areas where women play a role, there is room-
may endanger the representation of women, minori- with the CEDAW and the existing legislation-to pro-
ties, and the minority political parties. pose positive action and parity, equal opportunities
Women in Argentina agree that many males in and equal treatment of men and women. In this con-
politics are the first to embrace slight electoral text, women scored one of the greatest successes in
reform that accepts that some things change, and judicial arguments, such as that put forth in the case
that does away with the d’Hont method of vote involving the Public Bar Association of the City of
tabulation to produce a cosmetic reform. This is so, Buenos Aires, in which we challenged the lists that
because they know that it will be the political parti- did not include women, by supplemental application
es that will continue to nominate the candidates, and of the Electoral Code.
if the party decides on the candidates using the clo- Also in 2002, the Law on the Trade Union Quota
sed mechanisms of secluded circles of power, it will was adopted. It provides: ‘The lists put forth in inter-
not change the quality of the candidates, even nal trade union elections should include at least thir-
though it may change the electoral system. ty percent (30%) women, unless the women mem-
In the shadow report submitted to the CEDAW, bers account for fewer than 30% of total members,
the participating NGOs pointed out that where the in which case the representation may never be less
discussion of the mechanisms for selecting the can- than that proportion’. At the same time, in the cases
didates really gets bogged down is within the politi- of constituting collective bargaining units, women’s
cal parties, in the way politics is financed internally, participation is also to be at least 30 percent. The
not so much in the electoral system. The tools do not challenge is to begin actually to implement it.
change the content; changing it requires more struc- Internationally, in 1995, during the Fourth World
tural changes. Conference on Women in Beijing, China, 189
Furthermore, the question of positive action in governments from all over the world committed
the judicial and executive branches needs to be raised themselves to ‘take measures to ensure women’s equal
once again in the Congress. In the Constitutional access to and full participation in power structures
Convention of 1994, the quota was only included in and decision-making’ and to ‘increase women’s capa-
the legislative branch and in the political parties, in city to participate in decision-making and leaders-
Article 37; it also ended up with a vague generic hip’. To attain these strategic objectives, the main
clause in Article 75, indicating to the Congress the action they agreed on was to establish ‘the goal of
need for positive action in other areas. Few of the gender balance in governmental bodies and commit-
women members of the national Congress have tees, as well as in public administrative entities, and
39
in the judiciary, including, inter alia, setting specific along with males committed to the equality propo-
targets and implementing measures to substantially sals, within and outside of government, will build
increase the number of women with a view to achie- alliances through projects and accomplishments that
ving equal representation of women and men, if bring our dreams closer to reality.
necessary through positive action, in all governmen-
tal and public administration positions’.
In 2000, at the Beijing+5 United Nations confe-
rence, several women’s organizations from different
parts of the world, in coordination with the Women’s
Environment and Development Organization
(WEDO), launched the ‘50-50 campaign’ as a first
step towards meeting the commitments assumed in
Beijing in 1995 to attain balance between men and
women in decision-making positions. This campaign
demands that the governments work to achieve a
‘minimum target of 30% representation of women
in cabinet ministries and legislative bodies by 2003
and equal representation by 2005’. This is summari-
zed in the slogan of the ‘50-50 by 2005’ campaign,
‘Get the balance right!!!’ In 2000, the Instituto Social
y Político de la Mujer agreed to be the focal point for
this campaign in Argentina, declaring its commit-
ment to ‘50-50 by 2005’.
The process to place women and men on a truly
equal footing will continue its slow course. It will
depend mainly on the impetus of the women’s move-
ment and on women’s awareness of the tools within
their reach, as well as the gender sensitivity of men
and women holding positions in government and in
the public administration. Implementing all of these
actions entails and contributes to deepening demo-
cracy, modernizing the state and placing equality
between men and women on the state, political, and
social agendas. It commits the governments, and
brings about greater efficiency in the public policy-
making process. The latter requires considerable
interaction between the state and civil society, which
may occur gradually, but with a continuing tension
at this time, given the weakness of social policy and
the backsliding of the state in regard to social welfa-
re programmes, together with the lack of a tradition
of equality, an impoverished and in many cases inef-
ficient, clientelist or corrupt state, and women’s areas
with structural difficulties when it comes to acting
horizontally in order to make an impact on the hig-
hest echelons of power.
Despite these complexities, the existence of legal
bases for generating change is extremely encoura-
ging. From there, women with gender consciousness
40
Pioneering Quotas:
41
The Implementation of
Gender Quotas in Peru:
Legal Reform, Discourses and Impacts
Gregory D. Schmidt
This paper is the first of two that I have had the ple- Women’s Day in 1994, Foro Mujer formally propo-
asure of preparing for the workshop. It describes the sed a female quota of 30 percent for candidates in
process by which gender quotas were legislated and national, regional, and municipal elections, as well as
enforced in Peru, reviews the discourse of some of for intra-party contests.3 The momentum for quotas
the key participants, examines the impact of quotas was greatly strengthened by the Platform for Action
on local and congressional elections, and places the adopted at the 1995 World Conference on Women
Peruvian experience in a comparative perspective. in Beijing, China, and a February 1997 inter-parlia-
The paper that I will present this afternoon examines mentary meeting on gender equity in New Delhi,
why quotas have been successful in Peru and why India, attended by Martha Hildebrandt and Luz
this success has some major implications for our Salgado, two pro-Fujimori congresswomen.
understanding of quotas worldwide. Both papers Soon after the New Delhi conference, the
draw on much more detailed working papers that Constitution Committee of the Peruvian Congress
have been prepared for the conference with the gene- began the final phase of its deliberations on a new
rous assistance of the Movimiento Manuela Ramos.1 electoral code. Martha Chávez, another leading pro-
Fujimori congresswoman, was the chief author of the
The Passage of Quota Legislation government’s proposal, but she was sceptical of quo-
in Peru tas4 and did not include any provision for gender
During the 1990 presidential run-off campaign, equity in the majority’s bill. Nor did quotas appear
Foro Mujer, a group of feminist non-governmental in comprehensive alternative proposals drafted by a
organizations (NGOs), requested that various issues leading member of the opposition and the National
of concern to women, including gender quotas for Board of Elections (JNE). The Constitution
governmental and public institutions, be discussed Committee, however, also considered some three
in the televised debate between Mario Vargas Llosa dozen bills that addressed more specific aspects of
and Alberto Fujimori, the eventual winner. The two the electoral system. One of these bills, sponsored by
candidates, however, ignored this proposed agenda, Lourdes Flores Nano, required that at least 30 per-
and the issue of gender quotas had little public reso- cent of congressional candidates be of each gender.
nance for the next several years.2 Nevertheless, the Another specific bill introduced by Javier Diez
1991 adoption of gender quotas for congressional Canseco, a congressman from a small leftist party,
candidates in Argentina greatly encouraged feminists was similar to the proposal of Foro Mujer. Yet anot-
throughout Latin America. On International her bill, authored by Hildebrandt and Salgado, pro-
42
posed a 25 percent minimum quota for female can- ding affirmative action in the United States or pret-
Gender Quotas in Peru

didates only. ty much any part of the world. Indeed, many of the
Flores Nano made the case for quotas before the arguments have been borrowed or adapted from the
Constitution Committee, but the majority of the U.S. context. Proponents of quotas argued that gen-
committee considered quotas to be unnecessary, and der is a relevant criterion for differential treatment
her proposal was thus rejected. ‘They almost beat and that some affirmative action measures are nee-
me!’, exclaimed Flores Nano, who, as one of ded to compensate for social and institutional biases
Fujimori’s leading critics, was no stranger to political that work against the participation of women.11
confrontation.5 When the newly created Committee Moreover, gender quotas for political candidates give
on Women took up the issue later, Flores Nano women political opportunities but do not guarantee
deferred to women from the majority, and the 25 election and, therefore, do not discriminate against
percent formula proposed by Hildebrandt and the rights of voters.12 However, less evident in the
Salgado was endorsed.6 The fledgling committee, pro-quota discourse were some of the more recent
however, did not yet have the authority to report a arguments made in the U.S. that justify affirmative
bill to the floor. action in terms of its positive impact on the political
At this point, Fujimori intervened decisively by system.
stating publicly that he would send a quota bill to Opponents of quotas argued that they violated the
Congress.7 Whereas most members of Congress had constitutional provision of equality and the voter’s
been against quotas and had even ridiculed the idea, right to choose.13 Congressman Jorge del Castillo
the majority immediately reversed its position and maintained that quotas were especially objectionable
applauded the president’s initiative.8 Once the passa- in municipal elections, in which a closed list format
ge of quotas became a foregone conclusion, only does not allow voters to choose specific candidates.14
several congressmen-all from opposition parties-rai- Moreover, as one male congressman argued, if
sed philosophical objections in a largely perfunctory women deserve special treatment, why not other
floor debate.9 In order to counter charges that quotas marginalized groups, such as ethnic minorities?15
were discriminatory and thus violated Article 2 of Several congressmen also contended that women
the 1993 Constitution, gender-neutral language were capable of individual achievement on the basis
similar to that in Flores Nano’s proposal was used in of their own merits.16 This also appeared to be a posi-
the final legislation. Law 26,859, a new basic statute tion held by some prominent women, such as
on national elections passed in September 1997, sti- Martha Chávez and Beatriz Boza.17 In addition,
pulated that women and men must each comprise at questions were raised about the qualifications of
least 25 percent of party lists for Congress. Similar women in the poorer areas of Peru, a concern that
language was soon incorporated into the new statute was even shared by some proponents of quotas.
on municipal elections (Law 26,864) after a limited Second, the quota debate had a ‘bipolar’ quality.
debate that once again focused on normative issues.10 In its initial stages there was a lively, normative deba-
After Fujimori’s flight from Peru, the quota was rai- te in which men from the pro-Fujimori parties and
sed to 30 percent for congressional, regional, and some opposition parties tended to argue against quo-
municipal elections (see Laws 27,387, 27,683, and tas. Most but not all women defended quotas, with
27,734). support from some progressive men, such as Javier
Diez Canseco and Henry Pease. Sadly, the debate
The Political Discourse of Quotas was not always principled: some men were openly
Since my work has mainly focused on the impact of derisive of, and contemptuous towards, the women
quotas, I feel a bit hesitant discussing the political who supported quotas. Once Fujimori came out in
discourse employed in favour of and against them in favour of quotas, though, his male supporters toed
front of so many people who participated in the pro- the party line and the debate became sterile.
cess. But with your indulgence, I would like to make Third, as discussed in one of my working papers,18
four basic points. Fujimori was very adept at tapping the ‘political mar-
First, the normative arguments for and against ket’ for women. His support for quotas and a gender-
quotas in Peru seem very similar to those made regar- sensitive political discourse were part of this strategy.
43
Fourth, in talking to legislators, feminist political Lima-based NGOs,21 has helped women to take
activists and political analysts, this author found no advantage of gender quotas. The project has attemp-
evidence that any attention was paid to how quotas ted to persuade party leaders, especially those of
would work in conjunction with the very different national parties, to nominate women and to place
rules that are used in municipal and congressional them in relatively high list positions. PROMUJER
elections in Peru. Given the relatively high and has also diffused information about gender quotas,
unanticipated impact of gender quotas in Peru, per- encouraged women to become candidates and provi-
haps this lack of attention to detail was a blessing in ded the necessary training, and helped them to nego-
disguise. tiate places on the list. Candidate training in hand-
ling the media and public appearances have been
Enforcement and Mobilization especially noteworthy.22
Once quota legislation was passed, feminist organi- Ironically, the political mobilization of women
zations did not retire to the sidelines of the political was more important than the quota itself in the 1998
game. Instead, they continued to play important municipal elections in Lima. If we look at line 5 in
roles in securing favourable interpretations of quota Table 1, we see that the percentage of women elected
legislation and in helping women to take advantage in the districts of the capital increased from 21.82
of quotas. The JNE has generally adopted interpre- percent in 1995, the last election without a quota, to
tations of quota legislation that favour women, with 29.70 percent in 1998, after the passage of quota
the notable exception of three departments in the legislation. Table 1 also breaks down the data for
2001 congressional election.19 Moreover, informed 1998 between those winning lists that minimally
observers agree that the JNE and regional electoral complied with the quota and those that exceeded it.
boards have enforced quotas at least up to the 2002 If we look at the last column of line 5, we see that
regional and municipal elections.20 Lists that did not only 22.17 percent of the candidates on the mini-
comply with the prescribed minimum number of mally complying lists were women. This is not a sig-
female candidates for their respective magnitude nificant increase over the 21.82 percent that were
were rejected. elected in 1995.
In addition, PROMUJER, a joint project of five
Table 1: Indicators of Female Electoral Success, District Councils in Lima, 1995 and 1998
(Lists that Won at Least One Seat)
1995 1998
No Quota All Lists Quota All Lists Exceed Effective Minimal
(n=119) (n=110) Quota (n=50) Compliance (n=60)
1. Percentage of Candidates 23.82 37.56 44.64** 30.65**

2. Average Placement of
Candidates (Percentile) 51.89 47.84 48.28 47.48
3. Relation to Median
Candidates (Percentile) -2.39 -7.91 -6.80 -8.84
4. Relative Success Rate (% Candidates
Elected ÷ % Elected x100) 89.26 70.22 75.05 64.43
5. Percentage of Winning Candidates 21.82 29.70 37.70** 22.17**
Note: Data in Rows 1, 4, and 5 are for the overall population; data in rows 2-3 are list averages.
** T-Test for equality of means using comparable list data for last two columns is significant at .003 level or better,
two-tailed test.
Source: Elaborated by author from JNE data (1997 and 1999) and party lists in the JNE archive.
44
The overall female share of winners increased to them was quite effective in increasing the percentage

29.70 percent in 1998 because women comprised of female council members at the district level.
37.7 percent of the candidates who were elected on This interpretation is supported by a much more
50 lists that exceeded the quota. Moreover, there was powerful statistical analysis in one of the working
no significant difference among parties in the nomi- papers for this conference.23 It is also supported by
nation or election of women. Instead, feminist acti- the data in Table 2, which show that the lists in prio-
vists-who were energized by the passage of quota rity PROMUJER districts had slightly greater per-
legislation-successfully put pressure on leaders of centages of female candidates, gave them better pla-
various parties to exceed the quota. Thus, paradoxi- cements and produced a notably higher proportion
cally, quotas per se were ineffective in Lima, but the of winners than those in non-priority districts.
political mobilization of women that accompanied
Table 2: The Impact of Lists in PROMUJER Districts in Lima, 1998
Lists in PROMUJER Districts Lists in Other Districts
1. Female Percentage of Candidates

Above Effective Quota 8.45 6.61
2. Average Placement of Female
Candidates on Party Lists
(Relation to Median Candidates, Percentile) -4.65a -9.37b
3. Female Percentage of
Winning Candidates 35.77 26.46
Note: Data in rows 1 and 3 are for the overall population; data in row 2 are list averages.
a N = 34 lists in the 13 priority PROMUJER districts.
b N = 76 lists in the 29 non-priority districts.
Source: Elaborated by author from JNE data (1999) and a list of priority areas provided by PROMUJER
The Impact of Quotas in Provincial 1995 and 1998 municipal elections, before and after
Municipal Elections the adoption of quotas (Data for the 2002 regional
Peru has a two-tier system of municipal government and municipal elections were not available at the
that operates in 194 provinces and over 1,800 dis- time of the workshop). As noted above, the female
tricts. A majoritarian list system is used at both percentage of councillors increased by more than
levels. All voters cast a ballot to elect the mayors and one-third from already high levels in the districts of
municipal councillors of their province. Provincial Lima. The proportion of councilwomen at the pro-
municipalities perform certain functions for the enti- vincial level almost doubled, from 10.81 percent to
re province and also provide services for the provin- 21.54 percent. The most spectacular increases,
cial capital. Outside of the provincial capital, voters however, occurred in districts outside of the capital,
cast a second ballot for the mayors and councils of where the female share of council members more
their respective district-level municipalities (not to than tripled from only 6.96 percent to 23.50 per-
be confused with electoral districts or district magni- cent.
tude). Councillors have considerable executive
powers at both levels of municipal government, par-
ticularly in relation to personnel decisions.24
Table 3 compares the success of women in the
45
Table 3: Women Elected to Municipal Councils Before and After Quotas
Female % of Councillors Percentage % Women ÷

1995 1998 Change 25% Legal (1998)
Provincial Councils 10.81 21.54 10.73 .86
District Councils in Lima 21.82 29.70 7.88 1.19
Rest of Peru 6.96 23.50 16.54 .94
Source: Elaborated by author from JNE data (1997 & 1999), El Comercio and Movimiento Manuela Ramos (1999),
and PROMUJER (1998, pp. 78-131 & 1999, p. 7).
This last increase is all the more remarkable because ted, multiplied by 100. Thus, a relative success rate
the districts outside of Lima include the most back- of 100 means that candidates of each gender have
ward parts of the country. Whereas women have the same chance of winning office; less than 100
long enjoyed electoral success in the capital,25 the means that male candidates have better odds; and
situation is quite different in rural Peru, where more than 100 signifies that female candidates have
women contemplating candidacies fear rejection by an edge. The third row denotes the percentages of
their husbands and public ridicule.26 Indeed, in rural women candidates who were elected.
areas, the political parties often have had difficulty in Turning to the data in Table 4, women comprised
meeting their gender quotas because women are 12.20 per cent of the candidates in the closed list
reluctant to run for office.27 contest for the Senate in 1980 (just 9.58 percent if
four small leftist parties are excluded), but their rela-
The Impact of Quotas in tive success rate was only 24.75 percent. In other
Congressional Elections words, the average female candidate’s chances of
Since 1985, Peru has used a variant of the open list being elected were only about one-fourth of the ave-
system called the ‘double optional preferential vote’ rage male candidate’s.29 The percentage of candidates
to elect its national legislature. From 1980-92, its who were women fell to 7.67 in 1985, when the
Congress was bicameral. Departments elected the double optional preferential vote was adopted, but
Chamber of Deputies, but 60 senators were chosen most of this decrease was attributable to the decision
in a single national district. After the presidential of leftist parties to form an alliance that ran a single
coup (autogolpe) of 1992, a special body of 80 mem- list. Nevertheless, the relative success rate of women
bers, the so-called Democratic Constituent Congress candidates improved considerably under the open
(CCD), was elected in a single national district to list system, and there was a slight gain in female
write a new constitution and to serve as the regular representation in the Senate.
legislature until the end of Fujimori’s first term. The The female share of congressional candidates
1993 constitution established a unicameral congress. rebounded to ten percent in 1990 and remained at
It was elected in a single national district in 1995 and this level until the adoption of a quota. The relative
2000 and by departmental electoral districts in success rate of women candidates, however, continu-
2001. ed to improve. Indeed, in the Lima district for the
Table 4 provides data on female candidates for the Chamber of Deputies-the only lower house district
Senate and unicameral Congress since 1980.28 The for which data on candidates is available-women
first row lists the percentage of candidates who were were actually more likely to be elected than men in
women on lists that won at least one seat. The 1990 (relative success rate equals 113.5). By 1995,
second row provides the relative success rates of female candidates had a slightly better chance of
women. The relative success rate is simply the per- being elected than their male competitors in the
centage of female candidates who are elected divided single national district. Indeed, in that year, the ave-
by the percentage of male candidates who are elec- rage congresswoman polled more preferential votes
46
Table 4: Female Congressional Candidates, 1980-2001 (Percentages)

Single National District Multiple
Districts
Closed List Open List
Senate (1980) CCD Unicameral Congress
(M=60) (M=80) (M=120) (M=4.8)
Quota
25% 30%
1980 1985 1990 1992 1995 2000 2001
Female Candidates* 12.20a 7.67 10.00 10.38 10.58 2< 36.05
Relative Success Rateb* 24.75c 63.36 64.29 82.81 102.74 79.41 39.82
Women Elected 3.30 5.00 6.67 8.75 10.83 21.67 18.33
Note: * On Lists that Won At Least One Seat.

a 9.58 percent if four small leftist parties are excluded.
b Relative Success Rate = % Women Candidates Elected ÷ % Male Candidates Elected X 100.
c 38.51 if four small leftist parties are excluded.
Source: Calculated from data in Blondet and Montero (1994, pp. 20, 120-28), ONPE (2002), Tuesta Soldevilla (2001,
pp. 66-69, 71-100), Villanueva Flores (1998, p. 31), Webb and Fernández Baca (2000, p. 264), and Yáñez and Guillén
(2001, p. 20).
than the average congressman (see my paper entitled of women by about five percent in the region.30
‘Unanticipated Successes: Lessons from Peru’s Quotas produced significantly better results in Peru,
Experiences with Gender Quotas in Majoritarian as noted above. In 1998, women comprised a higher
Closed List and Open List PR Systems’). proportion of Peruvian municipal councils than of
Consequently, female representation in Congress ste- comparable locally elected bodies in other Latin
adily improved to 10.83 percent in 1995. American countries. Among national legislatures in
Clearly the chief obstacle to the election of the region in 2000, only Argentina and Cuba, a non-
women was the paucity of female candidates. With democratic polity, had higher percentages of female
the adoption of the 25 percent quota, the female per- members.31
centage of congressional candidates more than doub- Second, gender quotas have been successful in
led in 2000. This increase in the number of women Peru, despite a very unfavourable socio-economic
running for office, in turn, led to a doubling of those context. Among Latin American countries with a
elected-from 10.83 percent in 1995 to 21.67 percent population of at least 15 million, Peru has the lowest
in 2000. However, the female proportion of score on the gender-related human development
Congress declined in 2001 for reasons that are dis- index, which is a powerful predictor of women’s poli-
cussed in the ‘Unanticipated Successes’ paper. tical representation.32 Moreover, as noted above, the
greatest increases in the election of women council-
Peru in a Comparative Perspective lors occurred in the most backward parts of the
The success of gender quotas in Peru is noteworthy country.
for three major reasons. Third, the success of quotas in Peru defies con-
First, the impact of quotas in Peru was greater ventional wisdom in the field of electoral studies.
than that in most other Latin American elections in The success of women in Peru’s open-list national
which they have been employed. Although quotas elections contradicts the prevailing view in the aca-
had a very positive impact in some countries, most demic literature, which holds that closed list systems
notably Argentina and Costa Rica, overall, they have are more favourable for the election of women.
been only mildly successful, increasing the election Quotas had a major impact in closed list municipal
47
elections despite the lack of placement mandates pre- Notes
scribed by Mala N. Htun and Mark P. Jones.33 1 Schmidt 2003a.
Moreover, whereas district magnitude has often 2 Yáñez 1998, pp. 15-16.
been linked to the success of female candidates, there 3 Yáñez, 1998, p. 18.
is no significant correlation between this variable and 4 See her comments during the floor debate in
the election of women to Peruvian municipal coun- Congreso de la República 1997b.
cils.34 Also, as noted earlier, female candidates made 5 Guillermo 1997, pp. 78-79.
their greatest gains in 1998 in the low magnitude 6 Flores Nano 1999.
districts outside of Lima. 7 According to Chávez (2000), Hildebrandt and
Why have quotas been relatively successful in Salgado both lobbied Fujimori on the quota
Peru, despite an unfavourable socioeconomic con- issue. Chávez believes that Salgado’s influence
text and electoral rules that are supposedly unfavou- was decisive in winning the president’s support.
rable for women? These questions are addressed in 8 Yáñez 1998, p. 20 and Yáñez 1999a.
‘Unanticipated Successes: Lessons from Peru’s 9 Congreso de la República 1997b.
Experiences with Gender Quotas in Majoritarian 10 Congreso de la República 1997a.
Closed List and Open List PR Systems’. 11 Villanueva Flores 1998, p. 23.
12 Bermúdez Valdivia 1998, pp. 25-55.
13 González 1998, pp. 23, 25-26.
14 Congreso de la República 1997a.
15 González 1997.
16 Gonzáles 1998, p. 23; Congreso de la República
1997a and 1997b.
17 Congreso de la República 1997b; Yáñez 1999a.
18 Schmidt 2003b.
19 In the departments of Callao and Ica, the JNE
required that only one out of four candidates
(25 percent) be female, even though the quota
had been raised to 30 percent.
20 Bermúdez Valdivia (1999) and Yañez (1999a).
However, in coding the gender of candidates
and elected councillors, the author did encoun-
ter several cases in which the quota apparently
was not met.
21 The official name of the project was Promotion
of Women’s Political Participation. The partici-
pating NGOs were the Movimiento Manuela
Ramos, the Institute of Peruvian Studies, the
Calandria Association of Social
Communicators, the Center of Social Studies
and Publications, and the Center of Studies for
Development and Participation.
22 CESIP (Centro de Estudios Sociales y
Publicaciones) 1999; Yañez 1999b.
23 Schmidt 2003a.
24 Nickson 1995, p. 240.
25 Women accounted for 18 percent of the seats
on the Lima Provincial Council in 1983 and 21
percent in 1989.
26 Yáñez 1999b, p. 108.
48
27 See del Castillo 2000; Zevallos 1999. References

28 Unfortunately, data on the candidates for the Bermúdez Valdivia, Violeta. 1998. “Mecanismos
Chamber of Deputies during the 1980-90 peri- legales de promoción de la participación política de
od is not available. la mujer en la región andina”. In Memorias de la
29 If we exclude the four small leftist parties, the cumbre parlamentaria andina sobre la mujer, pp.
relative success was 38.51 percent in 1980.
25-55. Guayaquil: Fondo de la Comisión Europea
30 Htun & Jones 2002, pp. 32, 36, 41.
para ONGs Latinoamericanas.
31 See the Women’s Leadership Conference of the
Americas (WLCA) 2001, pp. 12-15. Bermúdez Valdivia, Violeta. 1999. Interview with
32 United Nations Development Programme Bermúdez, legal expert on quotas and associate of
(UNDP) 2001, pp. 210-213; Reynolds 1999, the Office of Democratic Initiatives, United States
pp. 567-568. Agency for International Development. Lima, 27
33 Htun & Jones 2002. May.
34 Indeed, the Pearson’s r for district magnitude
Blondet, Cecilia and Montero, Carmen. 1994.
and the election of women are all negative: -
.035 for provincial councils, -.075 for district La situación de la mujer en el Perú 1980-1994.
councils in Lima, and -.065 for a sample of dis- Documento de Trabajo No 68. Lima: Instituto de
trict councils outside of the capital. Estudios Peruanos.
CESIP (Centro de Estudios Sociales y
Publicaciones). 1999. Es tiempo de mujeres.
Lima: duArtes.
Chávez, Martha. 2000. Interview with Chávez: out-
spoken pro-Fujimori congresswoman (currently sus-
pended). Lima, 8 August.
Congreso de la República. 1997a. Diario de los
Debates, Primera Legislatura Ordinaria de 1997, 12a
Sesión, (Matinal ) y 12a A Sesión (Vespertina)
Miércoles, 17 de Setiembre de 1997.
Congreso de la República. 1997b. Transcripciones
magnetofónicas, Segunda Legislatura Ordinaria de
1996, 24a Sesión (Matinal) y 24a A Sesión
(Vespertina), Miércoles, 18 de Junio de 1997.
Del Castillo, Jorge 2000. Interview with del
Castillo, APRA party leader and former mayor of
Lima. Lima, 8 August.
El Comercio and Movimiento Manuela Ramos.
1999. Mujeres en el Poder ... y el poder de las mujeres.
Suplemento especial sobre el Día Internacional de
la Mujer, 8 de Marzo. Lima.
Flores Nano, Lourdes. 1999. Interview with Flores
Nano, a leading opposition congresswoman, 1990-
2000. Lima, 7 June.
49
Gonzáles Arica, Guillermo. 1997. “Cuota obligato- Schmidt, Gregory D. 2003b. Las Mujeres del
ria”. Caretas, 1457, 20 March, pp. 78-79. Presidente: Fujimori y ¿La Equidad de Género? Lima:
Movimiento Manuela Ramos
Gonzáles Arica, Guillermo. 1998. “La cuota que
faltaba: Cómo se hizo la ley electoral que dispone la Tuesta Soldevilla, Fernando. 2001. Perú político en
participación política de la mujer en cuotas parla- cifras, 1821-2001. 3a edición. Lima: Friedrich Ebert
mentarias y de regidores”. In Ana María Yáñez and Stiftung.
Lisbeth Guillén, eds. Poder político con perfume de
United Nations Development Programme
mujer: Las cuotas en el Perú. Lima: Movimiento
(UNDP). 2001. Human Development Report 2001.
Manuela Ramos and Instituto de Estudios
New York: Oxford University Press.
Peruanos.
Villanueva Flores, Rocío. 1998. “¿Están justificadas
Htun, Mala N. and Jones, Mark P. 2002.
las cuotas de mujeres en las listas electorales?” In
“Engendering the Right to Participate in Decision-
Ana María Yañez and Lisbeth Guillén, eds. Poder
Making: Electoral Quotas and Women’s Leadership
político con perfume de mujer: Las cuotas en el Perú,
in Latin America”. In Nikki Craske and Maxine
Lima: Movimiento Manuela Ramos and Instituto
Molyneux, eds. Gender and the Politics of Rights and
de Estudios Peruanos.
Democracy in Latin America, pp. 32-56.
Houndmills, England: Palgrave. Webb, Richard and Fernández Baca, Graciela.
2000. Perú en Números 2000. Lima: Cuánto S.A.
JNE (Jurado Nacional de Elecciones). 1997.
Elecciones Municipales: Resultados de las Elecciones WLCA (Women’s Leadership Conference of the
Municipales Generales de 1995. Resultados de las Americas). 2001. Women and Power in the
Elecciones Municipales Parciales de 1996. Lima: JNE, Americas: A Report Card. Washington, D.C.: Inter-
Fundación Internacional para Sistemas Electorales American Dialogue and International Center for
(IFES), and Agencia para el Desarrollo Research on Women.
Internacional (USAID).
Yáñez, Ana María. 1998. “Lo que hizo el movimi-
JNE. 1999. Elecciones Municipales 1998 y ento de mujeres por las cuotas políticas: Un camino
Complementarias 1999. Resultados Generales. Lima. que tomó siete años”. In Ana María Yáñez and
Lisbeth Guillén, ed. Poder político con perfume de
Nickson, R. Andrew. 1995. Local Government in
mujer: Las cuotas en el Perú,. Lima: Movimiento
Latin America. Boulder and London: Lynne
Manuela Ramos and Instituto de Estudios
Rienner Press.
Peruanos.
ONPE (Oficina Nacional de Procesos Electorales).
Yáñez, Ana María. 1999a. Interview with Yáñez:
2002. Available at http://www.onpe.gob.pe.
labour lawyer, feminist scholar, and director of the
PROMUJER (Proyecto de “Promoción de la Movimiento Manuela Ramos, a major feminist
Participación Política de la Mujer”). 1998. Poder NGO. Lima, 31 May.
político con perfume de mujer: Las cuotas en el Perú.
Yañez, Ana María. 1999b. “Participación política y
Lima: Movimiento Manuela Ramos and Instituto
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de Estudios Peruanos.
85, pp. 107-114.
Reynolds, Andrew. 1999. “Women in the
Yáñez, Ana María and Guillén, Lisbeth. 1999. “Se
Legislatures and Executives of the World: Knocking
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Zevallos, Emma. 1999. “¿Le interesa la política a las
Schmidt, Gregory D. 2003a. Cuotas Efectivas,
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Movimiento Manuela Ramos.
50
51
Taking Stock of the
Implementation
of Quotas in Peru
Rocío Villanueva Flores
Women won the right to vote in 1955.1 Nonetheless, election quotas in the national legislation.3
as Table 1 illustrates, few women have been elected On 25 September, Law No. 26,859, the Organic
to Congress. During the debate prior to the adop- Election Law, was enacted; Article 116 provided as
tion of the quota law, it was argued: ‘At this pace, it follows: ‘The lists of candidates to Congress should
will take almost 54 years for there to be 30 women include a number not less than 25% women or men.’
members of Congress in Peru (25%)’,2 that is, it On 13 October 1997, Law No. 26,864, the
would not happen until 2051. Municipal Elections Law, was enacted. Its Article
10(2) indicated that the list of candidates should be
Table 1: Participation of women in the submitted in a single document: ‘2. The number
Legislature/Constituent Assembly that indicates the position of the candidates for
municipal council member on the list, which should
Year Percentage be constituted by not less than 25% men or women.’
As is apparent, the wording of both articles differs
Deputies Senators Congresspersons from that contained in Proposed Law No. 2574/96
CM-CR; the latter also includes men, thereby block-
1980 7.2% 3.3% - ing the possibility of electoral lists with candidates of
1985 5.6% 5.0% - a single sex. It should be noted that no electoral list
1990 5.6% 6.7% - has ever been made up exclusively of women, preci-
1992 - - 8.8% sely because of their historical exclusion from politi-
1995 - - 10.8% cal participation. Accordingly, a provision on electo-
ral quotas that includes men ‘dissimulates’ the natu-
Source: Movimiento Manuela Ramos. re of electoral quotas as a form of affirmative action
for women.
In March 1997, congresswomen Martha
Hildebrandt and Luz Salgado introduced Proposed The Municipal Elections
Law No. 2574/96-CM-CR, whose single article pro- of October 1998
vided that: ‘The lists of candidates for members of
Congress be made up of at least 25% women’. The The Electoral Supervision Work of the
Defensoría del Pueblo (Office of the Human Rights Defensoría del Pueblo Since 1998
Ombudsman) played a very active role in the pro- The Defensoría del Pueblo has supervised all elec-
cess, providing arguments to support the adoption of tions held in Peru since 1998. The first intervention
52
in the municipal elections that year involved respon- Table 2: Minimum Number of Women
of Quotas in Peru
Taking Stock of the Implementation
ding to a complaint by several citizens, male and Candidates on Electoral Lists
female, especially in the areas under the state of
emergency. In response to that request, the Composition of the Number of candidates
Defensoría del Pueblo organized the first supervisory municipal to satisfy the
effort in the cities of Andahuaylas, Huamanga, government 25% minimum
Huancavelica and Huancayo, and the near-by dis-
tricts. That supervision made it possible to verify the Mayor and 39 council members 10
precarious conditions for exercising democracy in Mayor and 15 council members 4
the emergency zones. In the district of Vinchos, in Mayor and 13 council members 4
Ayacucho, for example, the elections were held wit- Mayor and 11 council members 3
hout secret ballot booths, in the open air, and in the Mayor and 9 council members 3
company of armed members of the military. The Mayor and 7 council members 2
presence of the Defensoría del Pueblo on the Mayor and 5 council members 2
ground, and the photographic evidence that was pre-
sented, contributed to the National Elections Source: Resolution No. 280-98-JNE. Prepared by the
Tribunal’s decision to annul the election results in Defensoría del Pueblo.
that district.
One of the criteria for the Defensoría del Pueblo requested a copy of the resolution from the Special
to act with respect to elections has been preferential Elections Tribunal of Huancayo to study its reaso-
protection for the rights of women, adopting a gen- ning.
der perspective to promote and guarantee affirmati- In Resolution No. 11 of the Special Elections
ve action on their behalf.4 Tribunal of Huancayo of 8 September 1998, the fol-
lowing arguments are noted for registering the list of
The First Elections in which nine candidates for council members that lacked the
the Quota Applied requisite number of women.
In Peru’s elections, voting is by closed and blocked
lists, made up of the candidate for mayor and a cer- 1. The constitution does not provide that the elec-
tain number of local council members. Accordingly, toral lists must be made up of men and women,
the place of a given candidate is very important. If, and, accordingly, given the hierarchy of the laws,
for example, the municipal council has ten members, the constitution should prevail.
the winner gets six council members, as the law pro- 2. The failure to include a woman on the list cannot
vides that the winner has a majority. impede participation in the elections.
The National Elections Tribunal, by Resolution 3. Twenty-five percent of nine is 2.25, and this figu-
No. 280-98 JNE, of 11 June 1998, specified the re, according to the rules of mathematics, should
number of women or men who should be on the be rounded down to two, not up to three.
electoral lists to meet the minimum quota of at least
25 percent of the candidates being of one or the The Defensoría del Pueblo turned to the president of
other sex. See Table 2. the Special Elections Tribunal of Huancayo, indica-
ting that the National Elections Tribunal had fixed
Problems in Calculating the the number of women candidates at three when
Electoral Quota and the Intervention there are nine council members, because otherwise
of the Defensoría del Pueblo one would be in violation of the provision that requi-
The Special Elections Tribunal of Huancayo5 registe- res that at least 25 percent of the candidates on the
red a list of nine candidates for council members of lists be women: two represents 22 percent of nine. In
which only two were women, violating the provision addition, the president of the National Elections
of Resolution No. 280-98 JNE. Although the Tribunal was asked to disseminate complete infor-
National Elections Tribunal finally declared that mation on the quota system to avoid similar pro-
registration unlawful, the Defensoría del Pueblo blems in future elections.
53
Some lists included a woman candidate for mayor ment for increasing the participation of women
when calculating the 25 percent minimum. council members. The proportion of women local
Nonetheless, pursuant to Article 10(2) of the council members (regidoras provinciales y distritales)
Municipal Elections Law and Resolution No. 280- climbed from eight per cent to 24 percent. (See Table
JNE, the National Elections Tribunal rejected the 3.)
appeals by political organizations that had conside- In contrast, the increase in the number of women
red the woman candidate for mayor in calculating mayors (provincial and district) was practically negli-
the 25 percent minimum. In this context, several gible in relation to the municipal elections of 1995.
lists headed by women (Canta, Condesuyos, and dis- In the first case, there was an increase from six
tricts of Nazca), which had included the woman can- women provincial mayors to ten. (See Table 4.) The
didate for mayor in their calculations of the quota, number of women district mayors increased from 47
were kept from participating in the elections.6 to 48. (See Table 5.) The increase in the number of
women council members shows that they secured
The Results of Implementing good positions on the lists, even though the law only
Electoral Quotas requires that 25 percent of the candidates on the lists
Despite the problems noted, the implementation of be women. In the complementary elections of July
the quota system in the municipal elections of 1999, five illiterate women were elected to local
October 1998, and in the complementary elections councils; four of which were between the ages of 29
of July 1999, showed that it is an effective instru- and 36 at the time.7
Table 3: Number of Women Elected to Local Councils (Provincial and District)

in the 1995 and 1998-99 Municipal Elections
Number of council Percentage Number of council Percentage

members in 1995 members in 1998-99
Men 10,074 92 8,945 76

Women 933 8 2,826 24
Total 11,007 100 11,771 100
Source: Perú Compendio Estadístico 2001, INEI. Prepared by Defensoría del Pueblo.
Table 4: Women Provincial Mayors Elected in October 1998 and in July 1999
Provinces Number of women Provinces Number of women

mayors in 1995 mayors in 1998-99
La Mar (Ayacucho) 1 Casma, Ocros (Ancash) 2

Huánuco, Puerto Inca
(Huánuco) 2 Contumazá, San Miguel (Cajamarca) 2
Nazca (Ica) 1 Quispicanchis (Cusco) 1
Bolívar (La Libertad) 1 Puerto Inca (Huánuco) 1
Mariscal Nieto (Moquegua) 1 Oyón (Lima) 1
San Martín (San Martín) 1
Morropón 1
Yauli La Oroya (Junín) 1
Total 6 10
Source: National Office on Election Processes. Prepared by Movimiento Manuela Ramos.
54
Table 5: Women District Mayors Elected in various political parties, in many cases harmonizing
of Quotas in Peru
October 1998 and in July 1999 their family responsibilities with their public roles.9
However, there were a number of problems with the
Department Number of Number of implementation of the quota.
women mayors women mayors
1. A woman did not head a list.
In 1995 in 1998-99
2. Only 16 percent of the candidates in the first five
places of the lists were female.
Amazonas 3 6
3. Only 17 percent of the candidates in the first ten
Ancash 4 2
places were female.
Arequipa 4 2
4. Of the first 20 places, women occupied only 18.5
Ayacucho 2 2
per cent of them.
Cajamarca 2 4
5. Most of the women were in the bottom half of the
Cusco 5 4
list.10
Huancavelica 2 1
Huánuco 2 3 Moreover, of nine presidential slates, only three inclu-
Junín 4 2 ded women (Alianza Popular Revolucionaria
La Libertad 2 2 Americana (APRA), Solidaridad Nacional and Somos
Lima 12 12 Perú)
Loreto 1 1 The Programas para la Mujer (PROMUJER) con-
Moquegua - 2 sortium (Manuela Ramos, Calandria, Cedep and
Pasco - 1 Cesip) commissioned an exit poll from DATUM
Puno 2 1 Internacional, which was administered on 9 April
San Martín 1 2 2000 in Arequipa, Ayacucho, Callao, Huancayo,
Tumbes - 1 Huaraz, Lima, Maynas, Puno and Trujillo. It revealed
Ucayali 1 - that:
Total 47 48
1. more men than women made use of the preferen-
Source: National Office of Election Processes. Prepared by tial vote (84 percent of men and 82 percent of
Movimiento Manuela Ramos. women);
2. most of the electorate voted only for men: 70 per-
The General Elections of 9 April 2000 cent, counting both men and women, voted for
On 9 April 2000, elections were held for president, one or two male candidates;
vice-president and members of the national 3. a minority of the electorate voted only for women:
Congress. It is impossible to refer to those elections 14 percent, counting both men and women,
without recalling the many questions they raised, voted for one woman or two women;
among other reasons because of the lack of neutrali- 4. more women than men voted for women: 36 per-
ty on the part of some public officials, and the appa- cent of women, compared to 25 percent of men,
rent use of government resources to benefit the can- voted for at least one woman; and
didates of the Perú 2000 party, headed by former 5. More women than men voted only for women: 18
President Alberto Fujimori.8 percent of women voted for one or two women,
In 2000, the 25 percent quota was applied in con- while 11 percent of men did the same.11
gressional elections for the first time. According to
the election law, in legislative elections the voters In all, 22 percent of the members elected were
have the option of the preferential vote. The first women, that is, 26 women legislators were elected.
effect of the quota law was to increase the percenta- Implementing the quotas led to a doubling in the
ge of women candidates for Congress, from 11 per- number of women legislators. In 1995, 13 women
cent in 1995 to 26 percent in 2000. As Ana María had been elected, accounting for 11 percent of the
Yáñez has indicated, this resulted in more women total. Of all the women legislators elected, 20 were
learning about the internal mechanisms of the elected for the first time, and six were re-elected. Only
55
two women candidates who ran for re-election lost.12 electoral districts were introduced, and an increase in
Thanks to the preferential vote (open lists), of the the electoral quota from 25 to 30 percent for elec-
26 congresswomen elected, 16 improved their positions of members of the national Congress.
tion on the list. Ten witnessed a decline in their posi- Under the multiple district system, Peru was divi-
tion. A larger share of the women saw their position ded into 25 electoral districts, each corresponding to
rise, that is, 65 percent, compared to 63 percent for one seat, and the National Elections Tribunal was
men.13 In three cases, women garnered the largest vested with the authority to distribute the remaining
number of votes of all candidates on the list, even 95 seats proportional to the number of voters in each
though none of them headed up their respective list. district; all voters residing abroad are considered to
These were Mercedes Cabanillas14 of the APRA, Ana be within the electoral district of Lima. Resolution
Elena Towsend of Somos Perú and Gloria Helfer of No. 057-2001-JNE, published on 18 January 2001,
the Union por el Perú (UPP). set the number of seats that corresponds to each elec-
toral district.
The 2001 Congressional Elections and
Multiple Electoral Districts The Erroneous Calculation of the Electoral
Pursuant to the agreements reached in the dialogue Quota and the Intervention of the Defensoría
facilitated by the Organization of American States del Pueblo
(OAS), former President Alberto Fujimori called Resolution No. 068-2001-JNE, issued by the
general elections for the president, vice-presidents, National Elections Tribunal and published in El
and members of Congress, by Supreme Decree No. Peruano on 24 January 2001, included the following
028-2000-PCM, published on 10 November 2000. table, detailing the number of members of Congress
President Valentín Paniagua ratified the call for gene- needed to comply with the electoral quota of 30 per-
ral elections in Supreme Decree No. 031-2000- cent. (See Table 6.)
PCM, published on 2 December 2000. Nonetheless, one may note that, in the electoral
For this election, it was necessary to amend the districts of Ica and Callao the quota represented only
constitution and the Organic Electoral Law. Law 25 percent of all candidates. And in La Libertad the
No. 27,365, the Law on Constitutional Reform, quota represented 28.5 percent. Accordingly, there
published in the official gazette El Peruano of 5 were only 44 women candidates instead of 47, as
November 2000, did away with the possibility of should have been the case if the minimum quota of
immediate re-election of the president, reduced the 30 percent had been applied in all of the electoral
presidential term and the congressional terms of the districts. In these three cases, on calculating the
authorities elected in the 2000 general elections, and quota and obtaining a fractional number, the
cut the lead time for public officials to resign in case National Elections Tribunal rounded down instead
they wished to run for a seat in Congress.15 of up, resulting in a quota of less than 30 percent. It
forgot that the law notes that the quota prescribes a
The Recommendation of the Defensoría del minimum number for each list.
Pueblo to the Congress of the Republic to Consequently, in order to forestall the violation of
Increase the Electoral Quota women’s rights, in Official Note DP-2001-081 of 31
In Official Note No. DP 2000-1080, of 15 January 2001, the Human Rights Ombudsman cal-
November 2000, the Human Rights Ombudsman led on the National Elections Tribunal to amend
recommended to the Congress, through the chair of Resolution No. 068-2001-JNE, solely for the purpo-
the Committee on Constitution and Regulation, se of setting at two the minimum number of women
that the electoral quota be raised from 25 percent to candidates for the electoral districts of Ica and
30 percent and that multiple electoral districts be Callao, and at three for the electoral district of La
established. Libertad. That appeal took into account that Article
Law No. 27,387, of 29 December 2000, amended 116 of the Organic Electoral Law plainly indicates
several articles of Law No. 26,859, the Organic that ‘the lists of candidates to the Congress in each
Electoral Law. The amendments include changes to electoral district should include a number not less
Articles 21 and 116, by virtue of which multiple than 30 per cent women or men’, making it possible,
56
therefore, to establish a percentage greater than the Peruano, the National Elections Tribunal rejected
of Quotas in Peru
requisite minimum. A similar request to the the request for rectification of Resolution No. 068-
National Elections Tribunal was made by the chair- 2001-JNE, formulated by the Defensoría del Pueblo,
woman of the Committee on Women and Human the chairwomen of the Committee on Women and
Development of the national Congress, and by the Human Development, and the Movimiento
Movimiento Manuela Ramos. Manuela Ramos. It should be pointed out that the
It should be noted that the term for registering National Elections Tribunal is the final forum for
candidacies was to expire on 8 February 2001, which appeal on electoral matters, and so its rulings are not
is why the request of the Defensoría del Pueblo was subject to appeal.16
entirely appropriate. Nonetheless, the National Resolution No. 122-2001-JNE, failing to heed
Elections Tribunal did not rectify Resolution No. the nature of affirmative action, noted in its conside-
068-2001-JNE. To the contrary, via Resolution No. rations section the following points.
122-2001-JNE, published on 7 February 2001 in El
Table 6: Number of Members of Parliament Needed to Comply with

the 30 Percent Electoral Quota
Number Electoral Congresspersons Number of candidates Minimum number of

districts for each district for each list male or female
candidates for each list
1 Amazonas 2 3 1
2 Ancash 5 5 2
3 Apurímac 2 3 1
4 Arequipa 5 5 2
5 Ayacucho 3 3 1
6 Cajamarca 5 5 2
7 Cusco 5 5 2
8 Huancavelica 2 3 1
9 Huánuco 3 3 1
10 Ica 4 4 1
11 Junín 5 5 2
12 La Libertad 7 7 2
13 Lambayeque 5 5 2
14 Lima and abroad 35 35 11
15 Loreto 3 3 1
16 Madre de Dios 1 3 1
17 Moquegua 2 3 1
18 Pasco 2 3 1
19 Piura 6 6 2
20 Puno 5 5 2
21 San Martín 3 3 1
22 Tacna 2 3 1
23 Tumbes 2 3 1
24 Ucayali 2 3 1
25 Callao 4 4 1
Total 120 130 44
Source: National Elections Tribunal.
57
1. The electoral legislation on quotas for the politi- of the National Democratic Institute for
cal participation of citizens is not directed exclu- International Affairs (NDI) and the Carter Center,
sively towards the female sex. Accordingly, such on 9 March 2001, mentioned the existence of an
measures, which contribute to consolidating error in calculating the number of places accorded to
legal equality between the sexes, cannot be con- women candidates for the lists for Congress in La
sidered discriminatory. Libertad, Ica and Callao, and emphasized that, if this
2. Resolution No. 068-2001-JNE established gene- problem were not resolved in this election, the aut-
rally, proportionally, and equitably the mini- horities should at least acknowledge their mistake
mum number of women and men who should and ensure that it not recur. Yet nothing of the sort
constitute the lists of candidates to the Congress, happened.
thus there is no gender discrimination. On 28 February 2001, the Movimiento Manuela
3. Political participation is ‘a right of the parties Ramos sent a communication to Eva Zetterberg, the
whose essential requirement is freely-given con- Chief of the Observer Mission from the European
sent, in keeping with the provisions of Article Union, on the failure to abide by the electoral quo-
118 of Law No. 26,859,17 has been provided for tas.
generally’. By Resolution No. 295-2001-JNE, published on
4 April in El Peruano, the National Elections
In this context, the Ombudsman called on the Tribunal rejected the appeal by the Ombudsman
Special Elections Tribunals of La Libertad, Ica, and regarding Resolution No. 029-2001-JEEI, issued by
Callao, as organs entrusted with administering elec- the Special Elections Tribunal of Ica. In the conside-
toral justice, and responsible for implementing the rations section of Resolution No. 295-2001-JNE,
provisions of Articles 5118 and 13819 of the constitu- the National Elections Tribunal noted:
tion, to accord preference to protecting the rights to
equality and political participation recognized in That ... Mr. Walter Albán Peralta requested of
Articles 2(2), 2(17) and 2(31) of the constitution the National Elections Tribunal that it amend
over any lesser-ranking provision, such as Resolution Resolution No. 068-2001-JNE, considering that
No. 068-2001-JNE. Accordingly, he called on them it reduces the opportunities for women’s political
to verify that the lists of candidates presented by the participation; the request was rejected by
political groupings complied with the minimum Resolution No. 122-2001-JNE of 5 February
expressly established by the electoral law, requiring 2001, as the electoral legislation on reserving
that they rectify any errors in the shortest possible quotas to guarantee the political participation of
time. citizens is directed to both sexes, without favou-
By Resolution of 9 February 2001, the Special ring one exclusively to the detriment of the
Elections Tribunal of Ica decided not to accept the other, which would, to the contrary, entail gen-
request made by the Defensoría del Pueblo; the der-based discrimination.
Human Rights Ombudsman appealed that ruling, so
that the National Elections Tribunal could review The National Elections Tribunal confirmed its lack
the case. The appeal was granted. It should be noted of familiarity with affirmative action and with the
that the Defensoría del Pueblo did not receive any implications of the principle of equality.
response from the Special Elections Tribunals of La Accordingly, in three electoral districts, the general
Libertad or Callao. elections of 8 April 2001 were held without respec-
The problem brought about by failure to comply ting the rights of women to equality and to be free
with the minimum 30 percent quota in three electo- from discrimination in political participation.
ral districts resulted in questions being raised on this In a letter dated 11 April 2001, Zetterberg expres-
point in the first report to evaluate the 2001 elec- sed her concern about the situation of Peruvian
tions (Primer Informe de Evaluación del Proceso women to the Movimiento Manuela Ramos. For this
Electoral 2001), issued on 16 February 2001 by the reason, the Preliminary Report of the European
civic association Transparencia. In addition, the sta- Union Election Observation Mission (8 April 2001)
tement issued by the second pre-electoral delegation expressly indicated that:
58
‘In the area of rights, we should refer to issues of Table 7: Gender Breakdown of Candidates for
of Quotas in Peru
discrimination. To foster women’s representa- Congress, 2000
tion, which has traditionally suffered from discri-
minatory practices, a minimum proportion of Candidates Number Percentage
thirty percent has been established to seek a
balance between the sexes in the presentation of Men 1,020 64
candidacies. It has not always been respected, Women 575 36
and claims have not been upheld’. (English trans- Total 1,595 100
lation).
Sources: ONPE, 2001, Participation and Leadership
Additionally, the Movimiento Manuela Ramos filed Program (PROMUJER) of the Movimiento Manuela
a complaint with the OAS Election Observation Ramos. Prepared by Defensoría del Pueblo.
Mission regarding the failure to comply with quotas
in the 2001 general elections. On 16 April 2001, Table 8: Number of Congresspersons Elected,
Héctor García, the mission’s Compliance Officer, by Gender and Electoral District
informed the Movimiento Manuela Ramos that, on
Electoral district Women Men Total
12 March, he had requested information from the
National Elections Tribunal on the processing of that
Amazonas 0 2 2
complaint, yet to date no official response had been
Ancash 1 4 5
forthcoming. Indeed, the Movimiento Manuela Apurímac 0 2 2
Ramos never received any information indicating Arequipa 1 4 5
that any official response was ever given to the OAS Ayacucho 1 2 3
mission. Cajamarca 1 4 5
In the 11 July 2001 Final Report of the Cusco 0 5 5
NDI/Carter Center (Joint Election Observation Huancavelica 1 1 2
Project), under the heading Election Administration Huánuco 0 3 3
and Procedures, it was expressly stated that, in the Ica 0 4 4
2001 election, the 30 percent quota was not attained Junín 0 5 5
in the districts of La Libertad, Ica or Callao. La Libertad 2 5 7
Having exhausted domestic remedies, the Lambayeque 0 5 5
Defensoría del Pueblo deemed it appropriate to Lima 11 24 35
lodge a petition with the Inter-American Commis- Loreto 0 3 3
Madre de Dios 0 1 1
sion on Human Rights. That petition is discussed
Moquegua 0 2 2
later in this paper.
Pasco 0 2 2
Piura 1 5 6
The Number of Women Candidates and the
Puno 2 3 5
Number of Women Elected to Congress San Martín 0 3 3
Tacna 0 2 2
In the 2000 congressional elections, 36 percent of Tumbes 0 22
the candidates running for a seat in Congress were Callao 1 3 4
women, up from 25 percent in 2000. (See Table 7.) Percentage 18% 82% 100%
Of nine presidential slates, six included a woman.
Nonetheless, despite the increase in the number of Source: ONPE 2001.
women candidates, only 22 women were elected to
Congress, accounting for 18 percent of the mem- district of Lima. This suggests the need to build
bers. (See Table 8.) women’s leadership locally.
As can be seen, in only ten of the 25 electoral dis- Once again, three women in Lima won the largest
tricts did women win a seat. Moreover, 50 percent number of votes of any candidate from their respec-
(11) of the 22 women elected are from the electoral tive parties: Ana Elena Towsend from Perú Posible,
59
who occupied fifth place on her list;20 Mercedes The Intervention of the Defensoría del Pueblo
Cabanillas of the APRA, who was first on her list this ‘Too many women’ as Grounds for Disallowing the
time; and Luz Salgado Rubianes: Cambio 90 Nueva Registration of the Electoral List
Mayoría, who was also first on her list.
Of the 22 women who won seats in Congress, 11 By Resolution No. 240-2002-JEE/ANDA-J of 28
have been re-elected, all in Lima. Thanks to the pre- August 2002, the Special Elections Tribunal of
ferential vote, 41 percent of the women improved Andahuaylas declared ‘null and void and without
their placement in relation to their original places on any legal effect whatsoever’ the provisional registra-
the list, as compared to 39 percent of the men. tion of the list of candidates of the Unidad Nacional
Nonetheless, 18 percent of the women candidates for the municipal elections in the province of
saw their position on the list drop, compared to 14 Chincheros, department of Apurímac. In addition,
percent of the male candidates. Moreover, 41 percent when an effort was made to bring the list into com-
of the women remained in their assigned place, while pliance, it declared the registration of that list ‘out of
47 per cent of the men did not change place.21 order’. It based its resolution on the failure to abide
by the procedural requirements, as it had been noted
The 2002 Municipal Elections and the that there were ‘more women council members than
Increase in the Electoral Quota provided for in Resolution No. 186-2002-JNE’.
Law No. 27,734, published in the official gazette El In the context of its electoral supervision work,
Peruano on 28 May 2002, amended the Municipal the Defensoría del Pueblo called on the Special
Elections Law (Law No. 26,864). Among the chan- Elections Tribunal of Andahuaylas to amend
ges was an amendment to Article 10, providing that Resolution No. 240-2002-JEE/ANDA-J, and orde-
the lists of candidates are to be presented in a single red the definitive registration of the Unidad
document, and must contain: Nacional list. In addition, it explained that the 30
percent quota is a minimum percentage aimed at
‘3. The number that indicates the position of the fostering the political participation of women.22 The
candidates for local council member on the list, Special Elections Tribunal answered that it had alre-
which should be made up of at least thirty per- ady amended the resolution in question, and had
cent (30%) men or women, and at least fifteen definitively registered the Unidad Nacional list.
percent (15%) representatives of native commu-
nities and indigenous peoples of each province, Failure to Abide by the Minimum Quota of 30
where they exist, in keeping with the determina- Percent in the Electoral Lists
tions of the National Elections Tribunal’.
In its supervisory work, the Defensoría del Pueblo
By Resolution No. 186-2002-JNE of 11 June 2002,
detected that several lists had been registered that
the National Elections Tribunal resolved:
violated the requirement that 30 percent of candida-
‘Single Article. Establishing the minimum num- tes for local council members be women in the pro-
ber of male and female candidates who must be vinces of Tumbes and Zarumilla, and in the district
on the lists of candidates for members of the of Matapalo. The Defensoría del Pueblo turned to
municipal councils (provincial and district) of the Special Elections Tribunal of Tumbes, urging it
the Republic for the municipal elections of 2002, to adopt the measures necessary for the lists to com-
as follows.’ (See Table 9.) ply with the minimum number of women candida-
As illustrated above, in contrast to what happened in tes required in each case.
the 2001 general elections, and probably due to the The Special Elections Tribunal of Tumbes answe-
complaint lodged with the IACHR, on this occa- red that it had rejected the registration of those lists,
sion, the National Elections Tribunal correctly calcu- and that most of the political parties and movements
lated the minimum quota of 30 percent female can- had presented an appeal to the National Elections
didates. Tribunal, which is why it had lost jurisdiction over
the lists that failed to include the number of women
required by law. These cases were part of a larger
60
Table 9: Minimum Number of Male or Female Candidates for Municipal Council Elections
of Quotas in Peru
Order Make-up of the 30% of all candidates Minimum number of male or
Municipal Council female candidates
1 Council with 39 members 11.7 12

Source: Resolution No. 186-2002-JNE, 11 June 2002, National Elections Tribunal.
body of lists that had not complied with the 30 per- es that, when a candidate appears on two or more
cent legal minimum, and whose registration had lists, he or she has a period of ‘2 (two) calendar days’
been rejected by the respective special elections tri- to indicate expressly on which list he or she should
bunals. Part of the problem originated in the scant appear. The last paragraph of that provision adds
dissemination and knowledge of the electoral quota. that, if the list shows the same candidate in more
The National Elections Tribunal rejected the than one place, then the whole list will be void,
appeals, affirming the ruling of the special elections ‘unless that error is cured in the time period set by
tribunals that rejected the registration of the lists that law’. Accordingly, an interpretation of such provi-
had failed to abide by the minimum quota of 30 per- sions favourable to the right to political participa-
cent. tion, in the opinion of the Defensoría del Pueblo,
would enable the National Elections Tribunal to set
The Call Issued by the Defensoría del Pueblo to the criteria of interpretation to make it possible for such
National Elections Tribunal political groupings to rectify the problem within a
The Defensoría del Pueblo directed a communica- very short time, which, taking into account Article
tion to the National Elections Tribunal, proposing a 118, could be set at two calendar days. Nonetheless,
way to resolve the problem that would be most the National Elections Tribunal adopted a different
favourable to the right to political participation. The standard.
Defensoría del Pueblo proposed the possibility of
rectifying, within two days, the failure of some poli- The Restrictive Interpretation Rendered by the
tical groupings to comply. National Elections Tribunal
While there is no express provision that establishes The National Elections Tribunal ruled favourably on
that the Special Elections Tribunals can offer a dead- the appeals by the political groupings that failed to
line for rectifying the failure to meet the minimum comply with the minimum electoral quota. In effect,
electoral quota, it was fitting to interpret two provi- departing from the standard adopted in Resolution
sions of the Organic Electoral Law, No. 26,859, No. 186-2002-JNE, it approved the registration of
applied on a supplementary basis to municipal elec- lists with less than 30 percent women candidates,
tions, so as to maximize the impact of the right to since they had included the woman candidate for
political participation, one of whose expressions was mayor in the calculation. For example, Resolution
the ability to present lists of candidates. No. 372-2002, published in the official gazette El
In effect, Article 95 of the Organic Electoral Law Peruano on 12 September 2002, reads, in part, as
indicates with respect to registering lists of signatures follows:
of supporters that ‘any flaw in the request for regi-
stration may be rectified by order of the National ‘... even though appellant had not complied with
Elections Tribunal’. In addition, Article 118 specifi- the provision of Article 10(3) of Law No.
61
26,864, in terms of the percentages by gender in es and indigenous peoples from each region
the list of candidates for municipal council mem- where they exist, as determined by the National
ber, it is also the case that the said percentage Elections Tribunal’.
does not suffer any change if one adds the
woman candidate for mayor to the number of According to the election laws, the election of regio-
council members ... nal authorities is by closed and blocked list.
... accordingly, departing from the standard esta- By Resolution No. 185-2002-JNE of 11 June
blished in a prior ruling, in the case of lists in 2002, the National Elections Tribunal resolved ‘to
which the candidate for mayor is a woman, and establish the minimum number of male or female
if, adding her to the number of women candida- candidates who must be on the lists of candidates for
tes on the list of candidates for council member the Regional Councils of the Republic to be formed
the minimum number set in Resolution 186- for the 2002 regional elections, as follows’. (See
2002-JNE is attained, then that requirement Table 10.)
shall be considered to have been met’.23 As can be seen in Resolution No. 185-2002-JNE,
the National Elections Tribunal calculated the 30
Consequently, several lists that did not comply with percent minimum quota appropriately.
the requirement that 30 percent of candidates for
municipal council be women nonetheless participa- The Restrictive Interpretation by the National
ted in the elections. Elections Tribunal
Nonetheless, as in the previous case, the National
The Lack of Results to Date Elections Tribunal allowed lists of council members
On 17 November 2002, municipal and regional that only ‘met’ the 30 percent minimum by inclu-
elections were held. However, the Jurado Nacional ding the women candidates for regional president
de Elecciones (JNE) (the National Board of and vice-president in the calculation. For example, in
Elections) has not yet provided the data from the Resolution No. 445-2002-JNE, published on 15
125 Special Elections Tribunals, so as to make it pos- September 2002, one reads:
sible to assess the impact of the quotas on the muni-
cipal elections. ‘Notwithstanding ... non-compliance with the
gender percentage referring to candidates for
The Regional Elections of 2002 regional council member ... it should be borne in
Law No. 27,680, the Law on Constitutional Reform mind that the percentage does not suffer any
of Chapter XIV of Title IV, on decentralization, change if, to the number of council members
published on 7 March 2002, amended Article 191 of provided for, one adds woman candidates for
the constitution, indicating as follows: ‘The law esta- president or vice-president’.24
blishes minimum percentages to make accessible the
representation of gender, native communities and The Participation of Women in Regional
indigenous peoples on the Regional Councils’. The Governments
same treatment is applied to Municipal Councils. Women accounted for 37 percent of the candidates
Law No. 27,683, the Law on Regional Elections, for regional council members. The percentage of
published on 15 March, Article 12, on the registra- candidates for regional president and vice-president
tion of lists of candidates, provides as follows: was much lower (seven percent and 15 percent,
respectively). (See Table 11.)
‘The list of candidates to the Regional Council Women’s political participation in the regional
should be made up of one candidate from each governments is reflected in figures provided by the
province, in the order in which the party or Movimiento Manuela Ramos on the results of the
movement decides, including one runner-up in regional elections (see tables 12, 13 and 14).
each case; also, of no less than thirty per cent
(30%) men or women, and at least fifteen per
cent (15%) representatives of native communiti-
62
Quotas and the Regional System for breached the following provisions of the American
of Quotas in Peru
the Protection of Human Rights Convention on Human Rights.
As indicated above, the Defensoría del Pueblo deci-
ded to lodge a petition with the IACHR, for failure 1. The right to equality and non-discrimination
to comply with the minimum quota of 30 percent in recognized in Articles 1(1) and 24, to the detri-
the general elections of 8 April 2001. This non-com- ment of the women of Ica, Callao and La
pliance occurred in three of the 25 electoral districts. Libertad who had the chance of becoming can-
In effect, the National Elections Tribunal established didates to the national Congress.
a quota of 25 percent in Ica and Callao, and a quota 2. The right to political participation recognized in
of 28 percent in La Libertad. Article 23, to the detriment of the citizens refer-
The Defensoría del Pueblo and the Movimiento red to above and to the detriment of Katia
Manuela Ramos submitted the petition in August Chumo García and others who did not have a
2001. The petitioners adduced that the Peruvian reasonable number of women among the candi-
state, through the National Elections Tribunal, had dates to be elected.
Table 10: Minimum Number of Male or Female Candidates for Regional Council Election Lists
Regions Council members 30% of all candidates Minimum number of

for each region male or female candidates
1 Amazonas 7 2.1 3
2 Ancash 20 6 6
3 Apurímac 7 2.1 3
4 Arequipa 8 2.4 3
5 Ayacucho 11 3.3 4
6 Cajamarca 13 3.9 4
7 Cusco 13 3.9 4
8 Huancavelica 7 2.1 3
9 Huánuco 11 3.3 4
10 Ica 7 2.1 3
11 Junín 9 2.7 3
12 La Libertad 12 3.6 4
13 Lambayeque 7 2.1 3
14 Lima 9 2.7 3
15 Loreto 7 2.1 3
16 Madre de Dios 7 2.1 3
17 Moquegua 2.1 2.1 3
18 Pasco 7 2.1 3
19 Piura 8 2.4 3
20 Puno 13 3.9 4
21 San Martín 10 3 3
22 Tacna 7 2.1 3
23 Tumbes 7 2.1 3
24 Ucayali 7 2.1 3
25 Callao 7 2.1 3
Total 228 68.4 84
Source: Resolution No. 185-2002-JNE, 11 June 2002.
63
3. The obligation to respect and ensure the rights action that necessarily benefits them. Nor was there
recognized in the convention, set forth in Article any legal or mathematical impossibility standing in
1(1). the way of applying the minimum quota of 30 per-
cent, considering that, with the establishment of a
The Peruvian state responded to the petition by minimum percentage by law, the figure had to be
arguing that domestic remedies had not been rounded up to the next whole number, to get one
exhausted, and that: more woman candidate, in the electoral districts of
Ica, Callao and La Libertad. Finally, the petitioners
1. Article 116 of the Organic Electoral Law did not affirmed that it was not clear what the Peruvian state
enshrine a quota for women, for the Congress was referring to in arguing physical ‘impossibility’,
legislated against the exclusive predominance of unless it meant that there were not enough women,
one or the other gender in the legislative elec- which was also a false claim.
tions; and The petition submitted was admitted with the
2. it was mathematically, legally, and physically issuance of Report No. 51/02 on Admissibility, by
impossible to comply with the percentage of 30 the IACHR, of 25 October 2002. On 13 January
percent established in said Article 116. 2003, the Defensoría del Pueblo and the
Movimiento Manuela Ramos expressed their wil-
Given the weak arguments presented by the Peruvian lingness to pursue a friendly settlement with the
state, the response to its answer was quite simple. Peruvian state in regard to this case. The hope of the
According to Article 181 of the constitution, the petitioners is that this case can serve as a precedent
National Elections Tribunal is the forum of last for respecting electoral quotas in Latin America, con-
resort in electoral matters. Historically, women have sidering the different problems that have arisen in
been excluded from public life, therefore a provision the region in connection with the implementation of
that contains an electoral quota is an affirmative such affirmative action measures.25
Table 11: Candidates in the Regional Lists, by Type of Post
Regional post Number of women candidates Total candidates
Regional president 15 (7%) 225

Vice-president 34 (15%) 225
First council member 38 (17%) 225
Council member 756 (37%) 2,048
Total 843 (31%) 2,723
Source: National Elections Tribunal. Prepared by the Civil Rights Program of the Movimiento Manuela Ramos,
November 2002.
Table 12: Regional Presidents Elected
Presidents Number Percentage
Men 22 88
Women 3 12
Total 25 100
Source: Right to Political and Citizen Participation Program of the Movimiento Manuela Ramos. Prepared by
Defensoría del Pueblo.
64
Table 13: Vice-Presidents Elected
of Quotas in Peru
Vice-presidents Number Percentage
Men 21 84
Women 4 16
TOTAL 25 100
Source: Right to Political and Citizen Participation Program of the Movimiento Manuela Ramos. Prepared by
Defensoría del Pueblo.
Table 14: Council Members Elected in Regional Governments
Council members Number Percentage
Men 178 78
Women 50 22
TOTAL 228 100
Source: JNE, January 2003. Prepared by Right to Political and Citizen Participation Program of the Movimiento
Manuela Ramos
Conclusions other things, regulates the mechanisms for constitu-

Despite the problems concerning the interpretation ting the electoral lists, and provides for affirmative
of quotas, they have met their objective of increasing action for women within the political parties. A
the presence of women in public office. Nonetheless, deadline for rectifying non-compliance with the
it is to be recommended that the electoral laws on electoral quota needs to be incorporated into the
quotas be amended to affirm clearly that they con- electoral laws, so as to avoid interpretations that
stitute an affirmative action for women. Further- restrict the right of women to participate in political
more, in the case of voting with closed and blocked life.
lists, one should introduce, in addition to the quota, It is hoped that the finding of the IACHR that the
a mechanism to provide for the placement of women petition presented by the Defensoría del Pueblo and
on those lists, to ensure that they not be relegated to the Movimiento Manuela Ramos is admissible will
the last places. set a precedent for gaining respect for electoral quo-
The figures indicate that the larger the electoral tas in Latin America.
district, the larger the number of women elected.
However, the multiple district system has shown that
it is necessary to work on building local women’s lea- Notes
dership, given the number of electoral districts in 1 Article 204 of the 1993 Constitution provides
which not a single woman was elected in the 2001 that ‘Women with the right to vote in munici-
general elections. pal elections may be elected to the Municipal
The preferential vote has tended to benefit Councils.’ Nonetheless, under Law No. 12,391,
women, especially those who are national leaders or Articles 84, 86, and 88 of the 1933
well-known local leaders. Nonetheless, even though Constitution were amended so as to grant
women have come first in terms of the number of women citizenship:
votes garnered, and have even won internal elections, ‘Single Article. Articles 84, 86, and 88 of the
they have not always headed up the lists. There is a Constitution are replaced by the following:
pressing need for a political party law that, among Article 84. Male and female Peruvians of age,
65
those married who are over 18 years of age, and Castillo, who headed up the list. See
those emancipated are citizens. Movimiento Manuela Ramos. 2000. El Cuarto
Article 86. Those citizens who can read and Femenino. Year 2, No. 7, (March), p. 5.
write shall enjoy the right to vote ...’. 15 On the amendments to the Organic Electoral
2 Data from the presentation by Martha Law, see Movimiento Manuela Ramos. 2000.
Hildebrandt in the Committee on Women’s El Cuarto Femenino. Year 2, No. 9, (December).
Affairs of the Congress of the Republic, on the 16 The Inter-American Commission on Human
proposed law on quotas for the electoral lists. Rights, in Report No. 119/99 of 6 October
3 See Report No. 002-DP-DM presented by the 1999 (Case 11,428), noted that the provisions
Defensoría del Pueblo in relation to Proposed of the Peruvian legal order that provide that the
Law No. 2,574/96-CM-CR. See also Yáñez, rulings of the National Elections Tribunal ‘are
Ana María. 1998. “Lo que hizo el movimiento final and non-appealable, and are not subject to
de mujeres por las cuotas políticas: un camino any review[;] [t]here is no remedy against
que tomó siete años”. In Poder Político con per- them’, violated the right to simple and prompt
fume de mujer. Las cuotas en el Perú, Lima: recourse, as provided for in Article 25 of the
PROMUJER, (August), pp. 15-20. American Convention on Human Rights.
4 See Resolución Defensorial No. 63-99/DP. 17 Law No. 26,859, Article 118: ‘No candidate,
5 Law No. 26,859. Article 44: ‘The Special without his or her consent, may be included on
Election Tribunals are temporary organs created a list of candidates for the Congress of the
for each election or popular consultation. The Republic and the Andean Parliament’.
functions of the Special Election Tribunals are 18 Constitution of 1993, Article 51: ‘The
those established in the Organic Law on the Constitution prevails over all statutory provi-
National Elections Tribunal and in this law’. sions, over provisions of lesser rank, and so on.
Law No. 26,486. Article 36(f ): ‘The Special Publication is essential for any provision adop-
Election Tribunals shall have the following ted by the State to enter into force’.
functions within their respective jurisdiction: 19 Constitution of 1993, Article 138: ‘In any pro-
To administer, in the first instance, justice in ceeding, if there is an incompatibility between a
electoral matters’. constitutional provision and a statutory provi-
6 Movimiento Manuela Ramos. 2002. El Cuarto sion, the judges shall accord preference to the
Femenino. Year 4, No. 15, (November), p. 46. first. In addition, they shall prefer the statutory
7 (Movimiento Manuela Ramos). 1999. El provision over any other provision of lesser
Cuarto Femenino. Year 1, No. 5, (October), rank’.
p. 4. 20 Despite garnering the largest number of votes
8 See Defensoría del Pueblo. 2000. Elecciones of any candidate for Perú Posible, Ana Elena
2000 (supervisory report). (May), Lima: Towsend was not elected speaker of the
Defensoría del Pueblo. Congress.
9 Yáñez, Ana María. See the introduction, El 21 Movimiento Manuela Ramos. 2001. El Cuarto
Cuarto Femenino, March 2000, Year 2, No. 7, Femenino. Year 3, No. 11, (July).
p. 3. 22 Case No. 9918-02 DP-DM.
10 Ibid., pp. 4-5. 23 The Movimiento Manuela Ramos published a
11 Movimiento Manuela Ramos. 2000. El Cuarto compilation of 31 lists in which the woman
Femenino. Year 2, No. 8, (June), p. 15. candidate for mayor was considered in the
12 Ibid., p. 18. number that met the 30 percent quota. See
13 Ibid., p. 22. Movimiento Manuela Ramos. 2002. El Cuarto
14 The case of Mercedes Cabanillas is unique. Femenino. Year 4, No. 15, (November), pp.
Even though she won the internal elections in 48-53.
her party, she was not placed first on the list. 24 The Movimiento Manuela Ramos published a
Cabanillas jumped from fourth to first place, compilation of four lists in which the candida-
with three times as many votes as Jorge del tes for president and vice-president of the
66
region were considered as part of the number
of Quotas in Peru
that met the 30 percent quota. See Movimiento
Manuela Ramos. 2002. El Cuarto Femenino.
Year 4, No. 15, (November), pp. 53-54.
25 See Villanueva, Rocío. 1999-2000.
“Participación política de las mujeres: ¿favor,
mérito o ejercicio de derecho? El camino de las
cuotas en América Latina.” In No. 2. Lima:
Defensoría del Pueblo, pp. 37-60.
67
3
3. Quotas in Practice: The Challenge of
Implementation and Enforcement
3.1. Overview of Presentations 120 percent to a maximum of 150 percent of seats to
Evidence from Latin America suggests that, while be filled.
quota laws may be enacted in legislation, a real chal- Although the number of women candidates incre-
lenge lies in ensuring that quotas are implemented in ased in the elections in 1998 and 2002, none of the
practice. The third session focused on the challenges political parties observed the quota and reached the
of implementing and enforcing quotas, with case 30 percent mark. Araújo argues that positive results
studies of Brazil, Bolivia, Costa Rica and Mexico. derived from quotas appear to be conditioned by a
Argentina was the first country to introduce elec- host of factors, such as the strength of the women’s
toral gender quotas in 1991, and many other coun- lobby within the party structure, the political cultu-
tries in Latin America have followed suit. The infor- re and the nature of the electoral system. In the case
mation provided in Peschard’s introductory paper of Brazil, the latter played an important role in the
illustrates that the outcome of the implementation of implementation of quotas. Electoral lists in Brazil are
quotas differs tremendously among the countries of open, and voters can choose to vote for individual
Latin America. There are only two states in the candidates on a list. Araújo claims that this affected
region that exceed 30 percent, namely Argentina the nature of competition within parties, and had a
with a 30 percent quota law and Costa Rica with a negative affect on women, who often do not have
40 percent quota law. At the other end of the spec- access to funding to run an elaborate election cam-
trum are countries like Brazil and Bolivia, where, paign. Further factors that weaken the Brazilian
despite the existence of quota provisions of 30 per- quota law relate to the lists themselves. First, accor-
cent, female representation is below 10 percent. The ding to the law, if one gender on the lists does not
real challenge, therefore, lies in the enforcement of meet the minimum established percentage (30 per-
quotas in different countries. cent from 2002), candidates of the opposite sex can-
Clara Araújo explains that the debate on quotas in not fill the gap. But the parties are not obliged to
Brazil began in the late 1980s at a time when demo- occupy all positions; there are no sanctions for not
cracy returned to the country. The Labour doing so. Second, the 1997 legislation increased the
Democratic Party (PDT) and the Workers’ Party number of competing candidates by 50 percent. In
(PT) first adopted political party quotas for national other words, a party can present up to 150 percent of
and regional directories in 1986 and 1991 respecti- the candidates for the total number of seats to be fil-
vely. Other parties have since followed suit, with led. It is difficult to fill the seats, and alterations to
quotas varying between 20 and 30 percent. list formation proceedings are not enforced, since the
However, Brazil differs from other Latin American total number of places is big enough to include all.
countries in the sense that political parties did not The implementation of gender quotas is no easy
introduce quotas for their lists of candidates for elec- task, irrespective of where they are introduced.
tion. Additionally, before the quota law was adopted, Resistance and counter-arguments are part of the
there was no organized women’s lobby within the process everywhere, including in Latin America, as
political parties that could demand a quota for can- shown by all of the papers presented at the work-
didate lists for election. The first law on quotas was shop. Arguably the most successful example of elec-
passed in 1995, under which 20 percent of candida- toral quota implementation in Latin America is pro-
tes in municipal elections were to be women. The vided by Costa Rica. In 1996, an amendment to the
law was approved with little debate or resistance. In Electoral Code was adopted establishing a minimum
1997, a law was passed which required that 25 per- quota, whereby ‘the delegations from the district,
cent of candidates in elections to parliament, state cantonal and provincial assemblies shall be made up
assemblies, and the federal chamber should be of at least 40 per cent women’. However, as with
women. A second law increased this figure to 30 per- other examples from the region, the law did not
cent in 2002. With both laws the number of seats to include sanctions for political parties that failed to
be filled in each of the party lists was increased from respect the provision. In the elections of 1998, 15 of
68
the 23 parties that presented candidates to the legis- ’s provisions pertaining to quotas. In 2002, the legis-
lative assembly did not have 40 percent of women on lative committee of the Party of the Democratic
some of their lists. Revolution (PRD) spearheaded a reform agenda,
It is apparent that the implementation phase is which included a provision that 30 percent of candi-
particularly important for the interpretation of the dates for election by majority or proportional repre-
legislation, thereby affecting how the legislation is sentation were to be of a different sex, that on the PR
put into practice. Ana Isabel García Quesada details lists women were to be included among every three
in her paper the long hard fight by women’s groups, candidates, and that any party that failed to meet the
women in political parties and by the INAMU (pre- quota would have the list of candidates excluded.
viously the Centro de Mujer y Familia (CMF) or These reforms were approved ahead of the 2003 elec-
Centre for Women and Family), which continuous- tions.
ly argued that the quotas had to be for eligible places The electoral management body (EMB) of
on the lists to ensure that women candidates were Mexico, the Institute Federal Electoral (IFE), has
placed in ‘electable’ positions, and that there should responsibility for enforcing the quotas, and will call
be sanctions for non-compliance by political parties. on political parties to amend lists of candidates that
Eventually the Constitutional Chamber of the do not comply with the law. In the event that a list
Supreme Court ruled in favour of a quota that requi- submitted by a political party contains 80 percent
red women candidates to be placed in ‘electable’ men and 20 percent women, men, starting from the
positions. In this process the women’s movement was bottom of the list, will be scratched to bring the list
a determining factor; a successful information cam- into compliance. Peschard argues that we cannot just
paign directed towards different levels of society was hope for goodwill among the political parties or rely
initiated and alliances were established. on traditional methods of candidate selection to
The Costa Rican case shows the substance of a include women. The case of Mexico includes an
well-organized grassroots’ movement and highlights important role for the EMB in overseeing the enfor-
the fact that it does matter. Information and networ- cement of the quota law.
king are seen as important components of the deve- In Bolivia, Jimena Costa Benavides notes that, in
lopment of women’s participation in the public sphe- the process of consolidating democracy, opportuniti-
re. But as Quesada notes, it is necessary to combine es to implement major political reforms have created
this with judicial knowledge and national research institutions that promote greater representation and
and investigations to identify the problems associa- citizen participation in decision-making. The consti-
ted with the interpretation of the law so that they tutional reform of 1995 includes a new way of elec-
can be met with well-founded arguments. Costa ting members of the Chamber of Deputies through
Rican women’s organizations appear to have had a a Mixed Member Proportional Representation sys-
conscious and well-organized programme, which has tem, combining 68 single-member constituencies
inspired women’s organizations across the region. and 62 seats filled by party lists in nine multi-mem-
Jacqueline Peschard explains that legislative gen- ber constituencies. In 1997, a change to the Electoral
der quotas are working as an equilibrator of the ine- Code included a quota provision requiring that at
quality that women are confronting when they seek least 30 percent of candidates on the party lists be
political positions. In Mexico, quotas were first women, and that they be distributed in such a way
implemented as part of the electoral reform agenda that one of every three candidates is a woman.
largely as a result of lobbying by the women’s move- However, Benavides states that, as in many coun-
ment and by women in political parties. However, tries, those political parties that did comply with the
the type of quota was not clearly established, and law did so minimally by placing women on the list
political parties could ‘contemplate’ that one sex of alternate deputy positions. A further drawback
should not take more than 70 percent of seats on was the single-member constituency elections, in
party lists. As a result, most political parties did not which the quota did not apply, and in which women
comply with the quota in the 2000 elections. This faced obstacles because of the cost of waging a cam-
prompted the women’s movement and legislative paign and family opposition to being a candidate.
groups to work together to amend the electoral code- Benavides concludes by noting, though, that, while
69
3
quotas may facilitate women’s entry into politics, the into the culture of political parties as a crucial chal-
law is not enough to make significant gains in fema- lenge. While, on the one hand, laws may exist, on
le political participation, as many hurdles remain. To the other, there are obstacles to their enforcement,
overcome them, an ideological transformation wit- which frequently include culture and prevailing gen-
hin the political system and the forging of alliances der relations.
among women are required. After being elected, alli- A related problem is that of financing of candida-
ances among women parliamentarians are impor- tes, especially of internal party campaigns and pri-
tant, but, unfortunately, in Bolivia, female politici- mary elections in political parties-this is where
ans have no common strategy, no pactos, and no women are often at a disadvantage compared with
agreements. Hence, the hierarchy structure is still in their male counterparts. This was noted as a problem
the hands of the male politicians. in Argentina and Brazil, as well as in most other
Latin American countries. Regulation of financing of
3.2. Overview of Discussion campaigns was suggested as one way to overcome
In the discussion, it was noted that quota imple- this problem.
mentation in Latin America involves different stages
and challenges. The first challenge is to develop
quota laws, depending on the electoral system, that
are clear and strict in terms of enforcement sanc-
tions. Second, it is important to reform existing laws
to ensure that there are sanctions for non-complian-
ce when the law contains loopholes, meaning that
political parties do not implement it effectively. It is
apparent that all reforms require extensive lobbying
and commitment by the women’s movement and by
women in political parties, and that this process can
take several years, as in Costa Rica.
The type of electoral system was flagged as an
important consideration when discussing issues of
enforcement, and coming up with best practices
based on the type of electoral system could be extre-
mely valuable. We need to be aware that there are
different rationales for establishing different types of
quotas, and that different strategies may be used
depending on the different systems and cultures.
While legal reform and the regulation of quotas
are extremely important, it was noted that regulation
needs to go hand in hand with the commitment and
will of the political parties to adhere to the rules,
especially in regard to the internal selection of candi-
dates for election. Often there are few women on the
executive committees of political parties, which are
the real ‘owners’ of the parties. This is made worse
where there are few women in the party that active-
ly lobby to ensure that the rules are followed.
Additionally, some parties do not have formal nomi-
nation committees or rules for recruiting candidates,
or the internal organization of parties is weak, as is
the case with some political parties in Brazil. Many
participants highlighted the integration of women
70
71
Quotas for Women in the
Brazilian Legislative System
Clara Araújo
In 1996, Brazil joined other Latin American coun- Senate or Upper House and the Lower Chamber,
tries in adopting mandatory quotas for lists of pro- the formation of which is based on a system of pro-
portional representation candidacies. The first expe- portional representation (PR) in each state.
rience involved the Chamber of the Council, the Legislative power is organized on three levels: the
equivalent of local legislative power. In 1998, man- federal level, made up of the Federal Senate and the
datory quotas began to be applied at the federal and Chamber of Deputies, forming the National
regional levels. Congress; the state level, consisting of legislative
This paper evaluates the initial results of the appli- assemblies; and the municipal level, comprising city
cation of gender quotas in the Brazilian legislative councils. Senators have a mandate of eight years,
competition. It is based on research beginning in while all others legislate for four years. Local legisla-
1996, and it aims to assess both the process and the tive and executive elections take place every two
impact of the quota system.1 The results of the 1992 years. With the exception of the Senate, the legislati-
municipal elections, prior to the adoption of quotas, ve electoral system is proportional representation.
are compared with those of 1996 and 2000, after the Federal representation is circumscribed by the cha-
quota system was in place. The Federal Chamber and racteristics of each state. The magnitude of the dis-
the State Assemblies are studied via a comparison of tricts varies according to the size of the electorate,
four elections, in 1990, 1994, 1998 and 2002. The but each state has a minimum of eight and a maxi-
first two elections preceded the adoption of quotas. mum of 70 representatives. The voting system is
The first part of this paper briefly introduces the based on an open party list.
politics surrounding quotas and the position of the Thirty official political parties participate in the
women’s movement in recent decades. It is followed elections. These include about eight large and medi-
by a broad review of the process that led to the adop- um-sized parties as well as several left-wing parties,
tion of quotas in Brazil. The third part deals with the such as the Communist Party (PCdoB) and the
electoral results in quantitative terms. The final seg- Green Party (PV), which have shown some institu-
ment attempts to identify some of the factors that tional stability. However, most political parties in
have influenced these results up to the present day. Brazil go through name changes and amalgamations,
and are poorly organized.
Overview of the Political System
Brazil is a federative, presidential republic, composed
of 26 states and a federal district with a bicameral
parliamentary representative system-the Federal
72
The Political Path of Women in the Brazil.

Brazilian Democratic Context After the 1986 elections, the rise in female repre-
Brazilian women obtained the right to vote in 1932, sentation in the legislature slowed, as will be shown
51 years after the proclamation of the republic and in following sections. Political representation of
of the qualified male vote. This fact is frequently Brazilian women gained a new boost during the last
considered a reason for their late entry into politics federal elections, in October 2002. The results sug-
and one of the causes of the existing asymmetry in gest that the election of Luís Inácio Lula da Silva as
relation to the political participation of women. But president had an impact on all electoral levels. In the
this cannot be considered the sole reason. Indeed, legislative branch, the number of centre-leftist mem-
when considering the country as part of the interna- bers increased. There was also a considerable rise in
tional scene, Brazil is found to be ahead of some the number of women, both in the Chamber of
European nations when it comes to voting achieve- Deputies and in the Senate.2 These elections also see-
ments; it is on the same level as the average Western med to have an effect on the female presence in exe-
country. Nevertheless, this situation has engendered cutive offices-state governors and mayors-which used
a structural deficit for women in the political world. to include few women (see Table 1). The first fema-
In the Brazilian case, two historical factors must le state governor, Roseana Sarney of Maranhão, was
also be mentioned when considering the difficulties only elected in 1994, and re-elected in 1998.3 In the
of integrating women into the political realm. First, 2002 elections, two states elected female governors.
Brazilian democracy has a troubled history. It has Approximately six percent of elected mayors in 2000
gone through two dictatorial periods-1937-45 and were women.
1964-84-a total of 38 years of authoritarianism and
the suspension of civil rights. Second, historically, Table 1: Elected Female Mayors in Brazil,
the country’s political culture has been based on 1992-96 4
patronage.
Although women have traditionally enjoyed a Regions 1992 1996 % Growth
political presence during important moments in the
country’s history, it was not until the early 1980s that Brazil 171 302 76.6
there was effective change in regard to their partici- North 19 28 47.4
pation in national politics and institutions. Northeast 92 153 66.3
Socioeconomic factors, such as the increased number Southwest 38 64 68.4
of women in the work force and in schools, and poli- South 11 30 172.7
tical factors, such as the return of a democratic envi- Centre-west 11 27 145.5
ronment, were determinants in this process. The
return of democracy brought about more substantial Source: Data published by Superior Electoral Tribunal
growth in the participation of women. The presence (TSE), indicates a 10.2% growth in the number of muni-
of women in the Federal Chamber increased from cipalities in the country. A similar trend had already been
1.7% in 1982 to 5.3% in 1986, the first polls after observed in previous elections, with a 59.8% increase bet-
the end of the dictatorship. It is important to note ween 1988 and 1992 (IBAM, 1997).
that the elected parliamentary representatives were
also responsible for organizing a national assembly to Despite these recent results, the participation of
write a new constitution. The constitution was sig- Brazilian women in parliament remains very low in
ned in 1988, and remains in effect today. This event percentile terms when compared with other Latin
secured a democratic state after 20 years of dictators- American countries. In addition, it remains low even
hip. One of the most remarkable aspects of the pro- when compared with the participation of women in
cess was the systematic presence of members of the non-governmental organisations (NGOs), commu-
women’s movement, along with elected congresswo- nity associations and other kinds of organizations in
men-known as ‘the lipstick lobby’. The constitution Brazil.
granted many social and civil rights for the popula-
tion as a whole, and specifically for the women of
73
The Brazilian Process of Adopting (PDT) and the Worker’s Party (PT) were the first to
Quotas: A Brief Retrospect discuss and adopt a form of quotas in their national
In Brazil, the debate on the adoption of quotas as a and regional directories, in 1986 and 19915 respecti-
means of increasing the presence of women in poli- vely. Since then, other parties, mainly from the left,
tical institutions and party leaderships began in the have followed suit, with quotas varying between 20
late 1980s, and accompanied the return of democra- and 30 percent. Among the larger parties, though,
cy to the country. The Labour Democratic Party only the PT and the PDT (both considered to lie on
Table 2: National Members of the Six Main Political Parties, 1986-2002
1986 1991 1996 1999 2002

Political Total Fem. % Total Fem. % Total Fem. % Total Fem. % Total Fem. %
parties
PPB - - - - - - - - - 160 8 5.0 385 27 7.0

PFL 121 3 2.5 121 2 1.7 177 3 1.7 190 5 2.6 200 10 5.0
PMDB 121 3 3.3 121 4 3.3 141 9 6.4 119 8 6.7 119 9 6.7
PSDB - - - 121 8 6.6 121 6 5.0 236 19 8.1 203 17 8.4
PDT 119 11 9.2 119 11 9.2 121 18 14.9 160 29 18.1 191 33 17
PT 81 5 6.2 82 5 6.1 86 27 31.0 62 19 31.0 81 24 30.0
the left of the political spectrum) implemented quo- total number of disputed seats.
tas for party directories. This measure helps to The approval of quotas in Brazil was not marked
explain their percentage increase in female participa- by debate or great controversy, as observed in other
tion, as can be seen in Table 2. countries. It must be mentioned that their introduc-
Brazil, though, is unlike many other nations whose tion did not stem from a position of consensus or a
projects for implementing a quota law for legislative maturity of the debate in Brazilian society, but, rat-
mandates originated in the previous experiences of her, from the absence of both. There was a brief
political parties that adopted quotas in their lists of interval between the concept being proposed, by a
candidates for election. There is no record to suggest congresswoman and not by departments or women’s
that Brazilian parties, prior to the passing of the rights commissions in the parties, and its approval by
quota law, adopted quotas in their candidate lists in parliament. The proposal was not supposed to mobi-
a spontaneous way. This fact does not stem just from lize broad sectors of society. In fact, the feminist
the resistance of party leaders. Before the adoption of movement seemed divided. On the one hand, there
quotas, there was neither an official position nor were some positive expectations, while, on the other,
organized lobbying by feminist factions inside the there was some questioning of the initiative’s worth.6
parties that could have led to a quota in the candi- Thus, in the beginning, the future of a quota system
date lists for legislative seats. assumed an ambiguous character among the wome-
n’s movement. It was considered innovative, while, at
The Approval of Quotas Legislation the same time, its effectiveness and nature were vie-
for Legislative Candidates wed with caution.
The first proposal for quotas was approved in 1995. The atmosphere resulting from the fourth World
It was presented that year by a member of the Conference on Women seems to have increased the
Chamber of Deputies, Marta Suplicy (PT), and dealt attractiveness of the proposal in parliament.
only with legislative seats in municipal districts. It However, it was not debated intensely in the
established that a minimum of 20 percent of the can- National Congress. Some parties with rightist ten-
didates had to be female. At the same time, the num- dencies were openly opposed to quotas. Suplicy affir-
ber of candidates increased to 120 percent of the med that, during the negotiations, several leftist
74
members of parliament, including members of her among conservative sectors of the women’s move-

own party, raised some objections. Yet most abstai- ment and centre and right-wing parties, such ques-
ned from the debate, as evidenced by documental tioning could also be observed among members of
research. There was some questioning of the consti- left-wing parties, including Suplicy’s own party, the
tutionality of the proposal, but not enough to refute PT. There was another line of criticism-a position
it. Its eventual approval (by means of leadership similar to that of authors like Varikas and Squires9-
voting) seems to have been due to the articulating which questioned the extent to which quotas could
capabilities of several congresswomen and a certain lead to changes to structural and cultural factors that
practical sense on the part of party leaders. These lea- support the exclusion of women. It was argued that
ders wished to avoid any conflicts with women and a quota policy would have a superficial effect, and a
seemed to anticipate the limited applicability of the search for broader mechanisms of reform in the poli-
proposal.7 tical framework of representation was suggested as
Between 1995 and 1997, representatives in political priority.
National Congress presented eight proposals for After the initial period, the quota proposal seemed
quotas. By the end of 1997, rules for future elections to be assimilated by the feminist movement in gene-
had been established and the reservation (in the form ral and by the political realm in particular. Among
of quotas) had become permanent legislation. Law politicians, some sectors incorporated it in a formal
number 9.504 established a 25 percent quota of state manner, because of its political and electoral appeal-
and federal representatives in the parliamentary elec- that is, defending women’s rights. Other sectors took
tions of 1998. The minimum percentage for the fol- advantage of its possible benefits, either symbolic,
lowing elections would be raised to 30 percent of cultural or material (it would now be possible to alter
each sex. Consequently, the number of seats to be fil- the number of women in the representational arena).
led in each party’s list was increased from 120 per- As quotas became a part of the nation’s political
cent to a maximum of 150 percent of the disputed reality, their results tended to breed new discussions.
seats. The filling of the quotas remained guided by Some conservative sectors that were against the poli-
the norm approved in 1996. cy gathered data and used it to reaffirm the ineffica-
During this process, some positions that seemed cy of quotas, by questioning the interest of women
to illustrate the debate on these experiences in other in competing for seats, and to query their ability to
countries8 were also present in the Brazilian case, be elected. Sectors on the left argued that the results
although in a very discrete form. Favourable argu- reinforced the need to intervene in structural, politi-
ments by party leaders normally underlined the tran- cal, cultural and economic obstacles that constrain or
sitory character of the idea, its contribution to legiti- impede the ascent of women to the political élite.
mizing democracy, and its symbolic role in encoura- However, feminist NGOs and organized women in
ging women and in ending prejudice, both implicit centre and left-wing parties believe that quotas
and explicit. A more substantive argument, which should be considered a privileged, almost exclusive
was exposed to little debate, was defended by the means of bringing more women into positions of
author of the proposal, Suplicy, and by other femi- power. In the case of the legislative competition, the
nists. It concentrated on a critique of the paradigm criticism basically centres on the resistance of, or lack
of equality and on defending the concept of gender of interest among, party leaders in making this poli-
parity as an organizing principle of representative cy viable.
democracy. In this case, quotas are not considered
merely a strategy for boosting and highlighting the Electoral Results in Brazil and
participation issue, but are considered to be a path to the Impact of Quotas
parity.
There were also arguments of a different nature. Results in the Municipal Chambers 10
Objections to the discriminatory character of the As noted above, there is no systematic information
proposal prevailed. It was seen as a denial of equal on candidates in municipal elections prior to 1996.
rights and opportunities, or as a way of confirming Even the 1996 data is estimated, since 37.25 percent
the incapacity of women. Although more common of the candidates could not be identified by gender.
75
Therefore, it is not possible to make a comparison In 1996, women occupied 11.23 percent of available
with preceding periods, given that the quota law seats at the legislative level. In 2000, this figure was
includes candidacies. Of those candidates that could 11.62 percent of the total.
be identified by gender in the country’s 5,505 muni- When elected candidates identified by gender are
cipalities, 17.32 percent were women. It is important considered, the four parties that proportionally elec-
to remember that, in 1996, the minimum gender ted the largest number of women in 1996 were the
quota was set at 20 percent, rising to 30 percent in small ones. Indeed, the first two places were occupi-
2000. In 2000, the achieved index was 19.2 percent ed by centre and right-wing parties defined as ‘dwar-
of the total. Apparently, the observed increase in the ves’, that is, very small parties that are not normally
number of female candidacies between 1996 and present in Congress: the PGT with female represen-
2000 was small, and the increase in the index was far tation of 14.3 percent (0.02 percent of the total
less than the minimum established percentage. None number of elected women in the country); and the
of the 30 officially registered political parties mana- PRTB. Left-wing parties came next, the PCdoB, fol-
ged to observe the minimum quota. The Unified lowed by the Socialist Popular Party (PPS). When
Workers Socialist Party (PSTU), a small extreme left- the six largest parties are considered, the PT elected
wing party with no representation in Congress, pre- 9.8 percent and the rest were situated in the eight
sented 22.2 percent of female candidates, followed percent zone. In 2000, these indices rose somewhat,
by a small right-wing party, the National Order but small parties were still the ones to elect more
Reconstruction Party (PRONA), with 22.19 per- women (see Table 4). Once again, it is important to
cent. The six largest parties, which spanned the poli- note that, with the exception of the PT (14.1 per-
tical spectrum,11 were all situated in the 18 percent cent), the remaining three parties reached, at best,
range, with the exception of the PT (20.17 percent). 0.5 percent of the total number of elected council-
Although higher rates were observed among smaller persons in the country. The portion of women elec-
parties, the percentage of their female candidates ted by the remaining five large parties varied between
compared to the overall number of candidates is very nine and 12 percent.12
small: 0.09 percent in the PSTU; and 0.3 per cent in There is little discrepancy regarding the percenta-
PRONA. ges of elected women in the parties. However, the
lack of earlier data hinders an analysis of the possible
Table 3: Council Representatives Elected in effects of the quotas on different parties.
Brazil, 1992-2000 Nevertheless, the data does confirm the view that
women tend to be more accepted in smaller parties,
Elected 1992 1996 2000 with emphasis on the left-wing ones, and face grea-
ter difficulties in the larger parties, even more so in
Total 53,108 58,704 60,262 the more conservative ones.
Elected Women 3,964 6,598 7,001
% Elected Women 7.46 11.23 11.62 The Elections of 1998 and 2002 to the State
Assemblies and the Federal Chamber
Source: IBAM, 2000; TSE, 2000. Elections to the state legislatures and the Federal
Chamber were held in 1998. Although this was the
In the case of elected candidates, the lack of data country’s second general experience of the quota sys-
does not permit an analysis of a historical statistical tem, it was the first time that it was applied on a
series. Table 3 shows that there was a significant regional and federal scale. The minimum quota for
increase in the number of elected female candidates each gender became 25 percent. In 2002, the second
between 1992 and 1996. Since no information is election for these levels of representation took place,
available on the 1988 elections, it is debatable whet- with a definitive quota, stipulated by law, of 30 per-
her the increase is due to quotas or whether it was cent.
caused by a preceding trend. However, a comparison
of the 1996 and 2000 elections shows that the per-
centages of elected councilwomen remained stable.
76
Table 4: First Political Parties to Elect Councilwomen, 2000

Party Number of councilwomen % Elected councillors Ideological profile
PRONA 30 16.7 Right

PT 2485 14.1 Left
PC do B 149 13.4 Left
PST 407 13.3 Centre
The quotas for State Assemblies tas. Subsequently, an increase can be observed bet-
Table 5 allows us to highlight several features. One of ween the first and second election, but it was smal-
them concerns the rise in the number of female can- ler, particularly when the increase in the minimum
didates, a trend detected before the adoption of quo- percentage of places for each gender is considered.
Table 5: Women Candidates and Women Elected to State Assemblies, Brazil, 1982-2002
Year Candidates % Total Elected % Total % Growth
1982 - - 28 3.0 -
1986 - - 31 3.3 10.7
1990 - - 58 5.5 87.0
1994 591 7.2 82 7.8 45.5
1998 1,270 12.6 101 9.7 23.2
2002 1,863 14.6 129 12.5 28.5
None of the parties observed the quotas, and, as with gest that the quota system has had an impact on cen-
city councils, the smaller parties had higher percen- tre and right-wing candidacies. The main left-wing
tages of female candidacies in the state context. party, however, was minimally affected. In this case,
When compared to the performance of the major the percentage of female candidates even decreased
parties in the last elections (see Table 6) one can sug- slightly during the 2002 elections.
Table 6: Total and Percentage of Women Elected to State Assemblies: Six Main Parties, 1994-2002
1994 1998 2002
Party Total general Women % Total general Women % Total general Women %
PFL 157 8 5.1 169 14 8.8 120 9 7.5
PPR/PPB 113 4 3.5 107 9 8.4 93 7 7.5
PMDB 205 11 5.4 171 18 10.5 134 22 16.4
PSDB 97 8 8.3 150 15 10.0 138 23 16.7
PDT 86 8 9.3 71 6 8.5 62 6 9.8
PT 92 16 17.4 85 16 18.8 147 29 19.7
A new examination of Table 5 clearly shows that the occurred in 1990, when the first election after the
Legislative Assemblies present a stable growth in constitutive process took place. Quotas do not seem
female participation. In absolute terms, this growth to alter a pre-existing trend, but they can consolida-
was higher during the last election, but, in relative te it.
terms, the largest increase can be perceived to have
77
The electoral results for the Federal Chamber PT. Even though it had the highest proportion of
As a basis for comparison, four elections were consi- women in the group, it achieved smaller growth,
dered: 1990 and 1994,13 before the application of the compared to 1994. Since 1990, the PT has had more
quota system, and 1998 and 2002, after quotas were female candidates than any of the other parties. The
established. Table 7 presents evidence that shows adoption of quotas did not do much to alter these
that, between 1994 and 1998, there were significant levels. In terms of a comparison of the evolution of
increases in the percentages of female candidacies, a the candidacies, a suggestion can be made that, as in
fact that can be interpreted as being due to the effect the case of state parliaments, the quotas tend to have
of quotas. However, the number of female candida- an initially positive impact on the centre or centre-
tes remained relatively small and far from the quota right parties competing for seats in the Federal
of 25 percent. Changes occurring between 1998 and Chamber. Such parties are normally not receptive to
2002, although positive, cannot be considered very the ingression of groups traditionally considered as
significant. Not even half of the minimum percenta- outsiders in the political realm.
ge established for the election, that is, a 30 percent By examining the data relating to all three electo-
quota, was achieved. ral levels-city councils, state assemblies and the
What occurred in the city councils and the state Federal Chamber-one can perceive that the percen-
assemblies resembled what happened among the tage of women competing for legislative positions
political parties: none reached the 30 percent mark decreases as the complexity of the dispute increases.
in regard to female candidacies. Small parties of all The data also suggests that the policy of quotas had
ideological persuasions obtained the highest percen- an initially positive impact, but its goals were far
tages. The percentage of female candidates among from being achieved in all four elections. This diffi-
the six parties that have been examined more syste- culty tends to be more significant at the federal level
matically (including the PT), did not reach 14 per- than at the municipal level.
cent (see Table 8). The smallest impact was on the
Table 7: Percentage of Women Candidates to the Federal Chamber, 1990-2002
Year Total candidates Women % Women candidates
1990 3,596 229 6.4

1994 3,007 185 6.2
1998 3,361 348 10.4
2002 4,176 481 11.5
Table 8: Women Candidates to the Federal Chamber: Six Main Parties, 1990-2002
1990 1994 1998 2002
Parties Total Women % Total Women % Total Women % Total Women %

PDS/PPR/PPB 211 8 3.8 262 14 5.3 228 21 7.4 193 11 5.7
PFL 281 12 4.3 233 6 2.6 272 22 8.1 225 21 9.3
PMDB 444 19 4.3 396 24 6.1 344 42 12.2 307 33 10.7
PSDB 240 17 7.1 271 17 6.3 287 26 9.1 264 33 12.5
PDT 385 22 5.7 304 13 4.3 299 28 9.5 276 31 11.2
PT 377 41 10.9 373 38 10.2 326 40 12.3 417 58 13.9
78
Elections to the Federal Chamber Table 9: Presence of Women in the Federal

Before and After the Quotas Chamber, 1945-2002
Analysis of the elected contingent must be interpre-
ted in the more general context of the evolution of Year Total Women %
the female presence in the Brazilian Federal
Chamber. As previously mentioned, the largest 1945 286 0 0
change in the female presence occurred between 1950 304 1 0.32
1982 and 1986, when the first democratic elections 1954 326 3 0.92
in 20 years took place. After this, growth diminished 1958 326 2 0.61
and, during the 1998 elections, when quotas were 1962 409 2 0.49
adopted for the first time, a decrease in the conting- 1966 409 6 1.49
ent of elected women can be observed. Table 9 and 1970 310 1 0.32
Figure 1 illustrate the evolution of women’s partici- 1974 326 1 0.27
pation in the Federal Chamber and, at the same 1978 420 4 0.95
time, the lack of an initial impact of the quota sys- 1982 479 8 1.67
tem on the elections of 1998. In fact, there was a 1986 487 26 5.33
rapid decrease in the already incipient percentage of 1990 503 28 5.96
elected women: from 6.2 percent in 1994 to 5.2 per- 1994 513 32 6.23
cent in 1998. The results of the 2002 elections were 1998 513 29 5.63
much more favourable. The percentage of elected 2002 513 42 8.18
congresswomen reached 8.2 percent of the total, an
increase of 45.3 percent in comparison to the pre-
vious elections. Still, this increase does not beat the
one registered in 1986 in relative terms. When the Figure 1: Percentage of Women Elected to the
relation between all female candidacies and the ones National Congress, 1945-2002
who were elected is considered, one can perceive that, Absolute Frequency %
in 1994, 17 percent of all candidates got elected. In 10

8.18
1998, 8.3 percent of candidates were elected. In 8
2002, although the elected percentage in relation to 5.92
5.96 6.235.63
6
all elected candidates increased, the proportion of elec-
4
ted females decreased to seven percent of the candidaci-
1.49 1.67
es. Indeed, it seems impossible to establish a direct 2
0.32
0.92 0.61
0.49 0.32 0.27
9.95
0
relation between the high levels of female candidaci- 0
1945 50 54 58 62 66 70 74 78 82 86 90 94 98 2002
es and the high levels of elected females, as suggested
in previous studies (IPU, 1997). In the Brazilian case
this is a significant issue, since one of the strong
arguments in favour of the quota system is to ensure
a greater number of female candidates in order to Table 10: Percentage of Elected Women to the
widen the universe of elected females. Low numbers Federal Chamber: First Political Parties, 2002
of competing women is due to the resistance of party
leaders to the idea of increasing the number of fema- Political Women % total Ideological
le candidates. party elected councilpersons profile
In 1998 and 2002 the smallest parties elected
most women in relative terms. In addition, there was PCdoB 5 41.6% Left
a trend of left-wing parties electing more females PST 1 33.3% Right-centre
than centre and right-wing ones (Table 10). PSD 1 25.0% Right-centre
If we consider the six main parties that are being PT 14 15.4% Left
followed, the first three places belong to the PT, the
PSDB and the PFL, respectively (Table 11). The
79
Table 11: Women Elected to the Federal Chamber: Six Main Parties, 1990-2002
1990 1994 1998 2002
Political Party Total Women % Total Women % Total Women % Total Women %
PPB 42 4 9.3 52 3 5.8 60 0 0.0 49 1 2.0
PFL 83 3 3.6 89 2 2.3 105 5 4.8 84 6 7.1
PMDB 108 5 5.6 107 8 7.5 83 8 9.6 74 4 5.4
PSDB 38 1 2.5 63 5 7.9 99 7 7.1 71 6 8.5
PDT 46 6 10.3 34 2 5.9 25 1 4.0 21 1 4.8
PT 35 5 14.3 50 7 14.5 58 5 8.6 91 14 15.4
number of parties that elected women also widened. trend continued during the 1998 elections, after the
In 1994, ten organizations elected female officials; in quotas were adopted. In 2002, there was an increase
1998, only seven did so. In 2002, this number incre- in female representation, mainly due to the results of
ased again to 11 parties, out of a total of 30. There left-wing parties.
was also a general increase in the number of parties
that elected representatives of either gender. Figure 2:
2
However, due to the switching of parties by various Women Elected in 2002: 7
congresspersons, not all parties that elected candida- Ideological Profile

tes were able to secure their seats in the National
Congress.14 The fact that 11 parties elected women is
also due to the fragmentation of the Brazilian party Right
Centre 12
system. Although the specific literature normally Left
21
defines a large party as one that has at least 30 per- Not Identified
cent congressional representation, in the case of

Brazil, in 2002, the PT achieved the largest share
with 17.7 percent, and only four parties provide
more than ten percent of all congresspersons. Table 12: Percentage of Elected Women
The distribution of the total number of elected Representatives: Ideological Profile, 2002
women based on the most general ideological profi-
le-left, right and centre-shows that 50 percent were Ideological Total Women % Women
elected by the left, 26.2 percent by the centre and profile elected elected
16.7 percent by the right (Figure 2). The concentra-
tion is the same if we observe the percentage of elec- Right 133 7 5.3%
ted deputies in comparison to the overall number of Centre 197 12 6.1%
elected candidates in their respective parties, gathe- Left 146 21 14.4%
ring them in each of the three categories: 14.4 per- No definition 7 2 28.6%
cent of the elected candidates in leftist parties are
female; in the centre parties, the proportion is 6.1
percent; and in the rightist parties, it is 5.3 percent It is important to note that the left, in alliance with
(Table 12). Even when the undefined are considered several parties from the centre, was victorious in the
(they can be viewed as centre or centre-right candi- 2002 elections. The PT not only elected the presi-
dates), this concentration holds true. An initial com- dent, but it also elected a greater number of senators
parison with the previous elections-1994 and 1998- and its level of representation in the Federal
reveals a transformation in the ideological profile of Chamber rose by 57 percent. Other left-wing parti-
the elected congresswomen. In 1994, there was a es also increased their numbers of representatives.
decrease in the number of leftist representatives and The centre-right alliance, which supported the fede-
those in the centre became more numerous. This ral government for eight years, now has fewer repre-
80
sentatives. Nevertheless, two parties, one on the right open, appears to be relevant in order to understand

(the PFL) and one in the centre (the PSDB), increa- the results of the quota system in Brazil. Other spe-
sed their female presence (Table 11). cific issues can also be considered as relevant in rela-
Periods of significant political change can influen- tion to the results.
ce the gender composition of parliamentary repre-
sentation. This tendency has been observed in other The Electoral System
nations15 and is suggested by the evolution of the A matter that has been the subject of much debate
female presence in the Brazilian parliament. It is a within PR systems concerns the relation between
factor that must be taken into account in this analy- potential female access and the types of electoral lists.
sis. Open list systems tend to be identified with more
The comparison between the two elections that individualized competition. Party politics tend to
took place after the adoption of quotas suggests an yield less weight than the personal influence of the
impact on the first election candidacies, but not on individual candidate, thus spurring competition
its results. In 2002 there was a further rise in the among candidates of the same party.18 Nevertheless,
number of female candidacies, but it was smaller not all authors are in full agreement on this issue;
than in the previous election. The percentage of some defend positive aspects of the open list.19 The
women elected grew considerably. Yet, when one literature suggests that closed or semi-closed lists
examines the party profile of the elected females, tend to be more favourable towards women than
including those in the Senate, it is fair to state that open lists. Some evidence, however, tends to contend
the more intense electoral environment may have this thesis, as in the case of Finland. Finland is a
had a greater influence on the increase than did the country with an open list system and has the third
quotas. At the same time, the data shows that the most significant level of female participation in par-
quotas had a more significant impact on the candi- liament in the world. This reinforces the analytical
dacies in large centre and right-wing parties. view that takes into account multiple causes when
Generally, these were the more conservative and tra- studying female access to politics.
ditional parties, whose spheres of influence were Unlike the controversies that exist concerning the
already firmly occupied. New political actors tended influence of the types of lists on the election of
to find it harder to gain access to these organizations. women, the relation between list systems and the
However, the general data indicates that the quota quota system seems clearer. The effectiveness of the
system did not have a considerable impact in electo- quota system seems to be more evident when the
ral terms on all levels: city council, state assemblies results obtained by this system are analysed accor-
and the Federal Chamber. ding to the type of system and the type of electoral
lists effective in each country.20
An Interpretation of the Results In Latin America, there are some discrepancies
The issue of the female presence in the representati- regarding the results achieved under the quota laws
ve levels involves distinct analytical dimensions. Its in countries whose electoral systems use closed or
origin includes a background of historical exclusion, semi-closed lists and those that use open lists. This is
social trajectories marked by its gender condition, a significant point, since these nations (on the same
aspects related to the socio-economic situation and continent) share some common traits, in terms of
elements of the political system, such as the political culture, economic policies and democratic construc-
culture, the party and the electoral system.16 These tion (although the degree of political organization
factors also tend to influence the outcome of the and the type of electoral system may vary). The wea-
quota system. As suggested by various studies,17 posi- kest results to date were obtained in Panama, where
tive results derived from the quota system appear to the percentage of female members of the House of
be conditioned by a combination of factors, such as Representatives increased from 9.0 percent to 9.7
the degree of organization and the strength of wome- percent, and in Brazil. Peru, however, has an open
n’s movements within party structures, the political list system (like Brazil) and has achieved more posi-
culture and the conditions of the electoral system. In tive electoral results.
regard to the latter, the type of voting list, closed or This brief discussion suggests that quotas tend to
81
be more effective in systems with closed or semi-clo- der to fill the seats and alterations in list formation if
sed lists than in those with open lists. In countries proceedings are not enforced since the total number
with an electoral system like that of Brazil, forming of places is big enough to include all.
a list of candidates tends to be a formal and legal pro- Interviews with candidates and party leaders sho-
cedure. Voters vote for a candidate, not for the list. wed that this scenario, in both the 1998 and 2000
Votes can favour a particular candidate, irrespective elections, led to the incomplete fulfilment of the
of the associated party, thus resulting in an individu- quotas by most parties. It also resulted in the absen-
alized competition.21 Voters gain awareness of the ce of female mobilization and debates when the lists
candidates by means of electoral propaganda. Often, of candidates were being formed. In this context, the
candidates that have a broad support base or consi- possibilities for female mobilization tended to be
derable financial resources launch a propaganda small and their possible symbolic effect minimized.
campaign independent of that of their party. Being In fact, the lack of objective mechanisms to generate
part of a list of party names, therefore, does not gua- or stimulate debate leads to the conclusion that the
rantee the support of the party or that the candidate process was marked by bureaucratic and formal pro-
has visibility in the electoral race. Moreover, in the cedures.
internal dynamics of each party, what is most impor- Features of the Brazilian electoral system and the
tant, above all, is the number of votes that each can- type of quota legislation that was adopted appear to
didate obtains. explain why quotas were approved with relative ease
Some researchers argue that semi-closed or closed for all parties, irrespective of their ideological profile,
lists allow for greater interference by the party in in a country still characterised by unclear citizenship
respect of the organization and presentation of can- issues and various forms of gender inequality. The
didates. In this case, quotas could be more effective. quota system had little influence on promoting
At the same time, the Argentine case demonstrates modifications of the inner logic of the country’s elec-
that the closed list can work better for the imple- toral processes and, consequently, of the situation of
mentation of quotas when women have enough poli- woman in terms of proportional representation.
tical strength to impose other requirements, such as
alternate sequencing of names according sex, or The Electoral Campaign and Public Financing
some kind of sanction when the quota is incomple- The literature highlights the fact that the conditions
te. This also holds true for the semi-closed list. surrounding electoral campaigns-pertaining to sup-
Otherwise, females tend to be positioned at the bot- port groups, the media, and, above all, financial
tom of the list. resources-are relevant factors when considering the
eligibility of women. In Brazil, these factors seem to
Aspects of the Brazilian Quota law be decisive when competing in the electoral cam-
As mentioned previously, in addition to the list sys- paign. The main problem resides in the absence of
tem, there are two aspects that further weaken the public financing of political campaigns. Although
Brazilian legislation on quotas. The first one con- parties receive a certain amount of public funds, the
cerns fulfilment of established percentages. amount is a function of the number of seats involved
According to the law, if the minimum established and, in fact, is insignificant when the overall costs of
percentage (30 percent from 2000) is not satisfied by a campaign are considered. Each party distributes its
one gender, it cannot be met by candidates of the funds according to its own political criteria, based on
opposite sex. But the parties are not obliged to occu- the electoral appeal of the candidates.
py all of the positions; there are no restrictions or During the official campaigning period, the elec-
punishments for not doing so. The second aspect toral legislation grants all parties taking part in the
relates to the contingent of competing candidates, elections free space in the media-radio and television.
which has had an indirect effect on the law. The Time is distributed according to each party’s influen-
1997 legislation increased the number of competing ce in the National Congress, and the parties must
candidates by 50 percent. In other words, a party can determine how much time each candidate will be
present up to 150 percent of the candidates for the allocated or even which candidates can have access to
total number of seats up for election. It becomes har- this time. There is no evidence of discrimination
82
against female candidates. A research project on the organization of the feminist movement in Brazil,

Free Television Advertisement Time-Table (HGPE), stemming from the re-democratization process, has
for candidates in the state of Rio de Janeiro, shows a created a certain amount of tension between the
certain balance between the percentage of candidates ‘autonomous movements’ and women defined as
of each gender and their access to the HGPE. ‘partisans’.23 For some time, participation in political
However, an analysis of the time distribution clearly parties was not considered a feminist activity, and
reveals the dominance of male candidates with the was viewed with distrust by participants in the ‘auto-
longest exposure or those that represent priorities for nomous women’s movements’. This tension hampe-
their parties. red women’s efforts to organize inside the political
The continental influences on the country, the parties, including those on the left. In addition, there
individual character of the competition and the were difficulties due to frequent amalgamations and
absence of public financing means that candidates name changes, not to mention the organizational
need some form of more established political capital. difficulties inherent in the Brazilian party system.
The latter can take several forms. Many political Most parties, with the exception of a few left-wing
agents recognize financial capital as a fundamental ones, do not have an internal organization that func-
factor, all the more in state and federal campaigns.22 tions as a structured and permanent channel for the
Support groups are another form of capital, in cases participation of their militants and affiliates.
where candidates are community or union leaders, or Therefore, access to the party’s resources, to its struc-
where they represent specific interest groups. ture and to its political decision-making tends to be
Individual charisma can also be a decisive asset in the limited to the authorities that command the party’s
political competition. Religious leaders, artists, soc- mechanisms. Interviews showed that few parties held
cer players and others tend to possess it. Belonging to internal meetings or defined specific strategies to ful-
a family of politicians can also be considered an fil the quotas. This was the case even among parties
important form of capital. that had some form of organized female representa-
Women, when examining the first two forms of tion.
political capital, have a structural disadvantage even
before entering the competition. In regard to finan- Final Considerations
cial capital, they are at a disadvantage because they The results can also be evaluated based on their sym-
earn less money and possess fewer resources. In the bolic and cultural dimensions. In this aspect, the
second case, with the exception of community asso- experience is still relatively recent for a consistent
ciations, their disadvantage is due to the fact they do review of its effects. The issue of female participation
not occupy the more important positions in these was most visible in the 2002 elections, including a
movements. These points help to explain the prevai- female candidate for the presidency of the republic,
ling profile of elected females: either women coming a vice-presidential candidate in the governmental
from community associations, normally elected by party, and five women running for state government
the left, or women possessing family capital (spouses, (two were elected). The themes of gender rights and
sisters or daughters of politicians), usually elected by public policy gained more space in debates and in
the centre or right. The fact that the quota law does electoral propaganda. Also, affirmative action initia-
not include any kind of affirmative action mecha- tives were discussed and it was suggested that they be
nism or an instrument to ensure the democratic dis- included in many government policies. These are
tribution of campaign resources contributes to the noteworthy achievements that can be considered to
fact that the adoption of quotas cannot produce be positive results, symbolic or indirect, of the quota
more substantial changes to this scenario. system.
Quantitative results can also influence subjective-
Political Parties ly many political actors. Among women, the electo-
A final factor that is relevant in this review is related ral gains can either stimulate or inhibit their willing-
to the organization and the strength of women insi- ness to enter the competition. Leaders can perceive
de the parties. Due to limited space, only a brief refe- the electoral power that can be held by women in
rence will be made to this subject. The history of their parties, but they can also reinforce some exis-
83
ting prejudices, such as the concept of ‘feminine Notes
apathy’ in politics or the inaptitude of women to 1 The first part of this research project was inclu-
compete. Simplistic interpretations that focus on the ded in the author’s doctoral thesis, completed
absence of willing female candidates, or their weak in January 2000. The second part was initiated
performances in elections, have been noted by party in October 2000 and is in the process of being
leaders and by part of the media. In this case, the concluded. The research is based on statistical
results are interpreted as a female problem and as an and qualitative data-interviews with participants
expression of their lack of interest in politics, not as in the political process and analyses of docu-
a consequence of difficulties arising from a structural ments. Up to the present, 96 interviews have
situation and from features of the nation’s political been carried out, including with party leaders,
system. parliamentary representatives, candidates for
When considering the central aspect of this paper, elective office and women participating in spe-
the electoral results in Brazil, it can be said that the cific women’s departments of political parties.
results obtained to date do not suggest a very favou- 2 Until 2002, 7.4 % of the Senate was made up
rable balance, although the data does not justify of women. In 2002, eight female Senators were
categorical conclusions. While results on the candi- elected (of 54), amounting to 14.8% of the
dacy level have in part been positive, they have been total.
very weak at the electoral level. The recent (2002) 3 In April 2002, due to a license of the elected
elections suggest that other factors had played a part. governor, Benedita da Silva, the vice-governor,
It must be noted that the limitations perceived became governor of the state of Rio de Janeiro.
until now suggest a need to focus on features of the She was the first-ever black woman to occupy
electoral system and the quota legislation. It is impe- this position in Brazil.
rative, however, to widen the debate to include other 4 Data published by the Superior Electoral
economic, cultural and social conditions that Tribunal (TSE) indicates 10.2% growth in the
restrain the participation of Brazilian women in poli- number of municipalities in the country. A
tics. similar trend had already been observed in pre-
vious elections, with a 59.8% increase between
1988 and 1992 (IBAM, 1997).
5 Although the PT has the most extensive experi-
ence, the process of quotas adoption for its
instances was marked by intense controversy,
and the proposal was initially rejected. Its policy
of a minimum of 30 percent of female positions
includes the national, regional and municipal
directories.
6 This subject was briefly discussed in the femi-
nist preparatory meeting on Gender and Power
at the Fourth World Conference on Women.
However, the approved recommendations did
not include quotas.
7 As can be seen in Araújo, 2000.
8 Philips, 1995.
9 Varikas, 1995; Squires, 1996.
10 The lack of systematic statistical data until
2000 affects in particular the municipal elec-
tions. In this case, the lack of identification
holds for all candidates in some states and for
significant percentages in some important and
populous states, like São Paulo.
84
11 To ensure a more systematic evaluation, two candidates could not obtain enough votes.

parties in each ideological sphere were chosen: 22 The financial aspect was the most cited item by
the PT and the PDT for the left; the Brazilian interviewees.
Democratic Movement Party (PMDB) and the 23 See Goldberg,1989.
Brazilian Social Democracy Party (PSDB) for
the centre; and the Brazilian People’s Party
(PPB) and the Liberal Front Party (PFL) for the
right. The PDT has been outmatched by the References
Brazilian Socialist Party (PSB) in number of Araújo, Clara. 1998. “Mulheres e Representação
congresspersons. Yet, for reasons of comparison, Política: A Experiência das Cotas no Brasil”. Revista
the same parties were considered in all elec- Estudos Feministas, 6(4), pp. 71-91.
tions.
Araújo, Clara. 2000. Cidadania incompleta: o
12 Definitions of large and medium-sized parties
impacto da lei de cotas sobre a representação política
tend to vary a little, according to the electoral
das mulheres no Brasil. PhD Thesis,
results for the National Congress. Given the
IFCS/UFRJ/Brazil.
fragility of the party legislation, after the elec-
tion most congresspersons switched parties Araújo, Clara. 2001. “As Cotas por Sexo para a
(according to their interests), creating new force Competição Legislativa: O Caso Brasileiro em
correlations. Normally, the parties that sustain Comparação com Experiências Internacionais”.
the government tend to receive elected con- Dados, 44/1, pp. 155-195.
gresspersons that were under different headings.
Darcy, Robert, Welch, Susan, and Clark, Janet.
13 In Brazil the mandate lasts for four years.
1994. Women, Elections and Representation. Lincoln
Elections of councillors and mayors do not
& London: University of Nebraska Press.
coincide with the election of members of the
House of Representatives, governors and presi- Goldberg, A. 1989. “Feminismo no Brasil
dent. Thus an election occurs every two years. Contemporâneo: O Percurso Intelectual de um
14 In 2002, 19 parties elected congresspersons, but Ideário Político”. BIB, 28, Rio de Janeiro.
during the beginning of the legislature 35
Htun, M. and Jones, Mark. 2002. “Engendering
members of the Congress had switched their
the Right to Participate in Decision-Making:
headings, reducing the number of parties repre-
Electoral Quotas and Women’s Leadership in Latin
sented in the Federal Chamber to 15. The PSD
America”. In Craske and M. Molyneaux (eds).
and the PST, which elected four and three con-
Gender and Politics of Rights and Democracy in Latin
gresspersons respectively, (each including a
America. New York: Palgrave.
woman), will not be represented because all of
the elected candidates switched parties even Inglherart, R and Norris, Pippa. 2000. “The
before the start of the new legislature. Developmental Theory of the Gender Gap:
15 Short, 1996. Women’s and Men’s Voting Behavior in Global
16 See, for example, Lovenduski and Norris, 1993; Perspective”. International Political Science Review,
1996; Reynolds, 1999; and Inglehart and 21/4.
Norris, 2000.
Inter-Parliamentary Union (IPU). 1997. “Men and
17 Polanco, 1999; Viegas and Farias, 2001; Araújo,
Women in Politics: Democracy Still in the Making-
2001; Htun and Jones, 2002.
A Comparative Study”. Series “Report and
18 Nicolau and Schimitt, 1995; Nohlen, 1995.
Documents”, 28. Geneva: IPU.
19 Lima Junior,1997.
20 Polanco,1999; Araújo, 2001; Htun and Jones; Lima, Junior and Olavo, Brasil. 1997. Instituições
2002. políticas democráticas. Riode naeiro: Relume-
21 In Brazil, the sum of votes in the party and the Dumará.
votes for candidates form the electoral quotient.
Matland, Richard. 1996. “The Contagion of
This has contributed to the fact that elected
85
Women Candidates in Single-Member District and Varikas, E. 1996. “Refundar ou Reacomodar a
Proportional Representation Electoral Systems: Democracia? Reflexões Críticas acerca da Paridade
Canada and Norway”. The Journal of Politics, 58/3, entre os Sexos”. Revista Estudos Feministas, 4/1, pp.
pp. 707-733. 65-95.
Nicolau, Jairo Marconi and Schmitt, Rogério. Viegas, J. and Farias, S. 1999. “Participação Política
1995. “Sistema eleitoral e sistema partidário”. Lua Feminina- Problemas e Práticas”. Sociologia:
Nova, Revista de Cultura e Política, 36, CEDEC, Problemas e Práticas, 30, pp. 765-793.
pp. 127-147.
Viegas, J. and Farias, S. 2001. As Mulheres na
Nohlen, Dieter. 1995. Sistemas electorales y partidos Política. Lisboa: Celta Editora.
políticos. Cidade do México: Universidad Nacional
Autónoma do México e Fondo de Cultura
Económica (second edition).
Lovenduski, Joni and Norris, Pippa. 1993. Gender
and Party Politics. London: Sage Publications.
Lovenduski, Joni and Norris, Pippa. 1996. Women
and Politics. Oxford: Oxford University Press.
Phillips, Anne. 1995. The Politics of Presence.
Oxford: Oxford University Press.
Polanco, Jaqueline Jiménez. 1999. “La representa-
tion política de las mujeres en America Latina”.
Revista America Latina Hoy. Madrid e Salamanca:
Universidad Complutense y Universidad de
Salamanca (fevereiro).
Reynolds, Andrew. 1999. “Women in the
Legislatures and Executives of the World: Knocking
at the Highest Glass Ceiling”. World Politics. Vol.
51, No. 4, pp. 547-572.Rule, Wilma. 1994.
“Parliament of, by, and for the People: Except for
Women?”. In Wilma Rule and Joseph Zimmerman
(eds). Electoral Systems in Comparative Perspective:
Their Impact on Women and Minorities. Westport,
Connecticut and London: Greenwood.
Short, Clare. 1996. “Women and the Labour
Party”. In Women in Politics
Siaroff, A. 2000. “Women’s Representation in
Legislatures and Cabinets in Industrial
Democracies”. International Political Science Review,
21/2.
Squires, Judith. 1996. “Quotas for Women: Fair
Representation?” In Joni Lovenduski and Pippa
Norris (eds). Women in Politics, Oxford: Oxford
University Press. Suplicy, Marta. 1996. “Novos
paradigmas nas esferas de poder”. Revista Estudos
Feministas, 4/1, pp. 126-137
86
87
Putting the Mandate into Practice:
Legal Reform in Costa Rica

Ana Isabel García Quesada
In 1996, Costa Rica joined the group of countries women’s right to be elected. The first time that Costa
that have established, by law, the positive action of Rican women had the opportunity to exercise this
minimum quotas for women in relation to the hol- right was in 1950, when a plebiscite was held.2 In
ding of popularly elected positions (president and popular elections in 1953, the first three women
vice-presidents, deputies, and elective offices at the legislators were elected.
local level), and in relation to their participation in The second milestone came in 1988, when draft
political party structures. The minimum established legislation was introduced (initially known as the
by law is 40 percent. ‘Real Equality for Women Act’), the original version
A summary of the milestones that laid the foun- of which proposed the positive action mechanism of
dations for this reform follows, as does an overview a minimum quota of representation. This mecha-
of the main obstacles that have had to be addressed nism did not gain consensus backing during the
to uphold the spirit of the law. Tables are also pre- legislative debate. Finally, in 1990, this legislation
sented, with statistical information on the holding of was approved under another name, the ‘Law for the
popularly elected posts according to sex, showing the Promotion of Women’s Social Equality’ (Law No.
slow pace of women’s representation before 1990 7142), but it excluded the quota mechanism. This
and what has happened since. Finally, some conclu- initiative came from a group of women who held
sions are posited on the Costa Rican experience. positions in the public administration at that time
(1986-90, under President Oscar Arias of the Partido
Background to the Positive Action de Liberación Nacional (PLN) (the National
Mechanism Liberation Party)-they offered to draft the proposed
Costa Rica’s experience in promoting equitable par- legislation, and to negotiate its approval. The public
ticipation and representation of women in public figure who came forward to head this group of
decision-making bodies is characterised by several women and to present the proposal to the Costa
key events in regard to legal electoral arrangements. Rican populace and to the legislature was the First
The right to vote and to be elected was won in Lady. This was one of the most important initiatives
1949 after more than 50 years of struggle by women of the Arias administration.
and various groups-a right that, hitherto, was reser- In addition to being the first specific law on gen-
ved exclusively for men.1 That year, following a civil der equity in Costa Rica’s history, Law 7142 put the
war, a new constitution was adopted; it is still in issue of women’s participation on the national politi-
force today, and includes women’s suffrage and cal agenda, especially in the political parties:
88
‘... the idea of implementing the quota system Nonetheless, once again there were debates on this

provoked strong negative reactions and heated point and the tribunal ... came out against the bill,
discussions in the Legislative Assembly. After arguing: (a) that women were forced to participate
many debates, quotas were excluded from the actively in the political party structures and elective
final version of the law ... Even though much of offices, and (b) that the bill did not establish the
the original proposal was lost, the law includes a mechanisms needed to verify compliance with the
chapter on political rights and creates the Office principle of proportional representation or sanctions
of the Human Rights Ombudsman (Defensoría for those who did not comply with the provision’.5
de Derechos Humanos). This entity is to take The fourth milestone came in 1996, when an
measures to eliminate discrimination in the hol- amendment to the Electoral Code was finally adop-
ding of public office in the centralized and ted that established minimum quotas for the partici-
decentralized parts of the public administration. pation of women. A female legislator had proposed
The law also establishes that political parties this initiative one year earlier, in the context of the
should: discussion in the legislative committee entrusted
with reaching consensus on several amendments to
include mechanisms in their by-laws to ensure the code. It was rejected on that occasion, and, the-
women’s participation in their internal elections, refore, was not included in the text agreed upon by
in the governing bodies of the party, and in the the political parties represented in the legislature at
slates of candidates; include women in govern- that time. When the legislative committee’s report
ment as vice-ministers, executives heading up went to the floor for debate, the legislators saw the
institutions known as oficialías mayores and direc- need to reopen the debate on the whole set of
ciones generales, as members of boards of direc- reforms of the code, because of the issue of the con-
tors, and in the positions of executive president, ditional subsidy, which, under Costa Rican law, the
manager, and deputy manager, and earmark a parties receive from the state to participate in elec-
percentage of the deuda política (conditional sub- tions. The opportunity was seized by the national
sidy paid by the government to the political par- women’s machinery (then known as the Centro
ties) to foster women’s training and political par- Mujer y Familia (CMF) (Center for Women and
ticipation’.3 Family)-now known as the Instituto Nacional de las
Mujeres (INAMU) (National Women’s Institute)),
As Isabel Torres points out: ‘The fact that the wor- which re-introduced language on a minimum quota
ding in the chapter on political rights used vague and for women, through a woman legislator from the
general terms such as “effective mechanisms” and government party (the PLN). The CMF authorities
“significant percentages” made it difficult to carry identified this legal reform as part of their strategic
out the mandate’.4 In response to Law 7142, several action plan, known as the Primer Plan para la
political parties amended their by-laws, but given Igualdad de Oportunidades entre Mujeres y
this weakness in the law, effective mechanisms to Hombres 1996-1998 (the First Plan for Equal
bolster women’s representation were not established. Opportunity for Women and Men 1996-1998),
The third milestone was approval of the mini- designed in the context of the post-Beijing era. It was
mum quota for women’s participation in 1992, part of the set of actions that the executive fostered
which occurred after a woman legislator (from the during that administration to improve the legal,
same political party that promoted the Law for the institutional, and cultural framework for the promo-
Promotion of Women’s Social Equality, the PLN) tion of women and gender equity. Moreover, the
took up the issue anew and introduced a bill to First Plan included the creation of a specific pro-
amend the Electoral Code, whose aim was to intro- gramme within the national machinery (the Program
duce compulsory quotas for the political parties. for the Promotion of the Active Citizenship of
‘This bill proposed a transitory article for “the Women (PROCAM)-the first government program-
Supreme Electoral Tribunal to guarantee and oversee me of this sort in Latin America), which undertook,
that there be female representation, in both the party among other things, to assess the background of the
structures and on the ballots for elective office”. reform and the arguments for promoting it.
89
The 1996 amendment to the Electoral Code, bin- representatives in meetings of the legislative commit-
ding on the political parties, provided as follows in tee that discussed the proposal.
Chapter IV, on the positive action mechanism of the Furthermore, the CMF launched a campaign to
minimum quota for participation: provide information and to raise awareness of the
proposed reform, using the mass media (holding
‘Article 58 news conferences and issuing press releases, notices
The by-laws of the parties must contain: and pronouncements in the main newspapers, con-
... ducting interviews with key persons and placing op-
n. The mechanism that ensures the participation ed articles, for example), and engaging in a variety of
of women in the percentage established in activities (the convening of roundtables and talks,
Article 60 of this Code, in both the party struc- and the publication of brochures, pamphlets and
ture and in the nominees for elective posts. posters, for instance).
ñ. The percentage and the manner in which the The fifth milestone stemmed from the previous
provision contained in Article 6 of Law No. reform and the response to its content and shortco-
7142, of March 8, 1990, will be put into practi- mings. The CMF authorities in the administration
ce’.6 that governed the country from 1994-98 sought cla-
rification from the Supreme Elections Tribunal of
‘Article 60 the rules that it would look to in enforcing that
In their organization, the parties shall provide reform, and took advantage of the occasion to pro-
for: pose a new definition that would make it possible to
... uphold the spirit of the minimum quota for women.
The delegations from the district, cantonal, and In other words, the CMF tried to make up for the
provincial assemblies shall be made up of at least weaknesses in the argument concerning the concept
forty percent (40 per cent) women.’ of electable positions that had manifested during the
legislative debate. The CMF indicated in its official
Transitory memorandum that the percentage established in the
When a party has attained the political participation Electoral Code did not guarantee that women would
of women in proportion to their numbers in the be placed in ‘positions with a real chance of being
voters’ roll, and to the satisfaction of the Supreme elected’, and averred that such a calculation could be
Elections Tribunal, the measures cited in the last obtained based on the vote for each party in previous
paragraph of Article 60 of the Electoral Code may be elections. The CMF provided solid, well-founded
terminated by resolution of that tribunal. and convincing arguments on the legal and political
Although the CMF authorities included the con- validity of positive action mechanisms, generally,
cept of a minimum quota of participation in regard and minimum quotas for the participation of
to electable positions in their proposed reform, this women, in particular.
definition was not approved. The difficulties at that In response to this request, the tribunal opted to
time in defining it and arguing in favour of its legiti- clarify just a few aspects for the political parties
macy hindered its effective implementation, as can (decision of Session No. 11,088 and decision XIII of
be verified in the electoral results (see Tables 1-5). Session 11,112 of 25 March 1997): (a) that each
Another weakness of this reform was that no sanc- party should have at least 40 percent women candi-
tions were established for parties that failed to dates in each of their provincial ballots for deputies;
respect the provision. (b) that the 40 percent minimum should be calcula-
This government initiative did not enjoy the open ted by considering separately the lists of principal
and full support of the different groups of organized and alternate candidates; and (c) that the Civil
women in Costa Rica. Even so, some groups (grass- Registry would not accept any ballot for elective offi-
roots and national), state entities (such as the Office ce that failed to meet the 40 percent criterion.
of the Ombudsman-Defensoría de los Habitantes), Nonetheless, it refrained from specifying the place-
and women (mainly from political parties, but also ment of candidates under the quota, based on the
others acting individually) appeared alongside CMF argument that every candidate, no matter what their
90
position, is electable (which is so, strictly speaking, not meet the 40 per cent threshold, the actual per-

from a legal standpoint). centages were ignored, and a smaller percentage was
The sixth milestone came with the 1998 elections. found acceptable based on the argument that one
Despite efforts made to date, the results underlined could look at the absolute number and “round
the problems in enforcing the mechanism included upwards.”
in the Electoral Code. Two texts explain this situa- ‘... the argument that there were not enough
tion: women interested in or nominated for those elective
‘As it was not expressly indicated that the 40 per- positions is not credible, especially when there are
cent should be construed as referring to electable known cases of women who stated they have been
positions, the political parties that participated in the excluded. In any event, if there is any difficulty along
election placed the minimum quota of representati- those lines, it would be a direct responsibility of the
ves of women mainly in the alternate places for parties to resolve it, determining the mechanisms for
directly elected posts, or situated them on the lists ensuring that women are nominated, as required by
with little if any possibility of getting elected. the law.’8
Another practice for achieving the 40 per cent was to As illustrated in the tables below, in these national
sum up all the women proposed in the national, can- elections, there was an increase in female accession to
tonal, and district elections, without considering the certain positions, but the 40 percent minimum was
separate ballots, or each municipality and province not attained in every case.
separately.’7 An increased number of women took up positions
‘As indicated in a national daily newspaper, “once in the executive, as the winning party had two
again, the most recent elections have highlighted the women on its presidential ballot, both as vice-presi-
strength of the customs, attitudes, and practices that dents (Costa Rica had already had women vice-pre-
have historically excluded women from decision- sidents on two occasions, in 1986, and in 1994). The
making and the exercise of political power.” Even percentage of women in the legislature also increa-
though this subject figured prominently in the elec- sed, but only to 19 percent. It was at the local level
toral debate and programs, the specific results have (where, until 1998, only the members of the muni-
hardly met expectations. cipal councils and the district councils had been
‘In brief, the breach of this provision of the popularly elected) that the quota was met to a grea-
Electoral Code has been evidenced through the com- ter extent, although only in about half of the cantons
plaint lodged by the CMF, to the effect that of the 23 in the case of the principal members of the munici-
parties that presented candidates to the Legislative pal and district councils.
Assembly, 15 did not have the 40 per cent in some
of their ballots. Nonetheless, the Supreme Elections Revisions to the Law
Tribunal declared unfounded the initiative brought After these first elections following the adoption of
by the Center to have the parties correct the ballots the electoral reform that includes the quota mecha-
that did not satisfy the rule, based on a report from nism, the new authorities of the INAMU (hitherto
the Civil Registry that sought to show that the quota the CMF) once again took up their predecessor’s
was being met. struggle and, in response to the election results,
‘That report introduced mechanisms for calcula- asked the Supreme Elections Tribunal to review the
ting that were at odds with the resolutions of the 1997 decision with respect to the definition of the
Tribunal whose effect is harmful to the participation minimum quota of participation. Arguments were
of women, since with a fewer number of women’s presented on the difficulties that the new law was
candidacies, one creates the appearance that the pro- facing, and the need for the tribunal to expound on
vision is being abided by. In this way, all the ballots its scope.
presented by all the parties are summed up, or all the Accordingly, one-and-a-half years after that elec-
lists presented in all the provinces by a given politi- tion, the tribunal overruled the 1997 decision and
cal party are summed up, and they are even added corrected its error via the adoption of Resolution No.
combining the principal and alternate candidates. In 1863, now in force. This document provides as fol-
the case of three provincial parties, whose lists did lows:
91
• the 40% participation of women on the ballots calculating the placement on the ballot of a political
for deputies, municipal council members, and party, which should be understood as the limit of the
district council members, must be in electable real probability of being elected. In this regard, via
positions; Resolution No. 2837 of 12 December 1999, the tri-
• the 40% minimum quota for women must be bunal set forth the following definition:
respected in the designation of delegates in each ‘The average of the results obtained in the elec-
district, cantonal, and provincial assembly, and tions in which the political grouping has partici-
not in the overall totals; pated would yield an approximation of the pla-
• each political party is obligated to incorporate ces with real possibilities of being elected, and
into its by-laws-before the next designations of within these, consideration should be given to
delegates to assemblies and candidates to popu- the participation of women in the terms and
larly elected positions-the adjustments needed to proportions indicated. This formulation discards
guarantee the participation of women in the the real possibility of them being included in just
manner and in respect of the percentages provi- any position on the ballot, as this would render
ded for; their effective participation illusory’.
• the Civil Registry shall not register slates of can- This same resolution defines as an electable place
didates not in line with these parameters; and ‘that which is assigned to a person with real possibi-
• the Civil Registry shall not accredit reforms to lities9 of being elected, and this should be considered
the by-laws or the minutes of assemblies when it individually in drawing up the lists of candidates for
determines that the provisions established were each province’. It indicates that, since the parties are:
not complied with. ‘under an obligation to implement the quota sys-
tem for women’s participation, they must consi-
This resolution of the tribunal upheld the intent of der that the 40 per cent quota is a minimum
the 1996 reform to the Electoral Code with respect which, as such, may be increased so as to favour
to the minimum quota, making it possible for it to such representation, but not diminished ... The
be applied effectively in the 2002 elections. In other political party is under an obligation to foster a
words, even though it was adopted into law in 1996, democratic and participatory culture that makes
it was not until six years later that it was enforced. it possible to incorporate women’.
In terms of the participation of different actors in Such specifications and enhanced awareness by citi-
this phase, as has been indicated, the push for a revi- zens that one can recur to the institutional structures
ew by the Supreme Elections Tribunal of its decision to uphold their rights have made it possible for the
came from the public institution entrusted with activists of a given political party (the PLN) to appe-
women and gender issues: the INAMU. On this al at various levels regarding the formula adopted by
occasion, the pressure brought to bear by women that party to amend its by-laws (first to the tribunal
from within the political parties was greater, becau- of their own party, then to the Supreme Elections
se, inter alia, their numbers had increased in the lists Tribunal, and later to the Constitutional Chamber of
of candidates, both as part of a trend, and encoura- the Supreme Court), to bring them into line with
ged and promoted by the 1996 electoral reform. At the obligation to apply the minimum quota.
this time, the presence of grassroots and non-govern- It is not possible here to describe the entire process
mental women’s organizations was neither visible nor and the various arguments employed in this case,10
significant. but it must be noted that there was clear resistance
In response to the 1999 resolution, on various on the part of the male hierarchy that led the process
occasions, different parties and political figures of amending the party by-laws. It undertook to
sought clarification on certain points from the tribu- adopt the kinds of changes and wording that would
nal. The use of the mechanisms for communication prevent results that would actually reflect the 40 per-
between citizens and a public organ has made it pos- cent minimum of women in positions with a real lik-
sible to specify better the meaning of the law and the elihood of being elected. To this end, the male hie-
responsibility of the electoral authority, clarifying, rarchy drew on its wide-ranging experience in elec-
for example, what the ‘historic average’ means when tions and in managing party meetings (conventions)
92
and alliances, so that the changes would entail a mat- laws to apply this quota provision, at the same time

hematical calculation contrary to the spirit of the as the concept of electable places (or those with a real
quota reform. likelihood of getting elected) was being processed by
Given the lack of any entity within the PLN to the national electoral body, and at the same time as
represent women’s interests, a large group of women the parties had to choose their official candidates and
decided to assemble (calling themselves the autocon- the persons who would be included on the district,
vocadas, ‘self-convened women’) and to support the cantonal, and provincial lists. In other words, it was
proposed amendments to the by-laws that one sector a complex and confusing electoral period, internally,
among them was pushing. Later, during the lengthy locally and nationally, amidst a general climate of
decision-making process that ran from October resistance to the greater presence of women, which
1999 until just a few months prior to the 2002 means in a context in which the cultural change nee-
national elections, several meetings were held of ded was still incipient.
representatives of the three groups that were strugg- In regard to this complex process of change within
ling to determine the official PLN candidate. At the PLN, it was even the case that a positive action
those meetings, each group designated its representa- mechanism was initially approved involving ‘setting
tives, who were to defend the position of coming up aside seats’ (one post for women in each of the coun-
with a text that effectively guaranteed the minimum try’s seven provinces), but this happened one month
of 40 percent of women in positions with a real lik- prior to the tribunal resolution that specified the
elihood of getting elected. They reached agreement meaning of the term ‘electable’ and which defined
and discussed their shared views with the secretary- the ‘historical method’ for calculating the number
general of the party. Nonetheless, the final decision that forms the basis of which position is considered
was made by the Directorio Político (the national electable. This made the setting aside of seats insuf-
committee), in a vote, after another vote in a specific ficient, and the party had to undergo a new process
sub-committee designated for that purpose by the of consultation on changes to its by-laws.
Directorio Político. Women sat on both bodies, but The motions to vacate and to repeal (recursos de
given their partial absence, the male hierarchy tri- nulidad y derogatoria) presented by several women
umphed (although there were also men who suppor- before the internal tribunal of the party in question
ted the women, who sought amendments to the by- and the Supreme Elections Tribunal were rejected.
laws more in line with the quota stipulated in the They then went to the Constitutional Chamber of
Electoral Code). The Directorio Político had agreed the Supreme Court, which ruled favourably on the
that the decision of the majority should be conside- challenge in February 2001. That resolution provi-
red to represent a consensus. This was also called into ded for admitting the petition and prohibited the
question by a group of women from the PLN, as application of those articles of the PLN by-laws
they believed that some of the female members of being challenged until a decision is handed down.
these bodies were manipulated and demonstrated a Nonetheless, not only has this chamber not yet
lack of solidarity. So the proposal of the Directorio handed down a decision, but at the request of the
Político was taken to the party convention; it quick- PLN and of a female member of the Supreme
ly approved the proposed reform, which had reduced Elections Tribunal, the chamber decided only three
the possibilities for women to appear in the first days before the February 2002 elections to suspend
positions on the ballots.11 the constitutional challenge that it had deemed
In summary, with the PLN, it was seen how men admissible, deducing that this series of events had
who have extensive knowledge of the rules that produced a situation of juridical insecurity with
govern decision-making processes and elections respect to the elections.
(party and national), as well as negotiating skills, Despite all of the aforementioned developments,
proved capable of overcoming any organized or as can be seen in Tables 1-5 on how participation by
unorganized effort by women to uphold a right that sex has evolved in relation to elected office, in the
they had long struggled to attain. In the case of 2002 elections there was a major increase in female
Costa Rica, it also happened that the parties had to participation, especially at the local level. However,
think through and approve amendments to their by- for the reasons set forth above and some others that
93
are mentioned below, the percentage of women in the executive and the legislative branches has increa-
the national legislature reached only 35 percent. sed slowly and inconsistently.
It must be noted here that, just as the decision of In the executive branch, the only popularly elected
the PLN had negative repercussions on the place that posts are those of president of the republic and of
women ended up occupying on the lists of candida- vice-president (two); the president designates the
tes, the PLN decided, when it undertook that holders of the remaining posts. Since 1949, only
reform, that the division of votes would not apply to about 20 women have served as ministers (or held
the election of municipal council members, which, ministerial rank), or presidents of autonomous insti-
in practice, has resulted in it being the party with the tutions (the first in 1978), and approximately 32
most women heading up these lists, and which, the- have been vice-ministers (the first also in 1978). The
refore, has helped it to take the percentage of women number of women in these executive-branch posi-
municipal council members over the 40 percent tions has varied with each administration; in the case
minimum. In other words, more women would have of cabinet ministers and presidents of autonomous
been elected to the national legislature if the PLN institutions, the largest number of women was wit-
had not opted for the method outlined here. nessed in the 1998-2002 period, and in 2002-06 for
As for the other political parties, suffice it to say vice-ministers. In relative terms, the maximum figu-
that, in addition to the complications that the PLN re in terms of women’s participation thus far has
faced due to both resistance and the diversity of the been 25 percent for presidents of autonomous insti-
positive action measures adopted, they decided to tutions, 31 percent for cabinet ministers, and 48 per-
change their method for choosing candidates at all cent, only recently, for vice-ministers.
levels, for the first time making it more direct. On of Costa Rica has not yet elected a woman as presi-
the other leading parties opted to continue with dent of the republic, but it has elected women to
semi-closed internal elections. Nonetheless, the serve as vice-president. The first time a woman was
Partido Unidad Social Cristiana (PUSC) (Christian- elected vice-president was in the administration of
Social Unity Party) decided to alternate by sex in 1986-90. Since then, the country has elected five
drawing up its lists of candidates, without much women vice-presidents, but not continuously, as the
debate. Accordingly, even though there was also male administration in office from 1990-94 had men as
resistance, these mechanisms facilitated the placing president and vice-presidents. The following admi-
of women on the lists in positions with a greater pro- nistration, from 1994-98, went back to this practice,
bability of being elected. which, moreover, is established by law (minimum
The approaches of minority and emerging parties quota in popularly elected positions, which in the
were similar in some respects and different in others. case of the presidential slate requires at least one per-
For example, those that have, in the past, elected son of the other sex) precisely during that same peri-
only one person to the national legislature (such as od, as described above.
the Acción Laborista Agrícola and the Renovación With respect to the Legislative Assembly, women
Costarricense) sought clarification from the tribunal accounted for less than ten percent of the total num-
on the historical average that would be applied to ber of representatives until the mid-1980s. With the
them; the response made them exempt from having establishment of policies for women and quotas in
to consider putting a woman at the top of their the 1990s, that proportion rose to 19 percent in
lists.12 But it also happened that the emerging party 1998 and 35 percent in 2002.
that became the third leading force in the 2002 elec- It is at the municipal level that women’s participa-
tions (Acción Ciudadana) decided to increase the tion has achieved parity, as there was a progressive
quota to 50 percent for elections of deputies, but not qualitative leap as a result of the 1990 Law for the
for municipal council elections. Promotion of Women’s Social Equality and the regu-
lation of the political parties’ by-laws, and, above all,
Before and After 1990 in Figures as a result of the 1996 amendments to the Electoral
In the 50 years since women won recognition of Code. In effect, up until 1994, women did not con-
their right to vote and to be elected to public posts, stitute more than 14 percent of municipal council
their level of access to decision-making positions in members, counting both principals and alternates.
94
With the entry into force of the new election laws in Table 1: Evolution of Women’s Participation

the 1998 polls, that proportion increased to 36 per- as Cabinet Ministers, 1953-2002
cent and then to 50 percent in the subsequent elec-
tions. In any event, it must be noted that the pro- Period Total Women
portion of women serving as presidents of the muni-
cipal councils is much lower: in 2002, women held No. % of total
32 percent of such posts. 1953-58 N/A 0 0
As for Costa Rica’s other elected offices, as of 1958-62 12 1 8
December 2002, with the latest changes to the 1962-66 12 0 0
Electoral Code, the information available indicates 1966-70 12 0 0
that women’s participation is also limited in regard to 1970-74 12 0 0
the positions of mayor (municipal executive) and 1974-78 13 1 8
intendant (district executive). This is because these 1978-82 13 4 31
are uninominal elections in which, even though the 1982-86 13 0 0
code establishes that a slate is to be elected, and, the- 1986-90 19 1 5
refore, that the quota is applicable, as in the presi- 1990-94 20 2 10
dential ballots (which by resolution of the tribunal 1994-98 20 2 10
should be at least one person from the other sex), all 1998-2002 20 4 20
of the parties (national, provincial and local) that 2002-06 20 5 25
participated had a majority of male candidates (only
10 percent of the 370 candidates elected to serve as Source: Based on information provided by the official
municipal or district executives in the 2002 polls institutions.
(were women). As this is the first time that such elec-
tions have been held, it is also necessary to identify a Table 2: Evolution of Women’s Participation
proposal for the future. The results of this election as Vice-Ministers, 1978-2002
indicate that, of the 81 mayors elected, only seven
(nine percent) are women, and of the eight inten- Period Total Women
dants elected, only two are women (25 percent).13
No. % of total
Challenges to be Addressed 1978-82 13 2 15
to Ensure the Enforcement 1982-86 13 1 8
of the Minimum Quota 1986-90 19 4 21
In the context of widespread dissatisfaction with the 1990-94 22 4 18
political class and the party system in general in 1994-98 20 4 20
Costa Rica, one can identify the following specific 1998-2002 20 5 25
challenges to achieving effective enforcement of the 2002-06 20 12 60
minimum quota for women in elective office-as a
transitory measure until such time as it is no longer Source: Based on information provided by the official
necessary, due to cultural and institutional changes. institutions.
• The different modalities adopted by the political tical parties (particularly local and sectoral lea-
parties to guarantee the minimum of 40% ders).
women in elected office need to be reviewed so • The tribunal should review its ruling on the his-
as to identify proposed modifications and adjust- torical average that should be applied by emer-
ments, based on experience to date. ging parties or by those with a history of having
• Systematic and sustained efforts are needed to only one member elected (mainly to deputy
raise the awareness of, and to provide informa- positions), as this exempts them from having to
tion and training to, both women and men, apply the minimum quota for women.
especially-but not only-to those within the poli- • One must analyse the possibility of establishing
95
Table 3: Evolution of Women’s Participation Table 4: Evolution of Women’s Participation
as Executive Presidents of Autonomous as Deputies in the Legislative Assembly,
Institutions, 1978-2002 1953-2002
Period Total Women Period Total Women
No. % of total No. % of total

1953-58 45 3 7
1978-82 16 1 6 1958-62 45 2 4
1982-86 14 2 14 1962-66 57 1 2
1986-90 16 1 6 1966-70 57 3 5
1990-94 16 0 0 1970-74 57 4 7
1994-98 14 4 28 1974-78 57 N/A N/A
1998-2002 29 7 24 1978-82 57 5 9
2002-06 21 4 19 1982-86 57 4 7
1986-90 57 7 12
Source: Based on information provided by the official 1990-94 57 7 12
institutions. 1994-98 57 9 16
1998-2002 57 11 19
2002-06 57 20 35
Source: Based on official documents.
Table 5: Evolution of Women’s Participation as Principal and Alternate Municipal Council

Members, 1990-2002
Municipal 1990-94 1994-98 1998-2002 2002-06

council members
M W W% M W W% M W W% M W W%
Principals 477 65 12 502 75 13 378 195 34 265 235 47
Alternate 430 88 17 412 123 23 344 220 39 238 269 53
TOTAL 907 153 14 914 198 18 722 415 37 503 504 50
Note: M denotes men, W denotes women, and W% denotes women as a percentage of the total.
Source: Based on information provided by the INAMU and the following resolutions of the Supreme Elections
Tribunal: 583-E-2002, 584-E-2002, 585-E-2002, 586-E-2002, 587-E-2002, 588-E-2002 and 589-E-2002.
some type of positive action mechanism for posi- posed legislation on political parties, amend-
tions for which the elections are uninominal, to ments to the Electoral Code, and the proposed
which the quota mechanism does not apply (a amendment to the Law for the Promotion of
recent example is the election of mayors and Women’s Social Equality.
intendants, but it also applies to the presidential • It is necessary to raise the duty of the political par-
ballot). ties to earmark for training and promoting women
• Promoting the adoption of several bills current- a certain percentage of the monies that the govern-
ly in the legislative pipeline that refer to this ment (still) earmarks for the political parties, for
issue, and which advocate greater effective and experience has shown that it is possible for them to
equitable participation of women and men in fail to do so, and that there are not yet any means
public decision-making. These include the pro- of verification or of sanction in this respect.
96
Lessons Learned from in this regard; in fact, there are some sectors that

the Costa Rican experience have displayed a certain resistance to applying
• The 1988 initiative, the 1992 initiative and the public pressure on the various occasions when
1996 initiative are all proposals that have been proposed positive action mechanisms have been
initiated by women engaged in political party presented, or to forming alliances with women
activity or in the public administration, whether from political parties. The most significant alli-
in the executive branch or the legislature, who ance was formed in 1988, when the call came
have formed alliances with other women or non- from the then-First Lady, other women in
political party organizations to bring to bear important government posts, and from the
public and political pressure. In other words, it national machinery for women (then called the
appears to be necessary to promote both the Centro Mujer y Familia). Yet, on subsequent
organizational strengthening of the women in occasions, some organized sectors of women
political parties and outside of the parties, inde- stressed that they did not want to be used again
pendently, and to foster their alliance, and, in for political party purposes. Everything seems to
both cases, to increase their knowledge, abilities, indicate that it is necessary to strengthen these
and skills in the areas of party politics, electoral alliances, starting by clarifying the different roles
politics, and negotiation. of each sector, and their common objectives.
• In the case of Costa Rica, the main electoral The reticence of women who are not in the poli-
reforms have been initiatives by women with a tical parties to be part of them, or to enter into
given political party affiliation, namely the PLN. alliances with women who are, should be mini-
Nonetheless, when it comes to bringing pressure mized, as one must understand that, until the
to bear, the women in the opposition party pro- democratic rules of the game change in countri-
ved more effective, even though the party has es like Costa Rica, the way to impact on public
less of a history as a political grouping. This decisions is through politics, and that the
would appear to indicate that it is not sufficient mechanism is representation (through the politi-
to share an ideology more open to equity-based cal parties), which, combined with organized
proposals, even given the important and funda- and individual citizen participation, should yield
mental gains in this area, but, rather, that one the best results. In any event, efforts to increase
must also have organizational strength and grea- women’s participation occur in the context of
ter gender awareness generally in order for these political dynamics whose rules one must learn in
changes to be promoted more effectively. On order to play the game.
reviewing the women who have held major poli- • The first times that it was proposed that legisla-
tical positions in Costa Rica since the mid- tion be adopted to establish quotas (in 1988 and
1990s, the majority who have become more sen- 1992), there were neither sufficient nor effective
sitive, have received training offered by the arguments to uphold the need for such an
CMF/INAMU and their own political party, instrument (the grievance is a matter of justice
and have undertaken initiatives to form alliances in the face of the historical discrimination
among women, have come from the Social women have experienced, but one which was
Christian Party. Although the PLN has put more not addressed by the legal electoral language in
women in such posts, and has done so from an force). There is a need to research the electoral
earlier date, all indications are that the organiza- and political behaviour of women and men,
tional weakness of the women themselves made including the type of activity they are engaged
it difficult to take advantage of these opportuni- in, and to analyse and identify the main chal-
ties, which came about in 1995-96, in a context lenges that it might face. In addition, this know-
of national and political party-based electoral ledge has to be socialized and key persons need
reforms. to be identified to implement and defend the
• In Costa Rica, it is striking that the non-partisan proposals in various spheres.
groups of organized women have displayed weak • Related to this, Costa Rica’s experience has
participation, and have not taken any initiative shown that one must combine knowledge (his-
97
torical, of other countries, legal-electoral, politi- sals were formulated both for reform and for
cal) with creativity, as the diverse situations and advocacy work that were properly supported.
the complexity of a democratic system that seeks Unfortunately, both the Plan for Equal
to draw together the forms of representation and Opportunity and the programme were abando-
participation call for developing capacities to ned with the change in government, and even
intervene, propose and negotiate possible positi- today there is still no plan to operationalize the
ve action mechanisms in a timely, intelligent, public policy that every country should have for
sustained and audacious manner. promoting women and gender equity. In terms
• The Costa Rican experience, in keeping with its of the specific programme, an area has been cre-
own political identity and history, has entailed ated over the INAMU which, nonetheless, has
the need to go through several stages in raising not been able to implement a systematic and sus-
citizen and political awareness. In other words, tained strategy on all levels, with both the politi-
even in Costa Rica, with the gains that women cal parties and the female population generally,
have made and the very advanced legal frame- in the area of political participation. This issue
work, it has not been possible for this type of needs to be part of comprehensive and strategic
positive action framework to be easily and public policies, which, in keeping with the
quickly accepted by the citizenry. Nine years pas- Beijing Platform for Action, are a responsibility
sed between the proposed legislation being mainly of governments to promote, but which
introduced (in 1988) and it finally being adop- are of interest to women’s groups, the feminist
ted (in 1997), and, as outlined here, adjustments movement, and cooperation agencies that seek
are still needed on all levels. Clearly these cannot to advance equity. But, above all, there is a need
be addressed as isolated experiences with no stra- to have action plans whose results can be measu-
tegy. It is a long-term effort that will need to red and evaluated.
incorporate several particular features, including: • In all of the above-mentioned actions, the politi-
training women who lead the process; forming cal astuteness of the women who led the initiati-
technical teams to develop the arguments in ves has been evident, as has the importance of
favour of the proposals and to advocate them; the arguments vis-à-vis the Congress and politi-
forming alliances with men from political parti- cal parties. In other words, political party skills
es; raising the awareness of opinion-makers and and know-how have been fundamental for advo-
the media; addressing the need for a comprehen- cacy in Costa Rica; and it is something that had
sive strategic plan in which this issue is one of not been used as a tool or experienced by orga-
the main lines of action, but not the only one; nized women’s groups. Women need to streng-
and organizing campaigns to raise awareness and then their efforts in this regard.
to provide information. • Both Costa Rica’s experience and that of other
• In 1996, negotiations for the quota were part of countries indicate that there is a need to identi-
a government strategy, and part of a strategic fy, construct and promote not only one type of
plan designed and promoted by the CMF. As has positive action mechanism, that is, the quota, or
been explained, during that administration the to focus mainly on it. A set of measures is nee-
first Plan for Equal Opportunity for Women and ded, both statutory and regulatory, for the poli-
Men was designed and developed, with a speci- tical parties and other types of organizations
fic chapter devoted to fostering socio-political (such as cooperatives and unions) and collegial
equity. The actions contained in that chapter public organs (such as committees, commissions
related mainly to the executive, one of these and boards of directors). In addition, these mea-
being to advance the electoral reform that is the sures should be presented in the context of a
subject of this essay. This policy meant, among strategy that combines a diverse range of actions
other things, that the government would deve- (including communication and lobbying),
lop a specific programme to promote the active which make this change socially and politically
citizenship of women. In the framework of that viable in the institutions of representative
programme, studies were performed and propo- government and in the population in general.
98
• Effective use has been made of the channels and Notes

mechanisms of communication that exist within 1 For more details on this period, see: Barahona
Costa Rica’s democratic institutional framework, 1994; CMF/CIM 1982; CMF 1985; CMF
which made it possible for different interlocutors 1986; CMF 1988a and 1988b; DGMF 1983;
to engage in dialogue with those who make deci- García 1999; Moreno 1995; PRIEG/UCR
sions on legal and electoral matters. It has also 1988; Rivera 1981 and 1986; Romero, Carmen
been made clear that these mechanisms are used et al. 1986; Sojo 1985.
mainly by individuals who are either directly 2 Plebiscite to determine whether certain towns
affected (mainly politicians) or institutions and would belong to or join one of two adjoining
female leaders who have held decision-making cantons, San Ramón or San Carlos, both in the
positions. It has been since then that initiatives province of Alajuela.
have arisen to lodge complaints and/or to pre- 3 See García 1999, p. 103. In carrying out the
sent demands by citizens who, in principle, were mandate established by the Law for the
not directly involved in competition for some Promotion of Women’s Social Equality, in
popularly elected posts. In other words, the 1992, the two majority and traditional parties
nature of the institutional framework and how (the Partido de Liberación Nacional (PLN)
advanced the legal framework is matters for (social-democratic) and the Partido Unidad
implementation. Socialcristiana (PUSC) (Christian-democratic))
• Finally, it must be noted here that, as in other incorporated some mechanisms and strategies
countries where the presence of women in public to ensure greater female participation in their
decision-making bodies increased and alliances party structures. The PLN modified its by-laws
among these women were formed, in Costa Rica, and incorporated several articles to ensure the
the Congress is making decisions on laws and free participation and representation of women
posts in the judiciary that favour greater female in the party. The PUSC created the Secretariat
participation. This is the case with the 50 percent for the Promotion of Women’s Political
quota in the law that determined the new make- Participation, whose main objectives are to pro-
up of the assembly of the Banco Popular, the sur- mote women’s participation in internal elec-
veillance to ensure respect for the principle of tions, in the party’s governing bodies, on the
guaranteeing the effort to achieve parity between ballots, and in government. These amendments
the sexes in the formation of associations, the to the by-laws began to have effect mainly in
opinion along these lines contained in several local elections (see Table 5).
proposed laws, and the election of women to 4 Torres 2001.
judicial vacancies. While questions can be raised 5 García 1999, p. 104.
about these decisions, they are leaving their mark. 6 This refers to the percentage of the conditional
subsidies received from the government that the
political parties must earmark for the training
and political participation of women, in kee-
ping with the 1990 Law on the Promotion of
Women’s Social Equality.
7 Torres 2001, p. 53.
8 García 1999, p. 106.
9 Note that the tribunal uses the term possibility
instead of real probability, which appears to be
more fitting.
10 See, in this respect, Torres 2001.
11 The 28 October 2000 reform of the by-laws sti-
pulates that, for the direct election of candida-
tes for deputy, the PLN will divide each provin-
ce into regions, so that both women and men
99
can compete for regions. Nonetheless, since this 13 As for the other popularly elected posts, on this
party had already decided to apply the mecha- occasion, for the first time in Costa Rica, results
nism of setting aside seats for women (one per showing a breakdown by sex were not available
province), it provided that, in those cases, the on the members of the District Councils.
female winner would be the one who obtained
the largest number of provincial votes, divided
by as many regions as each province has. This, References
in practice, diminishes the total votes obtained Barahona, Macarena. 1994. Las sufragistas de Costa
by the women elected at the provincial level, Rica. San José: Editorial de la Universidad de Costa
which translates into a disadvantage when Rica.
determining the order of the candidates. This is
Camacho, Rosalía, Lara, Silvia, Serrano, Ester.
because, as happened, those who had competed
1997. Las cuotas mínimas de participación de las
at the regional level and had won had a better
mujeres: un mecanismo de acción afirmativa. Aportes
possibility of receiving a larger number of votes
para la discusión. San José: Centro Nacional para el
than those who had run in the provinces, and
Desarrollo de la Mujer y la Familia (CMF).
whose vote was divided by the number of
regions. (The group of women who were advo- Camacho, Rosalía. 1999. “Las cuotas de participaci-
cating a fairer solution proposed that the langu- ón política de las mujeres”. In La situación de las
age in force until then remain, or that, just as at mujeres en Centroamérica. Una evaluación en el
the regional level, the calculation be made with umbral del siglo XXI. San José: Inter-American
respect to their own electoral district, and that Dialogue, Central America Program-Women’s
the same be done for the women candidates Leadership Conference of the Americas (WLCA).
competing at the provincial level with respect to
Centro Nacional para el Desarrollo de la Mujer y la
the size of that electoral district.) Furthermore,
Familia (CMF)/CIM. 1982. CMF)/Inter-American
given that the setting aside of seats was not suf-
Commission of Women (CIM). Algunos aspectos
ficient to meet the 40 percent of positions with
relativos al voto femenino en Costa Rica. San José:
a real likelihood of getting elected (now that
Publications Office of the Ministry of Culture,
the historical average of that party was known),
Youth and Sports.
the Assembly decided-but only after much
effort and many months-to increase the num- CMF. 1985. La mujer en la política. Document. San
ber set aside to two for two provinces, and half José.
of the first four ‘national’ places (which are con-
CMF. 1986. Legislación y participación política.
trolled by the party’s presidential candidate) for
Document. San José.
women. Here, too, there was a debate, as one of
those national positions, as per the by-laws, cor- CMF. 1988a. La mujer en la política de Costa Rica.
responds to the representative/president of the Brochure. San José.
Movimiento de Mujeres Liberacionistas (the
CMF. 1988b. Situación de la mujer costarricense.
PLN women’s caucus), and it was counted as
Document. San José.
part of the quota, a decision that has met with
objections. DGMF. 1983. Dirección General de Mujer y
12 In any event, creative approaches have been Familia. Ministry of Culture, Youth and Sports.
forthcoming that tend to be more just, for Participación de la mujer en la política nacional y
example, that the lists of the parties whose elec- local. Document. San José: Dissemination and
toral history has been to have only one person Research Area
elected as deputy draw up their future lists
García, Ana Isabel. 1991. Costa Rica: Participación
applying alternation by sex, or alternation by
femenina en procesos de toma de decisión sobre paz y
sex in heading up the lists by electoral event.
seguridad. Working Paper No. 8/91. San José:
These proposals have yet to be debated by these
Facultad Latinoamericana de Ciencias Sociales
parties.
(FLACSO).
100
García, Ana Isabel. 1993. Mujeres Latinoamericanas

en Cifras. Costa Rica. Santiago: FLACSO.
García, Ana Isabel. 1997. “Mujer, poder y políticas
públicas en el inicio de la era post-Beijing”. In Las
mujeres y el poder. Aubet, María et al. San José:
Editorial Mujeres.
García, Ana Isabel. 1999. “Mujeres, participación
política y ciudadanía. Un ejemplo de la aplicabili-
dad del sistema de cuotas”. In La situación de las
mujeres en Centroamérica. Una evaluación en el
umbral del siglo XXI. San José: Inter-American
Dialogue, Central America Program-WLCA.
García, Ana Isabel and Gomáriz, Enrique. 2000.
“Género y ciudadanía en América Latina: otra
mirada al horizonte”. In Democracia de Género. Una
propuesta para mujeres y hombres del siglo XXI.
Gomáriz, Enrique and Meentzen, Angela, eds. San
José: Fundación Género y Sociedad and Heinrich
Böll Foundation.
Moreno, Elsa. 1995. Mujeres y política en Costa
Rica. San José: FLACSO.
PRIEG/Universidad de Costa Rica (UCR). 1988.
Situación de la mujer en Costa Rica. Un perfil de su
discriminación. Document. San José.
Rivera, Tirza E. 1981. Evolución de los derechos polí-
ticos de la mujer en Costa Rica. San José:
Publications Office of the Ministry of Culture,
Youth and Sports.
Rivera, Tirza E. 1986. Estatus político de la mujer a
través de la historia costarricense. Document. San
José.
Romero, Carmen et al. 1986. La mujer en Costa
Rica y su participación en el desarrollo del país. Social
Research Institute (Instituto de Investigaciones
Sociales), UCR. San José.
Sojo, Ana. 1985. Mujer y política. Ensayo sobre femi-
nismo y el sujeto popular. San José: DEI.
Torres, Isabel. 2001. La aplicación de la cuota míni-
ma de participación de las mujeres. ¿Ficción o reali-
dad? Un diagnóstico para Costa Rica. San José:
Fundación Arias para la Paz y el Progreso Humano.
101
Quota Implementation
in Mexico
Summary of Presentation
Jacqueline Peschard
After the 2000 elections in Mexico, with the advent necessary to attain gender proportionality.
of a change in power, the issue of women’s political
representation came to the fore among the demands The provision recognized just one caveat: that in
for consolidating democracy. Those women’s move- electing candidates through majority vote, the politi-
ments that have been fighting for more decision- cal parties that opted for a direct method of election-
making positions came together with legislative that is, open consultation among their members or
groups to amend the electoral code and to incorpo- the general population, a sort of primary election-
rate specifications into the provision on quotas that would be exempt from meeting the quota.
has been in place since 1996. The electoral authority needed to regulate how
In April 2002, the legislative group of the Partido the respective slates of candidates that surpassed the
de la Revolución Democrática (PRD) launched the maximum of 70 percent for a single sex would be
reform initiative, which won the support of the other cancelled. Two provisions were introduced.
parties, underlining the broad consensus around the
issue of gender equity. Indeed, it was the only initia- (1) In order to determine which candidacies had to
tive of the 20 introduced on electoral issues that was be cancelled to meet the requirement, male candida-
ultimately approved in the run-up to the 2003 mid- tes (for cancellation) would be drawn by lot until 30
term elections. percent of the candidates were women.
The reform of the quota system had three main (2) In the case of the PR lists, the cancellations
parts. would begin with the last names and work up from
there, in each of the five electoral districts into which
(1) Thirty percent of the principal candidates would the country is divided.
have to be of a different gender, both where elected
by relative majority and proportional representation This decision implied that compliance with the law
(PR). would be required in regard to each of the slates, and
(2) In the lists for PR, female candidates would be not as applied to all candidacies taken as a whole.
included among every three of the lists to ensure bet- Moreover, in the case of PR lists, the gender percen-
ter opportunities for winning a seat. tage was required for each particular district, that is,
(3) Any political party that failed to meet the quota in each group of 40 candidates, and for all of the lists
would be sanctioned by the exclusion of the respec- taken together (200 candidates).
tive candidacies, that is, of as many candidates as Enforcement of the quota law revealed that seven
102
of the 11 political parties, including the three largest
Quota Implementation in Mexico

ones, recurred to some form of direct selection of
their majority candidates so as to be relieved of the
quota requirement in a particular area. Nonetheless,
the proportion of principal women candidates rea-
ched 29.6 percent on average, albeit with major dif-
ferences among the political parties. For while the
Partido Revolucionario Institucional (PRI) registered
11 percent majority women candidates, the México
Posible Party, a recently registered party, which grew
out of the women’s movements, registered 51 per-
cent women candidates.
The final tally of the candidacies showed that all
of the parties far surpassed the threshold of 30 per-
cent principal women candidates, reflecting accep-
tance of this measure among the rank-and-file in the
various parties. One hundred and fifteen women
legislators took up seats in the Chamber of Deputies-
23% of all of its members, up from 16% in the pre-
vious legislature. This is the first time that more than
20 percent of legislators have been women.
Nonetheless, although the reform, widely known as
the ‘double quotas’, was effective in terms of increa-
sing the number of women in Congress, it did not
suffice, on its own, to attain the desired goal.
There are several reasons for this. Certainly the
lack of a balanced gender composition within politi-
cal party structures is the main obstacle to female
candidates being proposed on a regular basis.
Accordingly, the nomination of female candidates
was not concentrated in those districts in which each
political party has the best chance of winning, since
they are reserved for their best leaders, among whom
there are few women. Of course, behind all of this
lurk culturally rooted convictions as to the inadvisa-
bility of nominating women, who have various roles
to play, yet who lack sufficient training and skills to
assume political responsibilities.
Only a detailed study to follow up on each politi-
cal party in the process of nominating women can-
didates would make it possible to identify specifical-
ly the persisting lag in balanced gender representa-
tion.
103
Women’s Political
Participation in Bolivia:
Progress and Obstacles
Jimena Costa Benavides
Overview of Bolivia’s Democratic Process
Representative democracy in Bolivia is confronting a values’ is a slow process that stands in the way of sub-
not-very-participatory political culture1 that still views stantial change in the practices of the political com-
the state as the benefactor state, and which associates munity, the institutionalization and transformation of
democracy with solving social and economic pro- the ‘rules of the game’ has been swift. Indeed, part of
blems more than with expanding citizen participation the progress made-and the very consolidation of
and placing limits on the arbitrary actions of rulers. It democracy-has a great deal to do with the capacity of
is a representative democracy in form but not in sub- political parties to reach agreement to reform the regi-
stance. It operates like a pacted democracy: given the me, despite the fact that they have reproduced a series
dispersion of the vote no one can garner an absolute of ‘traditional’ and harmful practices that are gradual-
majority to elect the government. ly deepening the political crisis, including prebenda-
The main problem with the Bolivian process is that lism, clientelism, padrinazgo, patrimonialism, caudil-
it has not been accompanied by policies aimed at ide- lismo, and the exclusion of majority sectors from the
ological transformation to promote a democratic and public debate. That is the case of women, who consti-
participatory culture to attain the exercise of full citi- tute 50.2 percent of the national population, as illu-
zenship. Even though ‘institutionalizing norms and strated in the following table.2
Table 1: Population According to the Census by Area and Sex, 1950-2001
DESCRIPTION 1950 1976 1992 2001
BOLIVIA 2,704,165 4,613,486 6,420,792 8,274,325

Men 1,326,099 2,276,029 3,171,265 4,123,850
Women 1,378,066 2,337457 3,249,527 4,150,475
Urban area 708,568 1,925,840 3,694,846 5,165,882
Men 934,998 1,793,445 2,517,434
Women 990,842 1,901,401 2,648,448
Rural area 1,995,597 2,687,646 2,725,946 3,108,443
Men 1,341,031 1,377,820 1,606,416
Women 1,346,615 1,348,126 1,502,027
104
Despite all of the limitations, Bolivia’s pacted demo- were introduced - reflect the following changes.
in Bolivia
Women’s Political Participation
cracy has facilitated the stability of the regime, but
also the implementation of several major political Table 2: Women Elected in 1993,
reforms, which have made it possible to create insti- 1997 and 2003
tutions that promote greater representation and citi- Principals
Relative Frequency Alternates
zen participation in the structuring of power. The 30
constitutional reform of 1995, which modernised 25 22 21,5
24,6
the state, includes a new way of electing the 20
Chamber of Deputies: a Mixed Member Propor- 15 13

10
10
tional (MMP) electoral system. The lower house is 7,6
5
now made up of 68 single-member constituencies,
0
elected by direct vote (a simple majority), and nine 1993-1997 1997-2002 2002-2007
multi-member constituencies with representatives

elected by party list. Political citizenship has been
expanded to include all Bolivian males and females The number of women elected as principal represen-
who are 18 years or older, and quotas have been tatives has increased by more than 100 percent,
introduced, requiring that at least 30 percent of can- while alternates have seen their numbers rise by over
didates on the party lists be women. two percent. It is important to note, though, that
only three cases currently constitute the sample-the
Women’s Political Participation national elections of 1997 and 2002, and the muni-
The political participation of women in Bolivia cipal elections of 1999. In just five years we are alre-
began in 1947 and 1949, when a few female mem- ady close to the minimum threshold, such that, if the
bers of the ruling oligarchy gained the right to vote trend continues, within another five years the num-
in municipal elections. With the National ber of women participating can be expected to sur-
Revolution of 1952, and universal suffrage in 1956, pass 30 percent. With respect to the candidacies,
Bolivian women began to exercise political citizens- there have also been some significant changes.
hip. But it is only recently (in 1997), with the intro-
duction of quotas-a product of the struggle waged by Table 3: Women Candidacies for
the Coordinadora de la Mujer, Plataforma de la the Senate, 1993-2003
Mujer, Unión de Mujeres Parlamentarias de Bolivia,
the Office of the Undersecretary for Gender Affairs, Relative Frequency
Principals
Alternates
and those women from political parties grouped 50 47,3
together in the Foro Político de Mujeres-that the 40
40
Electoral Code has required that parties have at least
30
30 percent of women on their national lists of can-
21,5
didates, distributed such that at least one of every 20 16
18
three candidates is a woman. 10 8,5

While the results do not translate automatically
0
into parliamentary seats-for in a list of Senate candi- 1993-1997 1997-2002 2002-2007
dates made up of two principals and two alternates,
it is clearly impossible to apply-the impact of the law, Furthermore, given the characteristics of Bolivia’s
as expressed in the 1997 national election results, mixed system, the greater presence of women is con-
was encouraging, even though it led to disruption centrated in the Chamber of Deputies in the unino-
and resistance within the political parties that abided minal representations, as illustrated in the following
by the measure more out of obligation than convic- graphs.3
tion. Making women candidates for alternate depu-
ty positions was the easiest way to comply with the
law, and it did not have much effect on the interests
of the male candidates. The results of the national
elections of 1993, 1997 and 2002 - when quotas
105
Table 4: Proportional Representation Table 6: Women Principal Candidates,
Women Candidates 1993-2003
Principals
Alternates Relative Frequency
21,5
Relative Frequency
50 20
45,3
15
40 36
35 10
31,2 10 7,6
30
5
20 0
1993-1997 1997-2002 2002-2007
10
Table 7: Women Uninominal Deputies
0
1997-2002 2002-2007 Principals
Absolute Frequency Alternates
10
9
8 7
4
3
2
2
0
1997-2002 2002-2007
Table 5: Women Senators, 1997-2003

Relative Frequency Principals
Alternates
30
26 26
25
22 22 22
20
14,8 14,8 14,8

15
11 11
10
0
1997-1998 1998-1999 1999-2000 2001-2002 2002-2003
Women in Power ‘The dual or mixed electoral system (proportio-

Yet beyond the substantive gains, we must ask our- nal and simple majority) operates perversely in
selves not only how many women have entered terms of the quotas. First, it does so by reducing
Congress, but also what their situation is once they the parties’ margin of security with respect to the
get there. The research project by Lourdes Zavala4 on first and second positions. In this very complex
women’s political participation in the National scenario, the possibilities offered by the quota
Congress after the implementation of the Quota are curtailed, if we consider that women are,
Law shows that the main drawbacks for women are almost mathematically, situated in every third
associated with the election of uninominal deputies. place on the ballots, almost invariably vying to
The main reason the majority principle has a negati- get elected as alternates’.5
ve impact has to do with the social and cultural cha-
racteristics of the Bolivian political community: According to that report, another difficulty women
106
face is the economic cost of political campaigns and advice, and lack knowledge and information on the
in Bolivia
family opposition to them standing as candidates. use of legislative instruments and congressional rules
Even so, without this positive action measure, it and procedures, which is also very common among
would have been difficult to increase the number of men. Their capacity for legislative output is therefo-
women legislators. re hindered, but still significant considering their
A gain whose impact was even greater came in numbers. In Bolivia, women legislators do not adopt
1999 when the municipal governments, under the as their main collective objective the introduction of
new Electoral Code, introduced the principle of 30 gender issues on the legislative agenda, which, while
percent women plus alternation on the lists for the representing a qualitative leap forward with respect
election of municipal council members: ‘the first to the democratic consolidation, neglects a historic
male/female council member shall have a female/ opportunity to introduce affirmative action measu-
male alternate. The second and third principal coun- res in other instances. The following tables8 summa-
cil members will be assigned alternately, i.e. M-F, F- rize the bills introduced in both chambers by women
M)’.6 The results were 46.6 percent candidacies for in the previous legislature.
alternate members, 29.4 percent for principal coun- Other problems were also flagged in the research
cil member, 21 women mayors elected (in 1995 project: the lack of commitment and coordination
there were just 12), and 32 percent women council among female members of Congress when it comes
members elected (in 1995 women accounted for just to addressing the specific interests and demands of
8.3 percent). Hence, the first time the new law was women, conflictive relationships among them, and
applied to municipal elections, the minimum quota the lack of a strategic vision in regard to forming alli-
was surpassed. ances and pacts and entering into agreements that
Yet one should note the other problems that arose would enable them to act as a collective subject with
in the municipal elections: post-election harassment, the capacity to apply pressure.
and physical and psychological violence7 to provoke
the resignation of the women council members elec- Women’s Participation and the
ted, generally for non-partisan cultural reasons. Political Party System
The experience of 1997 to 2002 is but the begin- Under Bolivia’s democracy, the political parties have
ning of a process that cannot demonstrate significant a monopoly on representation, and citizens can only
results in just five years. Despite the limitations exercise the right to hold public office and run for
detected, however, one can conclude that the Quota election through them. This is an impediment to the
Law shows positive results, increasing the possibility political participation of women, who confront a
of electing women to the legislative chambers and to number of limitations and obstacles.9 The internal
the municipal councils. In the 1993 elections, nomi- characteristics of the parties-with slight variations
nations amounted to just ten percent, as compared among them-can be summarized as follows: (1) per-
to 24 percent in the 1997 elections, until reaching sonalised, that is, the organization is highly concen-
almost 50 percent in 2002, after implementation of trated around the party leader; (2) internal divisions;
the quota. Quotas are also a preventive mechanism (3) weak processes of institutionalization; (4) lack of
to stop the number of women legislators from drop- ideological factors to encourage internal cohesion;
ping. and (5) persistence of authoritarian and ‘traditional’
Another fundamental factor to analyze concerns relationships, such as padrinazgo, prebendalism, and
the legislative performance of the women elected: clientelism. All of these factors have led to a deepe-
the legislative work seems invisible, and there appe- ning of the crisis in terms of the legitimacy of, and
ars to be a lack of participation in the decision- representation within, the political system.
making and directing positions of the legislative Analysis of the mechanisms to promote women’s
branch. Accordingly the ranking positions in the political participation in the by-laws of the political
legislature remain in the hands of male legislators. parties shows that there are basically two instruments
Zavala’s work shows that women legislators have had to achieve this objective: the quotas established by
a hard time doing their job in the legislative cham- law; and the secretariats for women’s affairs-in which
bers: they often lack skills, do not have sufficient issues essential to the party are not discussed, and
107
Table 8: Chamber of Deputies: Bills Introduced by Women Members of Congress, 1997-2002
1997-2002 National Regional Issues Social Issues Gender-specific Total Bills

Term Legislative Reforms Issues
1997-1998 2 4 2 4 12
1998-1999 3 8 1 1 11
1999-2000 3 7 1 2 13
2000-2001 5 11 4 1 21
2001-2002 6 4 2 - 12
Total Bills 19 (26%) 34 (48%) 10 (14%) 8 (11%) 71
Source: Zabala, based on data from the Chamber of Deputies.
Table 9: Bills Introduced by Women in the Senate
1997-2002 National Regional Issues Social Issues Gender-specific Total Bills

Term Legislative Reforms Issues
1997-1998 1 2 -- 3
1998-1999 2 2 - - 4
1999-2000 1 1 - - 2
2000-2001 3 2 2 - 7
Total Bills 7 (44%) 7 (44%) 2 (12%) - 16
Source: Zabala, based on data from the Senate
which do not enjoy the support of the party leaders. nal practices in others-norms and conduct that are
According to the study by Karin Monasterios and not very democratic or transparent, not only within
Luis Tapia Mealla, these secretariats may be a form of the political system, but also in society. The main
positive differentiation, but also an organizational obstacle to women’s participation is not the parties,
means of exclusion, depending on the political party but the failure of the political culture to transform.
in question. Taking the 14 political parties with the The parties assimilate quotas out of obligation, not
largest presence in the party system, the analysis out of democratic conviction; they assume that the
shows that only in two of them (the Movimiento adoption of quotas has introduced distortions in the
Nacionalista Revolucionario (MNR) and the political market and that it impoverishes representa-
Movimiento Sin Miedo (MSM)) are there quotas tion, reducing the participation of ‘the best and most
both within the party and for public office.10 capable men’. Nonetheless, those parties that have
The party system is clearly a reflection of the soci- already experienced some degree of internal demo-
ety from which it has come; in it the politicians cratization are characterised by considerable female
reproduce the styles and conduct of society. One participation compared to those parties that have not
underlying problem of Bolivian democracy is that democratized. The MNR was the only party in the
the process of ideological transformation is not kee- 2002 campaign that had quotas within the party.
ping up with fast-paced institutional changes; as a
result, the rules of the game are observed partially or Political Culture as an
sometimes not at all. A new tension has arisen bet- Obstacle to Participation
ween an ideological process of democratization in The historical circumstances surrounding the con-
some sectors, and a defence of questionable traditio- struction of liberal democracy in Bolivia leave little
108
in Bolivia
Table 10: Political Party and Public Office Quotas
Declaration against Secretariat of Quotas Public Posts Quotas within Party

Discrimination Women’s Affairs
AND Yes
NFR Yes Yes
FRI
KND
MBL Yes Yes
MIP Yes
MIR Yes
MNR Yes Yes 30%
MRTKL Yes
MSM Yes Yes 50% 50%
NFR Yes
PCB
PS 1 Yes
UCS Yes Yes
VR 9
space for plurality. The foundations of liberal indivi- The political practices of the mestizo western cultu-
dualism have denied other identities and the tradi- re and of the indigenous cultures make women
tional practices of some social and cultural actors; second-class citizens. Beyond the characteristics par-
furthermore, the indigenous cultures are not based ticular to each model, we note that, in the mixture,
on gender equity and equality. One example is Bolivian political culture leads to discrimination
Aymara democracy-the Aymara being one of the against the participation of women in politics, and,
most populous indigenous peoples in Bolivia-in when they are accepted, they are viewed as tools for
which only males can participate in public debate: satisfying the interests of the party or of specific lea-
the Communal Assembly-parlakipawi-as the highest ders. The problem is that many women play into
authority and centre of community life, bars female that role. The research done by Monasterios and
participation. Being elected the main authority (jila- Tapia in the city of El Alto shows that:
kata or kuraka) is a privilege that is enjoyed only by
men who are married, own land, and are heads of ‘When it comes to applying the 30 per cent, one
family. The criteria for selecting the leaders of pea- turns to one’s sisters, female cousins, sisters-in-
sant unions are similar: one must be male, the head law, or simply those servile women of the party
of a family, married, own land, and have completed who will not object to the decisions of the influ-
military service. In both cases, the criteria exclude ential men in the municipal government. It does
women, youths, single persons, and those who do not matter than they have no preparation, what
not own land. matters is ensuring their loyalty, and in a sense
When it comes to finding a characteristic com- their lack of understanding of politics, so as to
mon to all practices and sectors, from actors in the perpetuate the non-interference of women in
political system to members of civil society, cutting men’s affairs’.11
across all of these are the restrictions on women’s par-
ticipation in public decision-making processes, One can conclude that, in shaping the direction of
which are based on the view that men are better sui- democracy in Bolivian political culture, there are
ted and more effective in politics. In addition, positive factors: pluralism, the right to dissent, free-
women hold a central place in rural areas. dom of opinion, expression, preference and associa-
109
tion, and the effort to reach consensus and to esta- Endnotes
blish mechanisms of accountability. Yet there are also 1 The concept of political culture is understood
negative factors: unequal distribution of opportuni- as a set of psychological orientations-emotional,
ties to formulate preferences, discriminatory merito- cognitive and evaluative-that refers to political
cratic criteria, corruption, intolerance, imposition of objects as roles or specific structures, to the per-
majorities over the minority, and discrimination, sons who play such roles, and the principles of
particularly against women. One additional problem government, decisions or the imposition of
is the profound fragmentation of the social move- public decisions. Gabriel Almond and Sydney
ments and pressure groups within civil society. There Verba. 1992. “La Cultura Política”. In Diez tex-
is no one sector that enunciates the interests and tos básicos de Ciencia Política. Barcelona: Ariel.
demands of other sectors in an articulated and cohe- 2 “Censo Nacional de Población y Vivienda
rent way-that is, no sector is hegemonic. Accor- 2.002”. Instituto Nacional de Estadística.
dingly, indigenous, ethnic, environmental, homosex- 3 The graphs were prepared by the author, and
ual, human rights, urban, peasant, workers, and are based on official data from the National
neighbourhood movements, among others, do not Electoral Court.
share common goals or ideologies. Consequently, the 4 María Lourdes Zavala, Raquel Romero and
plural societies cannot yet overcome exclusion. Carmen Sanabria. 2002. La participación políti-
The mere implementation of the Quota Law is ca de las mujeres en el parlamento. Document
not enough to ensure substantive gains in women’s prepared with the support of the Program for
political participation. It is necessary to take steps the Support of Congressional Representation
towards the ideological transformation of the politi- (PARC-USAID-RF/SUNY/Bolivia), La Paz.
cal system, the party system, and, particularly, civil 5 Zavala et al. La participación política de las muj-
society, so that women themselves change their con- eres en el parlamento, p. 9.
duct and their expectations. Nevertheless, quotas in 6 Electoral Code, Title VI, Second Chapter,
Bolivia are quickly achieving success, and women Article 112(2)(a) and (b).
have significantly improved their position in the pro- 7 There are many documented cases of women
cess of public debate: 32 percent female participation municipal council members or members of the
in municipal government positions in just five years. Local Government Oversight Committees with
support from political parties, who the commu-
nity members beat in the town plaza, even cut-
ting off their braids with hatchets or knives to
get them to step down from their positions of
representation.
8 Zavala et al. La participación política de las muj-
eres en el parlamento. Based on data from the
Chamber of Deputies and the Honorable
Senate of the National Congress.
9 See Karin Monasterios and Luis Tapia Mealla.
2001. Partidos y Participación Política de las
Mujeres en El Alto. La Paz: Centro de
Promoción de la Mujer Gregoria Apaza.
10 Karin Monasterios and Luis Tapia Mealla.
Partidos y Participación Política de las Mujeres en
El Alto, pp. 52-53.
11 Karin Monasterios and Luis Tapia Mealla.
Partidos y Participación Política de las Mujeres en
El Alto, p. 84.
110
in Bolivia
111
4
4. Democracy and Electoral Systems
4.1. Overview of Presentations cal party lists. In open list systems, a common thesis
The purpose of the fourth session was to examine the is that voters reproduce the dominating political cul-
extent to which political parties and electoral systems ture and that this favours male candidates and typi-
affect the representation of women in Latin America. cally works against female candidates. Moreover,
It sought to unravel some of the questions about dif- male candidates are more likely to have the resources
ferent types of party list systems (open or closed) and needed for individualised campaigns.
how political party quotas compare to legislated quo- However, Gregory Schmidt argues that Peru is an
tas. It also touched on the role of women in politics example that goes against this ‘rule of thumb’, and
in representing the broad interests of women, and on indeed has implications for the perception of open
whether quotas lead to the empowerment of women. versus closed list systems. He demonstrates the
Ana María Yáñez declares that electoral gender importance of performing an individual country
quotas have to be seen as part of human rights, analysis, as the Peruvian case contradicts many of the
democracy and development. The society, she arguments in the present literature on electoral stu-
claims, is not fair if women and men do not have the dies. Schmidt argues that, in Peru, female candidates
same opportunities and are not equally represented are popular, and that, elsewhere in Latin America,
in institutions where formal power is exercised. She women are seen as more honest, less corrupt and so
notes that, in 1979, the CEDAW convention first on. One of Schmidt’s conclusions in his second
addressed the need for states to accelerate the pro- paper is that future research should focus on the
cesses of women’s participation in politics through interaction of quotas and related institutional factors
quotas. The right for women to participate effective- in different contexts. For example, whereas party
ly was further reiterated at the Women’s World magnitude is relatively unimportant in Peru’s open
Conference in Beijing in 1995, which provided list congressional elections—which are held under a
much of the impetus for the adoption of quotas in system of proportional representation—a combina-
several Latin American countries at the end of the tion of high effective quotas and high relative party
1990s. Yáñez also raises the dilemma within feminist magnitudes often guarantees seats for women in
theory and practice regarding the nature of represen- Peruvian municipal elections, which are closed list
tation: when women are elected, whom do these and majoritarian.
female politicians represent? Do the women repre- Even if the quota law specifies where on the lists
sented take into account the very diversity within the the female candidates should be placed, it is no gua-
group of women? Does having more women in rantee that the level of representation will corres-
power contribute to development? Despite these pond to the quota law percentages. Thus, not only is
fundamental questions, Yáñez gives examples of the the quota law per se important for further research,
importance of female representatives in the Peruvian but how the law is put into effect is even more cen-
Parliament when challenging new laws, or reviewing tral. Here we might need to develop variables to per-
old ones. She notes that women have a different way form comparative analyses, such as the ‘effective
of ‘doing politics’ compared with men, and many quota’ that is used in Schmidt’s second paper. There
women have been more open to dialogue, debate are other institutional variables that can affect the
and negotiation about the issue of democracy. electoral outcome for female candidates, such as dis-
In countries where open list electoral systems are trict and party magnitude and placement mandates.
used, like Brazil, Ecuador, Panama and Peru, the There is also a difference between the national and
political parties determine an initial list of candida- local levels in Peru, as pointed out by both Schmidt
tes, but voters are able to vote for a preferred candi- and Yáñez. The national parties based in Lima are
date on the party list. Candidates with the highest more accessible to female candidates than indepen-
number of votes are elected. In closed list systems, it dent lists constructed at the local level, especially
is up to the political party to decide the rank orde- those outside of the capital. It can be assumed, the-
ring of candidates, and voters choose between politi- refore, that this may vary over time and space. In
112
Nicaragua, for instance, it has been much easier for
female politicians at the local level than at the natio-
nal level.
4.2. Overview of Discussion

The participants noted the important findings of
Schmidt that open lists are not necessarily a disad-
vantage for the election of women in Peru. This is an
area for further research in relation to other prefe-
rential systems in Latin America, which must inclu-
de an analysis of other factors and the political sys-
tem. In Brazil, it was noted that voters are often not
aware of the candidates on party lists, and the fact
that candidates are listed in alphabetical order has
implications for the way that the electorate votes.
However, it was also noted that, typically, open list
systems require candidates to campaign, and it was
cautioned that this is an obstacle for women.
Resources are extremely important.
While there was general agreement that quotas
have been a largely successful mechanism for women
to gain access to politics, questions were still raised
about the rationale for implementing quotas-is the
quota just to have more women in politics, and, if so,
why? Who do women represent? It was also pointed
out that, often, women politicians may have a gen-
der agenda, but there is an incredible challenge to
have this incorporated into the agendas of political
parties. While we may question the effect of women
in politics, this needs to be couched within general
considerations about party structure and discipline.
Finally, it was noted that the whole electoral process
must be considered in order to gauge the real effect
of women in politics. For the purposes of this work-
shop, it was noted that, while we cannot just put
issues of representation aside, the primary focus is
the process of quota implementation and its effecti-
veness as a policy instrument to increase the repre-
sentation of women.
113
Quotas and
Democracy in Peru
Ana María Yáñez
The Rationale and Political Significance of the Quota Mechanism
Some have sought to defend quotas as a ‘different capacity of women to manage public affairs and the
way of women engaging in politics’ based on charac- barriers that they face in their own political parties.
teristics or values attributed to or more rooted in Nonetheless, and even though this right was recog-
them than in men, such as honesty, sensitivity, nized in 1955, it was not until 1979, through the
impartiality altruism and generosity. Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of
After a decade of authoritarian government in Discrimination Against Women (CEDAW), that an
which political women played a key role in dismant- international instrument first addressed the need for
ling democratic institutions, it is clear that this argu- states to accelerate the processes of women’s inclu-
ment cannot be sustained. The history of political sion and participation in politics through the quota
women in Peru shows us that they are not more mechanism, as a temporary measure until equality is
honest, more sensitive, nor more disinterested than attained. Since then, the need to create mechanisms
men, although this does not mean that their conduct so that women can exercise this right effectively has
is identical to that of men. Interestingly, for example, been reiterated progressively, and at the 1995 World
women have defended the cause of their political lea- Conference on Women in Beijing, China, exercising
der with the vehemence he has demanded, and their this right was proposed as a strategic objective for
loyalty has been maintained even after his fall. achieving equity and development. Since 1995, most
(Whether oedipal, erotic, or other types of relations- of the Latin American countries have adopted quo-
hips have entered into play is an issue that remains to tas. Of course, the enjoyment of these rights leads us
be studied.) to the argument concerning equity. There cannot be
Clearly the argument about the supposed ‘virtues a just or equitable society without the participation
of women’ is no longer upheld, which does not mean of women in positions of formal power, and without
that quotas or some other affirmative action mecha- men and women having equal opportunities.
nism does not have a theoretical foundation. The second argument has to do with representati-
Three main reasons justify and validate quotas: ve democracy and with the consolidation, in the
rights, democracy and development. second half of the twentieth century, of the view of
First, it has not been possible to exercise women’s democracy as the political system. Nowadays, one
right to be elected to positions of power due to a seri- even hears talk of democracy as a human right. This
es of obstacles, among them prejudices regarding the process of validating democracy as the best political
114
system, to which all human beings have a right address women’s grievances and, in that sense, is a
Quotas and Democracy in Peru

because it is the only one capable of helping to bring democratizing element, broadly speaking.
about the establishment of a state open to the deve- Nonetheless, the question arises as to the nature of
lopment of full human potential, has been accompa- the representation. Is it possible that a group of
nied by debates and analyses regarding, for example: women can represent all women? Yes, but it requires
what is democracy? How should it work? How can the existence of a system of political representation,
the diverse interests of different individuals be repre- which, in turn, is derived from a solid party system
sented? What are the adequate mechanisms or what that enjoys legitimacy, and that operates openly and
should they be? democratically. It also requires a strengthened civil
Historically, women have not been represented in society, present and engaging, as well as mechanisms
the formal power structure as a specific segment of of accountability, and institutional channels for citi-
the population, for it was assumed that what was zen participation, none of which, unfortunately, we
‘good for the gander’ was also ‘good for the goose’, have in Peru or in many other countries of Latin
that is, from a male-centred perspective, what is America.
good for males is also good for females. Nonetheless, We must also analyse the nature of the political
the contributions of, and the research by, many representation. What are we talking about when we
women have cast light on the needs, problems and ask ourselves whether women in politics represent
interests that are particular to women and merit that us? Should women in politics represent all groups of
women have their own representation. What are women? First, political representation is not a mirror
those interests and problems that are particular to that reflects the identities of each and every social
women? What can women represent that men can- group; nor is it a mandate for the representative to
not represent? For instance: the exercise of sexual and do what the constituent desires or expresses. Yet,
reproductive rights affects each sex differently; while the representative (female or male) must be
maternal mortality concerns only women-the same autonomous in relation to his or her constituents, he
can be said of early pregnancy; and the lag in the or she must, above all, have a skill for ‘reading’ or
enjoyment by women of economic and social rights. ‘interpreting’ the will of the voters, and act accor-
All of these points paint a picture in which women dingly. And to interpret this will, channels and
have less education, lower incomes, and less access to mechanisms are needed to ensure the direct partici-
property rights than men, to mention just some pation of citizens in matters of state. Representation
areas. Nonetheless, the main problem is men’s inabi- and participation go hand-in-hand.
lity to perceive the differences and their effects. Moreover, who do the women in power represent?
Experience shows that men are not sensitive to the All women? To whom are they accountable? It is pos-
demands, needs or suffering of women. In Peru, we sible that they represent some groups of urban
have many examples, but I will cite only one. The women, including some rural women, others from
Criminal Code contained a provision that cleared all the popular sectors, and others from professional
rapists of criminal liability (in the case of gang rape) middle sectors, but it would be hard for any one
if one of them married the woman who was assaul- woman to represent all women. Do women feel
ted. This provision remained on the criminal statu- represented today when witnessing a persistent cam-
tes for over 70 years in Peru, and no legislator ever paign against the implementation of sexual and
questioned it. It was a woman (Beatriz Moreno) who reproductive rights? Probably not. Nonetheless, the
proposed its elimination, and when it appeared that lack of representation that women experience is not
the proposal was going to gain a positive response limited to women. It has to do with the crisis of
from all of the male members of Congress, the ‘war representation within the Peruvian political system,
of the sexes’ broke out. Thanks to the pressure which became more acute in the late 1980s, and
brought to bear in the Peruvian and international came to a head in the early 1990s. This situation has
press-due, among other factors, to pressure applied a particularly strong impact on women, as women’s
by women-this anachronistic and abusive legal pro- ‘big time debut in politics’, so to speak, occurred
vision was repealed. precisely in the context of the terrible crisis of repre-
So, having women in power makes it possible to sentation that affects all political actors equally, and
115
which no doubt benefited the authoritarian regime didates elected to public office.1 The quota mecha-
in power during those years. nism cannot impede the participation of, or access
It is true, therefore, that women’s presence is a for, women ‘outsiders’, who might be authoritarian
democratizing element to the extent that the repre- or poorly qualified; rather, as in the case of men, it is
sentation of women’s interests is more faithful than precisely the crisis of representation that facilitates
when there were no women present in the organs of the election of such persons. The quota mechanism
power. And, although it is not perfect, it is a foun- cannot be blamed at all for the failings of the politi-
dation without which it will not be possible to build cal system; fundamentally, it is a mechanism for pro-
a better system of political representation, nor, in the moting human rights, because it seeks, in an especi-
long run, to establish an equitable political system. ally accelerated manner, to overcome the problems
Third, the contribution of women is necessary to generated by the structural discrimination found in
achieve development. Since 1995, the United all societies (mainly on grounds of race, sex and reli-
Nations (through the Commission that evaluates the gion).
legal status of women) has advised the member sta-
tes on the need to ensure that at least 30 percent of What is the Value-Added to Politics from the
all decision-making positions be held by women as a Presence of Women on the Official Scene?
sine qua non for attaining development. The ques- When, in 1990, Peruvian feminists first pressed for
tion thus arises: why does having women in decision- the adoption of the quota mechanism, it was assu-
making positions contribute to development? med that it would be adopted in the context of cont-
Answer: because women, due to the sexual division inued democratization. Nonetheless, paradoxically,
of labour, hold positions in society and in the labour it was in the context of a formal democracy called
market that shape particular ways of seeing the world into question since 1992, and mounting authoritari-
and of proposing solutions. The multilateral deve- anism beginning that same year, that many women
lopment banks (the World Bank and the Inter- became drawn into the spheres of power and began
American Development Bank (IDB)) provide the to take up some of the issues on the agenda of the
most visible examples of women’s contribution to women’s movement. To cite just some examples, we
development. Various studies describe how, in the have the law that recognizes grassroots women’s orga-
case of an investment in the infrastructure of a given nizations, the set of laws and policies on family vio-
community (water, electricity, roads), women’s con- lence, amendments to the Criminal Code on the
tribution has yielded better results. Simply put: eco- crime of rape, amendments to the Civil Code to faci-
nomic investment results in a better return if women litate the recognition of children, and the very issue
participate in the planning and implementation of of quotas for political participation, not to mention
development projects. the creation of the Ministry of Women’s Affairs,
Given this situation, it was affirmed that, in many which had been a specific demand of women since
cases, the implementation of the quota system failed 1990, and of the Office of the Special Ombuds-
because it promoted the participation of authoritari- woman for Women (Defensoría Especializada de la
an women, not democratic women. The quota is a Mujer), and the Women’s Committee of the national
mechanism for gaining access solely and exclusively Congress. While the post of Ombudswoman was not
to a given space or office. In the case of education, it a direct creation of the regime of President Alberto
promotes access for racial minorities, and likewise in Fujimori, the Defensoría del Pueblo (Office of the
the case of employment. The mechanism-which is Human Rights Ombudsman) was, as it was establis-
neutral-cannot be responsible for the capture of hed as part of the 1993 Constitution, adopted to
power by women who in many cases have been con- give legitimacy to his regime. It is an institution that
sidered to be ‘counter-models’. The only ones did not exist before that time in Peruvian law. At the
responsible for this are the political organizations same time, though, other measures were introduced
and the voters. The efficacy of quotas in regard to the that represented significant material rollbacks for
representation of women is not unrelated to the par- women, such as the elimination of legal protection
ties’ institutional structures and the clubes electorales in the workplace, increasing unemployment, parti-
that come together only at election time, to get can- cularly in the formal sector, and the reduced availa-
116
bility of free services, in a context of adjustment, citizenship is expanding, to the extent that the law

deregulation and flexibility that impoverished the enables them to turn around centuries of exclusion.
population, forced it to live off public charity,2 and And it has been possible to secure many of these laws
subjugated it politically. (they can be called gains to the degree that they have
In other words, while significant strides were responded to the pressures and demands of the
made at the legal and institutional levels-albeit focu- women’s movements) thanks to the horizontal allian-
sed on a just a few rights-the fragility of civil society ces among the women in Congress that changed the
persisted and worsened, particularly affecting correlation of forces: from a political party coordina-
women, weakening the effective capacity of the vast te, there was a shift to a gender coordinate. Still,
majority of Peruvians, including women, to partici- however, many of the gains were due to the authori-
pate in political processes and to benefit from insti- tarian support of Fujimori.
tutional gains. In the face of this situation came the question: did
Hence, the inevitable question is: have these stri- Fujimori do all of this because of his sensitivity to
des made been for naught, in an authoritarian con- women’s issues? The same would have to be asked in
text, without citizen participation, taking advantage regard to whether the dictator Manuel Odría was
of vertical clientelist relations, and often subjugating being ‘gender -sensitive’ when he recognized wome-
the social organizations? Apparently not. Even with n’s right to vote, whether the dictator Juan Velazco
all of the contradictions and weaknesses, any demo- was sensitive to gender issues when he recognized the
cratizing reform does have value unto itself, which property rights of women concubines-when he pro-
goes beyond the survival of whoever advocated it. hibited mention of the legal situation of children
The authoritarian regime is now a thing of the past, born out of wedlock-or whether President Alan
yet the laws and the institutions remain. It is a García was sensitive to women’s issues when he crea-
responsibility of everyone, in particular the political ted insurance for housewives, or the family allot-
class, to make them democratic. ment, or women’s police stations. The intent of the
The laws, independent of how they were defined laws, measures or policies cannot be examined or
and who defined them, to the extent that they evaluated independent of the political project of each
expand and improve ‘citizenship’, are contributing to individual ruler.
democracy. Citizenship has a normative component The question should be, then, whether the mea-
via which relations between the state and civil socie- sure is invalidated by the fact that it results from a
ty-and in the case we are looking at, women-are political calculation more than from a desire to
institutionalized. We have a series of rights institu- expand democracy. It seems not. All of these men
tionalized; even though they cannot be fully enjoyed, have moved on, yet the measures have stayed, and
they can be used, strengthening the consciousness of with each of these measures, citizenship has been
women and contributing to their empowerment as expanded, and all Peruvians have benefited.
citizens. For example, Andean women are trying to
get- physically and materially-the text of Peru’s Law What does Democracy Contribute
against Family Violence, to raise it up in opposition to Women’s Rights?
to their possible assailants. Similarly, electing at least What do Women Stand to Gain?
one woman on the board of directors of a peasant After the fall of the Fujimori regime, a democratic
community in Puno, out of fear that the law requi- government came to power, put there by the social
res that community to do so, is another significant and political forces that fought the dictatorship, as
gain. The presence of women-even illiterate women- the regime underwent international attrition, beset
in the rural municipal governments, first gives visibi- by accusations of drug trafficking and widespread
lity to the women (they have begun to ‘exist’ in cer- corruption.
tain communities), and, second, focuses attention on Of the broad array of candidates for president, the
their problems. As a result, more defensorías are being one who appeared most open to democracy succee-
established (as required by law) to address the pro- ded in bringing these forces together behind him.
blems of violence. Accordingly, Peru now has a democratic government
These expressions indicate that, in effect, women’s that makes it possible to breathe the air of freedom,
117
and to enjoy openness to criticism and, in general, a has experienced the paradox of moving from a regi-
willingness to engage in dialogue with the majority me with more rights for women/less democracy/less
of social and political actors. Human rights are a key human rights to one with more democracy/fewer
issue, and a matter of concern for the political aut- rights for women/fewer spaces of power.
horities. Peru is undertaking to respect the recom- This experience has shown how in formally demo-
mendations of the international agencies on these cratic regimes but with a weak civil society, the open-
points, and all branches of government are underta- ness of the state is decisive for securing rights. And
king to ensure that any organ-domestic or foreign- that openness largely depends on the characteristics
does not question their decisions due to a potential of who is in control of the executive. In a presidenti-
violation of human rights. We can basically affirm al regime, as one finds in most Latin American coun-
that the current government respects human rights. tries, the executive and the president, in particular,
One must then inquire, whether in this situation, signify and practically embody the character and
women are better off, in the same position, or worse quality of democracy. Civil society reflects, experien-
off than before. Following the logic according to ces and proposes, but putting its proposals into prac-
which greater democracy begets further development tice will largely depend on who holds power, mainly
of democratic rights and, therefore, greater openness in the executive, from where the resources of the
for groups traditionally excluded or marginalized, we state are administered. It is clear that the develop-
should now expect to have more and better women ment of one democratic factor or component does
in power. Reality has shown, though, that, in the not guarantee progress; only the collective and gene-
case of women’s rights and the rights of the margina- ral growth of the political parties and citizens will
lized generally, nothing will be given away for free. guarantee men and women respect for their rights
The present government is characterized by an ‘anti- and the rule of equity.
gender’ policy. Those who have been or are close to The ideal is that any measure aimed at improving
the centres of political decision-making have been the situation of the population or relationships
and are witnesses to the fact that the terms ‘gender’, among individuals, and between them and the state,
‘sexual rights’, ‘reproductive rights’, and others, such be adopted through dialogue and open debate. A
as ‘civil society’, are not looked upon favourably or democracy should not only allow this but encourage
accepted by those in power today. Sexual freedom is it, because it contributes not only to the improve-
perceived as a threat. We have no more women in the ment of things, but also, and most importantly, to
executive branch that we did in the past regime; the the establishment of values and priorities, what
family planning policy has halted implementation of Amartya Sen has described as the ‘creative force of
new services previously approved; the confrontation democracy’. In other words, an ongoing process-that
between the public health authorities and organized never ends-is needed, of collective growth and con-
women is taking on an increasingly shrill tone; and, solidation of democracy based on dialogue, debate
finally, the woman elected to Congress with the hig- and negotiation between the various social actors,
hest vote, and who should preside over parliament, the political class and the state-a process that gua-
has been on the verge of being expelled from the rantees individual freedom.
government party, and the likelihood that her right
to preside over the leading branch of government-the Once Again the Women ‘are
legislature-will be respected is very remote, if not late to the table’
null. One final thought: women have come late to the sta-
One sees, therefore, that a democratic regime does te’s public spaces where decision-making takes place.
not necessarily ensure greater rights for women. In Greater participation in power is being advocated in
other words, Peru has had experiences that have allo- a context in which the sovereignty of nation-states is
wed us to analyse and facilitate the gains of demo- considerably diminished, since it is not exactly wit-
cracy, the role of civil society, of the parties, of the hin these that the policies are decided upon that will
state and its relationship with the political regime, affect the lives of nationals; rather, inter-governmen-
and with progress in terms of rights and living con- tal organizations, transnational interest groups, and
ditions for citizens. In the course of 12 years, Peru non-governmental organizations are important
118
actors. Women have come late to the circulation of

political power, that is, political representation.
Finally, in the debate, it should be borne in mind
that the same ethical and democratic standards are
not always applied to men and women. There is
more protest of women in power who are authorita-
rian, unprofessional or dishonest than there is of
men with the same qualities.
Notes
1 Definition used by Giovanni Sartori in Parties
and Party Systems. Cambridge: Cambridge
University Press, 1976.
2 By the end of the Fujimori government, some
ten million Peruvians were receiving some kind
of food assistance from the state.
119
Unanticipated Successes:
Lessons from Peru’s
Experiences with Gender Quotas in Majoritarian Closed
List and Open List PR Systems
Gregory D. Schmidt
As demonstrated in my paper entitled ‘The candidates in the order that they appear on the
Implementation of Gender Quotas in Peru: Legal respective list.
Reform, Discourses and Impacts’, gender quotas In contrast, open list systems allow or require
have been relatively successful in Peruvian municipal voters to cast ballots for specific candidates. Seats are
and congressional elections. These successes were allocated among the parties based on their respective
unanticipated for two reasons. First, during the con- shares of the vote, but distributed among the candi-
gressional debates virtually no attention was paid to dates of each party on the basis of the ballots that
how quotas would work in conjunction with the each one receives. Open list systems have been used
very different rules that are used in the two types of in national elections in Brazil, Chile, Finland, pre-
elections. Second, the positive impact of gender quo- 1992 Italy, Panama, Peru, and Sri Lanka, among
tas in Peru was also unanticipated in the academic other countries.1
literature on electoral systems. Indeed, the success of Open list systems vary significantly. Whereas
gender quotas in Peruvian municipal and congressio- Panamanians and Peruvians have the option of
nal elections actually contradicts much of the con- voting for individual candidates on the party list that
ventional wisdom in electoral studies. they have chosen, Chileans and Finns must select
In this paper, I first review the current thinking in individual candidates. In the latter cases, the votes
the academic literature on the implications of open for candidates of the same party are aggregated to
versus closed list systems and other key variables for determine its share of the seats.2 Although Brazilians
the election of women. I then explain why gender may cast ballots for party lists, over 90 percent choo-
quotas worked better than anticipated in Peruvian se to vote for individual candidates.3
municipal and congressional elections. In the conc- The use of closed lists reinforces party discipline,
lusion, I try to extrapolate some broader implications since the leaders of each party (or possibly its mem-
from the Peruvian case. bers by means of a primary) determine the positions
of the candidates on its list, which, in turn, strongly
Closed versus Open List Systems affect their chances of being elected. Moreover, can-
Party list systems have rules that determine which didates running on closed lists have little incentive to
candidates fill the seats won by each party. Most list wage independent campaigns because voters cast bal-
systems are closed: voters choose only among alter- lots for the party, rather than for individuals. In con-
native lists, not among individual candidates. In clo- trast, open list systems encourage candidates to appe-
sed systems, the seats won by each party are filled by al directly to the voters and to establish their own
120
campaign organizations. In building individual bases has been done on this topic, perhaps because there
Lessons from Peru

of support, candidates running under the open list are relatively few truly open list systems.
format will ‘incur debts, make compromises, and Table 1 presents data on the election of women to
develop loyalties different from those of other candi- Latin American national legislatures before and after
dates of the same party’.4 the adoption of gender quotas, distinguishing bet-
There is no consensus in the literature about ween closed and open list systems. Women fared
which type of list is best for the election of women, slightly better under closed list systems in pre-quota
but the predominant view is that open lists place elections and under open list systems in post-quota
female candidates at a disadvantage. Richard E. elections, but the differences are very small in both
Matland reports that open list voting has consistent- cases.12 Moreover, the range within each category is
ly hurt women in local elections in Norway, a coun- much larger than the very small differences between
try noted for high levels of gender equality and fema- the categories. The percentage of women winning
le representation. He suggests that this negative office in the first post-quota elections in closed list
impact is likely to be much greater in countries with systems ranges from three percent (Paraguayan
more traditional views of gender roles.5 Mala N. Chamber of Deputies) to 33 percent (Argentine
Htun and Mark P. Jones argue that women are less Senate) and in open list systems from six percent
likely to have the resources to wage individual cam- (Brazilian Chamber of Deputies) to 22 percent
paigns because they are relative newcomers to poli- (Peru’s unicameral Congress in 2000). Thus, it
tics.6 However, recent elections in the USA-where would appear that the distinction between closed
women must run as individual candidates-show that and open list systems is less important than other
female candidates are at least as capable as men in variables that may work in conjunction with both.
terms of raising funds7 and that they are just as like-
ly to win office.8 Indeed, the relatively low rate of Other Institutional Variables
female representation in the USA primarily reflects Political scientists have identified other institutional
the inertia of incumbency and the reluctance of variables that are thought to affect the election of
women to become candidates. female candidates and the impact of quotas in party
Some noted scholars have come down on the side list systems. These are discussed briefly in this sec-
of open list systems. Citing cross-national data from tion.
Western democracies in 1982,9 Matthew S. Shugart District magnitude, or ‘the number of seats fil-
suggests that women are likely to benefit from sys- led at an election in a district’13 has been identified as
tems that allow voting for individual candidates. He a critical institutional variable affecting the election
notes that the four countries with the highest rates of of women in cross-national studies and analyses of
female representation all employ some sort of intra- individual countries.14 Matland,15 however, argues
party preference vote, and that women fare poorly as that party magnitude, the number of members in
candidates in various closed list systems. However, it a party’s delegation from an electoral district, is an
should be noted that all four of Shugart’s positive even more powerful factor behind the success of
cases are Scandinavian countries-which have a strong female candidates. These two variables are related:
tradition of gender equity-and that only one of these higher district magnitudes usually contribute to lar-
(Finland) is truly an open list system. Wilma Rule,10 ger party delegations. Party magnitude, though, also
a pioneer in the study of female representation, also depends on other factors, especially the distribution
views open list systems favourably. of the vote and the rules for allocating seats among
Matland11 points out that the ‘crucial question is parties.
whether it is easier to convince voters to actively vote Under both open and closed list systems, at least
for women candidates, or easier to convince party the more important parties can be expected to nomi-
gatekeepers that including more women on the party nate a more diverse array of candidates, including
lists in prominent positions is both fair, and more women, as district magnitude and anticipated party
importantly, strategically wise’. He goes on to sug- magnitude increase. Diversity allows a list to appeal
gest that the answer may well vary from country to to a broader spectrum of the electorate and thus
country. Unfortunately, little, if any, empirical work increases its chances of success. Moreover, the expec-
121
Table 1: Closed and Open List Systems in Latin America, Last Pre-Quota
and First Post-Quota Elections
Averages for Category
Quota District Magnitude % Women Elected % Women Elected %

Before Quota After Quota Change
1. All Cases (N=15)a 27.3 18.4 8.8 13.7 4.9

A. Open List
Systems (N=4)b 25.0 37.5 7.5 14.0 6.5
B. Closed List
Systems (N=11)c 28.2 11.5 9.3 13.5 4.3
Note:
LH=Lower House; UH=Upper House; UC=Unicameral Chamber
a Argentina LH, Bolivia LH & UH, Brazil LH, Costa Rica UC, Dominican Republic LH, Ecuador UC, Mexico LH &
UH, Panama UC, Paraguay LH & UH, Peru UC, Venezuela LH & UH (pre-2000).
b Brazil LH, Ecuador UC, Panama UC, Peru UC.
c Argentina LH, Bolivia LH & UH, Costa Rica UC, Dominican Republic LH, Mexico LH & UH, Paraguay LH &
UH, Venezuela LH & UH (pre-2000).
Source: Elaborated by author from data in Tables 2.1 and 2.2 of Htun and Jones (2002:38, 41) with adjustments to
reflect the first post-quota elections in Argentina (1993) and Peru (2000).
tation of large party delegations in high magnitude type study showing a positive association between
districts lessens competition for scarce list positions these two variables. Moreover, it is easy to formulate
among candidates and factions within the party.16 contradictory theoretical predictions regarding the
Indeed, affirmative action programmes that benefit impact of district magnitude on the actual election
disadvantaged groups, such as quotas, are much easi- of women in open list competition. On the one
er to implement with longer lists. Finally, greater hand, if women do indeed have fewer resources than
proportionality may increase turnover, which may in their male competitors, as Htun and Jones maintain,
turn improve the chances of underrepresented they would appear to be particularly disadvantaged
groups.17 in high magnitude districts that require extensive
In addition, district magnitude is likely to affect spending. On the other hand, high magnitude dis-
specific patterns of recruitment within political par- tricts in open list systems allow candidates to win
ties under both closed and open list systems. If small office with the votes of constituency groups.19
magnitude districts are used, local or regional party In contrast, one might expect party magnitude to
organizations tend to select candidates. Central party increase the electoral chances of women under both
organizations have greater influence over, if not a open and closed list systems. If women tend to appe-
monopoly on, candidate selection when large mag- ar in lower positions than men on a closed list, they
nitude districts are employed. Their influence is gre- are more likely to benefit disproportionately as the
atest in countries that use a single national district.18 party picks up more seats. Similarly, if women tend
It should be noted, however, that the empirical to win fewer votes on average than men in an open
evidence linking high district or party magnitude to list system, they are more likely to fill the last seats
the electoral success of women comes overwhel- won by the party. Thus, to the extent that these
mingly, if not exclusively, from closed list systems. assumptions are true, women are likely to have a gre-
While it is very likely that the nomination of women ater share of seats in parties with large delegations
increases with district or party magnitude in open than in those with small delegations.
list systems, this author is unaware of any within- There may also be varying orientations towards
122
the political participation of women among different tas in Argentine provincial elections, Jones26 also tre-
Lessons from Peru

political parties, independent of their recruitment ats majority list and plurality systems.
structures. Some political parties-primarily those on
the left and the greens-tend to be more supportive of Unanticipated Success
female candidates and are more likely to adopt inter- in Municipal Elections
nal gender quotas.20 Although most Peruvian parties As noted in ‘The Implementation of Gender Quotas
are notoriously ad hoc and personalistic, they may in Peru: Legal Reform, Discourses and Impacts’,
nevertheless offer varying degrees of support to especially in Table 3, the 1998 introduction of quo-
women running for office. Indeed, the conventional tas in the closed list system used to elect Peruvian
wisdom among feminist political activists in Peru is municipal councils produced dramatic increases in
that the national parties based in Lima are more the number of councilwomen. Quotas made a big
receptive to female candidates than independent lists difference, even though no placement mandates
constructed at the local level, especially those outsi- were used and district magnitude had no impact.27
de of the capital.21 Among the national parties, the Why were quotas successful in Peruvian municipal
most visible champions of gender equity in the 1995 elections? Fortunately, the vast number of municipa-
and 1998 municipal elections were several move- lities in Peru facilitates the sort of multivariate statis-
ments loyal to President Alberto Fujimori, who had tical analysis that helps us to answer this question.
provided decisive support for quotas, aggressively During the course of undertaking this analysis, the
recruited female talent, and sponsored legislation on author ‘discovered’ two variables that explain most of
issues of special concern to women.22 Thus, it might the success of quotas in Peruvian municipal elec-
be hypothesized that women are likely to fare best in tions. These two variables also have significance bey-
the ranks of the pro-Fujimori parties, somewhat less ond Peru.
well in other national parties, and worst on local The first variable is the effective quota. Quota
independent lists. laws in Latin America typically mandate that women
Finally, Htun and Jones23 maintain that the elec- comprise a minimum percentage of candidates, even
tion of women in closed list systems is greatly enhan- though representatives of legislatures and municipal
ced by placement mandates, provisions that stipula- councils are usually elected from districts of varying
te that women must be dispersed evenly throughout magnitude.28 An unanticipated consequence of this
the list or placed in electable positions. Indeed, these across-the-board application of quotas is the creation
authors argue convincingly that a combination of of different ‘effective quotas’ for the same type of
closed lists, high district magnitude, and placement office, because the number of candidates on each list
mandates guarantee the election of a minimum is usually equal to district magnitude, as in the case
number of female candidates. Placement mandates, of Peruvian municipal elections, or related to the lat-
however, are the most contentious aspect of quota ter variable, as in the case of the Brazilian Chamber
legislation. Argentine political parties, for example, of Deputies.
tend to place women in the lowest positions allowed More generally, the effective quota can be defined
by the law.24 as the minimum number of female candidates
Htun and Jones are clearly writing with primary (excluding back-ups) required to satisfy the legal
reference to party list systems that use proportional quota, divided by the total number of candidates on
representation (PR), the most common type of elec- the list. Columns 1-3 in Table 2 illustrate this prin-
toral format in Latin America. Nevertheless, they do ciple with data from the 1998 Peruvian municipal
not explicitly limit their prescription to party list PR. election, in which the legal quota was 25 percent.
Indeed, their data set includes mixed systems in The effective quota, however, ranged from slightly
which the quota law does not apply to single mem- over 25 percent to 40 percent. Table 2 also shows
ber districts, senatorial elections in Argentina, which that effective quotas tended to be greatest in low
are held under a majority list system, and the 1998 magnitude electoral districts, which are most frequ-
election for Ecuador’s unicameral Congress, which ently found in district-level municipalities outside of
used a combination of ‘unlimited votes’ and ‘party Lima (see columns 2-5). Indeed, there were strong
block voting’.25 In his analysis of the impact of quo- negative correlations between the average effective
123
Table 2: Effective Quotas in 1998 Elections for Peruvian Municipal Councils
a b c
1 2 3 4 5 6
Minimum Total Number Effective Number of Average Correlation with
Number of of Candidates Quota (%) Electoral Effective District Magnitude
Female Candidates (District Magnitude) Districts Quota (%) (Pearson’s r)
Provincial Level 10 39 25.64 1

4 15 26.67 4
4 13 30.77 5
3 11 27.27 43 31.69 -.539**
3 9 33.33 56
2 7 28.57 50
2 6 33.33 1
2 5 40.00 34
Districts in Lima 4 15 26.67 1
4 13 30.77 7
3 11 27.27 13 31.46 -.704**
3 9 33.33 7
2 7 28.57 6
2 5 40.00 8
Districts in Rest of Peru 3 11 27.27 6
3 9 33.33 22 39.51 -.771**
2 7 28.57 48
2 5 40.00 1507
Note: a Column 3 is equal to Column 1 divided by Column 2.

b Column 5 is equal to the product of Columns 3 and 4, divided by the total number of electoral districts for each type
of municipal council.
c Column 6 lists the correlation between the effective quota and district magnitude for each type of council.
** Significant at the .01 level (two-tailed).
Source: Elaborated by author from data in Jurado Nacional de Elecciones (JNE) (1999).
quota and district magnitude-a factor long thought that the relative magnitude of the largest party is
to enhance the election of women-for each type of negatively correlated with district magnitude. Thus,
council (Table 2, column 6). there is a very strong positive association between
The second newly discovered variable is the relati- district magnitude and party magnitude, but also a
ve magnitude of the largest party, which is equivalent strong negative correlation between the former vari-
to its share of seats. Since 1983, Peruvian municipal able and the relative magnitude of the largest party
elections have been held under a majoritarian list (compare lines 2 and 4 in Table 3).
form. A new statute on municipal elections (Law The combination of high effective quotas and
26,864) contained changes that reduced party mag- high relative party magnitudes often produced gua-
nitude on provincial councils and in the districts of ranteed seats for women without placement manda-
Lima, but increased the share of seats won by first tes. Under the rules employed in the 1998 election,
place plurality and run-off winners throughout the plurality or run-off winners were awarded four seats
country (see Table 3).29 in five-member districts, which are used in 85 per-
Given the well-known fact that disproportionality cent of all local elections. Moreover, the effective
increases as district magnitude decreases, it follows quota in five-member districts was 40 percent, mea-
124
Table 3: Party Magnitude in Peruvian Municipal Elections, 1995 and 1998
Lessons from Peru

Provincial Level Districts in Lima Districts in Rest of Peru a
1995 1998 1995 1998 1995 1998
1. Average Party Magnitude 5.10 4.48 6.28 4.98 2.67 3.81

2. Correlation of 1 and
District Magnitude (Pearson’s r) .887** .936** .907** .930** .798** .800**
3. Average Relative
Magnitude of Largest Party .56 .69 .60 .68 .60 .74
4. Correlation of 3 and
District Magnitude (Pearson’s r) -.182* -.595** -.384* -.841** .274** -.560**
Note:
a Based on sample of 99 councils.
* Significant at the .05 level (two-tailed).
**Significant at the .01 level (two-tailed).
Source: Elaborated by author from data in the JNE (1997 and 1999).
ning that all parties-including the winner-had to most common case in Peruvian municipal elections.
have at least two female candidates. Hence, even if a If the largest party does indeed pick up four of five
plurality or run-off winner only complied minimally seats, as was usual in 1998, then SL/M = 4/5, or .8.
with the quota and placed both women at the very In a five-member district, the effective quota is .4,
bottom of its list, at least one would still be elected. and 1 - QE = .6. Moreover, in Peru, the number of
She alone accounted for 25 percent of the party’s candidates on each list is equal to district magnitude,
delegation and for 20 percent of the council’s total so k = 1 and does not change the value of 1 - QE.
membership. Thus, Gq = .8 - .6 = .2, or one out of five seats.
This relationship between the effective quota and Schmidt31 presents pooled OLS regression models
relative party magnitude is not just a quirk of with data from the 1995 and 1998 municipal elec-
Peruvian elections. In general, the proportion of tions, before and after the adoption of quotas. This
seats that are guaranteed to quota candidates (Gq) analysis shows that the effective quota and seats gua-
can be specified by the following formula: ranteed by the effective quota and the relative mag-
nitude of the largest party were the most important
Gq = SL/M - (1 - QE)*K, if = ≥0,
variables in explaining the greatly increased electoral
Where SL is the number of seats won by the largest success of women at the provincial level and in dis-
party, M is district magnitude, QE is the effective tricts outside of Lima. Party magnitude was consi-
quota, and K is the ratio of the number of candida- stently positive, although not always significant. In
tes on each list to district magnitude. (Although Gq contrast, district magnitude-the most prominent
may have a negative value, this result is the same as variable in the literature with regard to the election
zero, or no guaranteed seats.) The above equation of women in party list systems-was negatively associ-
shows that the chances of guaranteeing seats for ated with the success of female candidates, although
women can be enhanced not only by raising the not significantly so. Any partisan differences in the
effective quota-a rather obvious strategy-but also by nomination and election of women appear to be sig-
increasing the relative magnitude of the largest party. nificant only in the districts outside of Lima, where-
Given that these two variables are both negatively contrary to the expectations of Peruvian feminists-
correlated with district magnitude (see tables 2 and non-Fujimori national parties actually had a negati-
3), it follows that Gq is too.30 ve impact.
We can illustrate this general principle with the The effective quota is likely to have an impact
125
beyond Peru because quota laws in Latin America are chamber that is at least one-third female, as in
typically applied ‘across the board’, without regard to Argentina.
district magnitude. The analysis in Schmidt32 sug-
gests that this variable is most likely to be important Unanticipated Success
in party list systems with a significant proportion of in Congressional Elections
low magnitude districts and minimal compliance As noted in ‘The Implementation of Gender Quotas
with the quota. Particular attention must be paid to in Peru: Legal Reform, Discourses and Impacts’,
the interpretation and implementation of quota women have enjoyed a high degree of success in the
legislation. open list PR system that is used to elect the Peruvian
Guaranteed seats produced by the effective quota Congress, before and especially after the adoption of
and the relative magnitude of the largest party may gender quotas. Why? The short answer is that fema-
occur under closed party list PR when a party wins a le candidates are popular and can compete with men
landslide victory.33 However, guaranteed seats are in obtaining preferential votes.
much more likely to be an important factor when Indeed, the biggest constraint on the election of
majoritarian formulae-such as the rules used in women in Peru, as in many other countries, has been
Peruvian municipal elections-increase the relative a paucity of female candidates. Nevertheless, the
magnitude of the largest party. Majoritarian closed election of women to the Peruvian Congress has
list systems are used in local elections in El Salvador, been aided by several facilitating factors-optional
Nicaragua, and some provinces of Argentina;34 Peru’s and multiple preference votes and constraints on
new system of regional elections; legislative elections intra-list competition-that have not been anticipated
in several Argentine provinces;35 and in senatorial in the literature. Another facilitating factor-the sing-
elections in Argentina, Bolivia and Mexico. le national district-has generally been treated only as
For example, in senatorial elections in Argentina, an extreme in the continuum of district magnitude.
the plurality party is awarded two of three seats in This section shows how these unanticipated factors
each province, while the first runner-up fills the facilitated the election of women and also assesses
other. Thus, SL/M = 2/3. Party lists are limited to the impact of other variables featured in the literatu-
two candidates, so a legal quota of 30 percent adop- re: district and party magnitude and party orienta-
ted before the 2001 election became an effective tion. Unfortunately, given the character of Peruvian
quota (QE) of 50 percent. Although placement man- national elections, much of the ensuing analysis
dates technically apply, they are superfluous because must be qualitative, rather than quantitative.
both positions on the list are electable. Only two
candidates run in each province, so K = 2/3. Thus, Optional Preferential Voting
Gq = 2/3 - (1 - .50)*2/3, or .33. In other words, in Since 1985, Peruvian legislative elections have
2001, Argentine women were guaranteed to win at employed an open list system called the ‘double
least one-third of the seats in the Senate, and, in fact, optional preferential vote’ (DOPV).39 This system
they did so.36 allows citizens to cast one or two non-ordinal ‘prefe-
Bolivia and Mexico also elect all or some of their rential votes’ for individual candidates on the party
respective senates in three member districts in which list that they have chosen. Seats are distributed
each party runs two candidates and the first-place among the parties in accordance with their respecti-
party receives two seats. Legal quotas of 25 percent ve shares of the valid vote, but preferential votes
and 50 percent would at first sight appear to be suf- determine which candidates fill the seats won by
ficient to guarantee an effective quota of 50 percent, each list.
but Bolivian parties can use back-up candidates to Many Peruvians do not cast one or both preferen-
fill their quotas.37 Mexican parties could do the same tial votes. For example, in the 2000 election, the
in 2000. Recent reforms have closed this loophole, number of preferential votes (9,929,963) was slight-
but Mexican quotas are still not district-specific.38 In ly less than the number of party list votes
both Bolivia and Mexico, rigorous enforcement of a (9,935,125), even though two preferential votes may
30 percent legal quota for candidates in each three be cast for each party list vote.40 Although it is
member senate district would produce an upper impossible to know how many voters chose to cast
126
only one preferential vote, it is clear that less than which a slim majority of legislators came from the
Lessons from Peru

half of the electorate exercised the option to cast capital.46
both. Thus, Peru’s DOPV differs from the open list In addition, the single national district magnified
systems used in Brazil and Chile, in which most or the power of the more affluent and better-educated
all of the voters cast ballots for individual candidates. electorate of Lima-Callao, which was far more prone
Survey data shows that poor voters are less likely to vote for women. Table 4 shows that, in 1995 and
to cast preferential votes and that those who do are 2000, congresswomen drew a majority of their pre-
more likely to choose only one candidate.41 In addi- ferential votes from the capital and its port, while
tion, voters from lower socio-economic strata are congressmen relied on the provinces for most of their
more likely to make errors in casting or counting support. The elimination of the single national dis-
preferential votes that often lead to the disqualifica- trict in 2001 removed one of the key factors that had
tion of individual ballots or entire precincts. In sum, facilitated the election of women, and the consequ-
a more affluent and better-educated sub-electorate ences were predictable, despite a higher quota and an
chooses the Peruvian Congress. This sub-electorate even greater increase in female candidates in 2001
has more a progressive attitude towards the political (see Table 4 in ‘The Implementation of Gender
participation of women than the overall Peruvian Quotas in Peru: Legal Reform, Discourses and
electorate. Moreover, it disproportionately resides in Impacts’). In Lima and Callao, women won 12 of 39
Lima and the adjacent port of Callao. For instance, seats (31 percent), exceeding the goal suggested by
in 2000, voters in Lima-Callao accounted for 34.2 the new quota. In the rest of Peru, however, female
percent of the overall electorate, 36.7 percent of the candidates were elected to only ten of 81 seats, just
valid presidential vote in the first round, and 37.2 12 percent of the total at stake.
per cent of the valid party list vote for Congress, but It could be argued that the single national district
40.9 percent of the overall preferential vote, and is not really a variable, but simply a manifestation of
44.9 percent of the preferential votes received by the high district magnitude. It is impossible to test this
winning congressional candidates.42 hypothesis with only Peruvian data, given that there
are only five cases and because district magnitude
The Single National District and Magnitude and socio-economic and political trends favouring
A single national district was used to elect the Senate the election of women both increased over time.
from 1980-90 and unicameral legislative bodies in There is, however, no significant association between
1992, 1995 and 2000. Moreover, women had beco- district magnitude and the female percentage of the
me increasingly competitive in the single national lower house delegations from the 26 districts in
district well before the adoption of the quota, espe- 1985 and 1990. Indeed, the partial correlation in the
cially in Lima. former year is negative, although not significant (-
Although the single district reinforced centralism .1865, sig.=.372), if we control for socio-economic
and had other pernicious repercussions, it facilitated development with an index of unmet needs, the best
the election of women in several ways. The great measure available.47 In the 2001 election-conducted
majority of professional women-who have the best in 25 districts with a quota-the association between
chance of being elected-are either from Lima-Callao district magnitude and the election of women is
or reside there. The single national district allowed positive (.342) but with a significance level that falls
these capital-based professional women to run for short of the traditional benchmark (.095). Although
the entire universe of congressional seats. It also cen- this data hardly constitutes a compelling reason to
tralized nominations in the hands of national party reject district magnitude as a positive factor in open
leaders, who are generally more receptive to female list systems, it does suggest that its importance might
political participation than regional bosses.43 have been exaggerated, due to conflation with other
Whereas 57 percent of legislators in the 1995-2000 variables, such as patterns of political recruitment.
Congress were from the provinces,44 at least nine of By pooling data from different elections, it is pos-
its 13 female members (69 percent) were based in sible to conduct better tests of the relationship bet-
Lima.45 Limeñas accounted for the same proportion ween party magnitude and the election of women in
of women in the short-lived 2000-01 Congress, in the single national district. Pearson correlations can
127
Table 4: Preferential Votes by Gender of Candidate and Residence of Voter, 1995 and 2000
1995 2000
Lima-Callao Rest of Peru Total Lima-Callao Rest of Peru Total
Average for All Winning Candidates

Women 30,908 30,336 61,244** 29,445 20,710 50,155**
(50.5%) (49.5%) (58.7%) (41.3%)
Men 6,535 11,327 17,862** 22,840 32,305 55,145**

(36.6%) (63.4%) (41.4%) (58.6%)
Average for Winning Candidates

Who Do Not Head List
Women 10,043 11,799 21,842* 29,445 20,710 50,155**
(46.0%) (54.0%) (58.7%) (41.3%)
Men 4,774 9,872 14,646* 18,188 26,406 44,594**

(32.6%) (67.4%) (40.8%) (59.2%)
Notes:
* Significant differences at the .019 level (two-tailed) between the percentages of the vote derived from Lima-Callao and
the provinces by female and male winners.
** Significant differences at the .01 level or better (two-tailed) between the percentages of the vote derived from Lima-
Callao and the provinces by female and male winners.
Source: Calculated from JNE (1995) and the Oficina Nacional de Procesos Electorales (ONPE) (2002).
be calculated for all elections in the single national Multiple Preference Votes
district from 1980 to 2000 (n=53), those only with Another characteristic of Peruvian open list voting-
open list voting (1985-2000; n=44), and those con- its duality-also appears to have facilitated the success
ducted for unicameral legislatures under Fujimori of women. Rather than campaigning for women and
(1992-2000; n=33). The first correlation shows only against men, proponents of female representation
a weak, insignificant relationship (.10, sig.=.467); could ask Peruvians to split their two preferential
the second, for all open list systems, comes close to votes equitably between the sexes. Many voters have
the conventional benchmark (.286, sig.=.06); but adhered to the slogan of feminist non-governmental
the third, for the most recent elections, is the weakest organizations, ‘De tus dos votos preferenciales, dale
(.076, sig.=.676). uno a la mujer’ (‘Of your two preferential votes, cast
Why is there such a discrepancy between the one for a woman’).
second and third correlations? Most of the few More broadly, multiple preferential votes may
women who were elected to the Senate in 1985 and increase gender equity for reasons similar to the
1990 belonged to large parties, but, since 1992, arguments for high district or party magnitude.
women have been sufficiently competitive to win on Whereas the latter help parties to balance their tick-
the lists of medium and small parties. As previously et, the former might allow some voters to make a
discussed, party magnitude facilitates the election of more ‘balanced choice’. For example, a man with tra-
women in an open list system only to the extent that ditional values might be reluctant to cast his only
they tend to receive fewer votes than men. As shown preferential ballot for a woman, but willing to ‘risk’
in Table 4, female candidates have actually outper- voting for a female candidate as one of his choices.
formed men in recent Peruvian elections held in a According to this logic-which is admittedly specula-
single national district. tive at this point-open list systems with multiple pre-
128
ferential votes-like in Italy and Peru-should be, cete- dual candidates distribute pamphlets, post flyers,
Lessons from Peru

ris paribus, more open to electing women than those and paint names and ballot numbers on walls. More
with only one preferential vote, such as in Brazil and affluent candidates may also erect billboards and buy
Chile. print advertising. Individual candidates, though,
usually do not engage in media advertising, which is
Constraints on Intra-List Competition the most effective way of reaching the electorate.
As previously noted, open list voting stimulates These restrictions were especially severe in the
intra-list competition that may place candidates with various parties that supported Fujimori.
fewer financial resources, such as women, at a disad-
vantage. Indeed, three prominent congresswomen Party Orientation
interviewed by the author-one from Fujimori’s alli- A final variable that has been associated with greater
ance and two from opposition parties-agreed that female representation is the more supportive orienta-
women generally have less money and other cam- tions of some political parties. This variable, howe-
paign resources than men. Moreover, the Peruvian ver, presumes a stable party system, and Peruvian
system, in which many lists are nominated by allian- elections are among the most volatile in the world.
ces of parties, is especially vulnerable to intra-list Moreover, Peruvian parties are notoriously fluid and
competition. Preferential voting has the paradoxical personalistic. Indeed, from the 1992 CCD election
effect of facilitating the formation of electoral allian- through 2000, the leading ‘parties’ were little more
ces because candidates can be elected from any posi- than personal vehicles for Fujimori and various
tion on the list, but those from different parties run- opposition leaders.
ning on the same list are more likely to compete with During the 1980s, the left tended to be more
one another. inclusive, but it collapsed in the early 1990s.
Other features of the Peruvian system have also Fujimori was the most visible champion of gender
stimulated intra-list competition. Given that party equity in the past decade, but this orientation emer-
magnitudes were relatively large in the single natio- ged only gradually and did not affect the composi-
nal district and most of the preferential votes were tion of his lists before the 2000 election.50 In 2000,
cast for only a few candidates-particularly the head Fujimori’s lists did feature women in more promi-
of the list-other candidates could be elected with nent positions, and in 2001 all three candidates elec-
very small numbers of votes. In 1995, for example, ted on the disgraced former president’s slate were
only 12 of the 67 winning candidates on Fujimori’s women. Moreover, women are a critical part of
list won more than 20,000 votes nationwide.48 Fujimori’s plans for a political comeback in 2006.51
Razor-thin margins often separate winners and Nevertheless, ‘contagion’ has been rapid, as the
losers. other parties quickly matched or surpassed
Almost all of the winning congressional candida- Fujimori’s initiatives on gender issues. Over time
tes wage individual campaigns. This phenomenon there have not been consistent differences among the
began in 1985, even though the DOPV was new and parties in regard to the number of women nomina-
the APRA-Peru’s most hierarchical party-had a com- ted, their lists positions, or their relative success rates.
manding lead throughout the campaign. In 1990, Indeed, Peru’s most prominent female politician,
congressional candidates from four different parties Lourdes Flores Nano-who was placed a strong third
running on the list of Mario Vargas Llosa’s in the 2001 presidential election-is the leader of the
Democratic Front (FREDEMO) outspent the nove- country’s major conservative party.
list’s presidential campaign by almost two-and-a-half
fold. A deluge of tasteless television commercials by Lessons from Peru
FREDEMO congressional candidates, which drow- A couple of specific lessons may be extrapolated from
ned out and sometimes contradicted Llosa’s message, the experience of Peru’s closed list municipal elec-
was a major factor in his defeat.49 tions. First, the application of quota legislation in
Since the FREDEMO debacle, the leaders of districts of varying magnitude is likely to create dif-
Peruvian parties have usually placed limits on indivi- ferent ‘effective quotas’ for the same sort of office.
dual campaigns. Typically, the supporters of indivi- The Peruvian experience strongly suggests that vari-
129
ation in the effective quota can be a significant factor theoretically informed, context-sensitive studies of
affecting the electoral success of women. Second, distinct institutional configurations, using district-
even in the absence of controversial placement man- level data and paying utmost attention to institutio-
dates, women may be guaranteed seats in closed nal details.
party list systems-especially those that are majoritari-
an-by the effective quota and the relative magnitude
of the largest party.
The insights provided by open list congressional
elections are more tentative and may involve trade-
offs with other values. For example, one might not
want to increase the percentage of women elected by
maintaining centralism or discriminating against less
educated voters. But more progressive patterns of
political recruitment, multiple preferential votes, and
constraints on intra-list competition may all be legi-
timate ways of facilitating the election of women in
open list systems.
It is also possible to extrapolate much broader les-
sons. Women may fare well in both closed and open
party list systems, and any difference between these
two categories is likely to be far less important than
variation within them. Moreover, the preceding cases
suggest that quotas and other institutional variables
that affect the election of women may have a diffe-
rent ‘logic’ within different systems. District magni-
tude-a variable that often has been linked with the
electoral success of women, particularly in PR sys-
tems-was not associated with the election of female
candidates in the majoritarian party list system used
in Peruvian municipal elections. Similarly, women
comprise one-third of the Argentine Senate, which is
elected in low magnitude, majoritarian districts. Nor
did district or party magnitude per se appear to make
much difference in open-list congressional elections,
although here the evidence is admittedly weaker.
Future research should focus on the interaction of
quotas and related factors in different kinds of elec-
toral systems, rather than on the impact of discrete
variables-such as district magnitude-across various
systems. If there were a magic bullet for increasing
the election of women through institutional engin-
eering, it almost certainly would have been discove-
red by now. A messier but more likely possibility is
that different sorts of institutional configurations
favour (or hinder) the election of women. Moreover,
their comparative advantages may even vary under
different conditions.52 The analysis here strongly sug-
gests that we are most likely to advance our know-
ledge of quotas and related variables by undertaking
130
Notes councils in Lima, and -.065 for a sample of dis-
Lessons from Peru

1 Some other countries, such as Greece, use flexi- trict councils outside of the capital.
ble list systems that ‘give both party leaders and 28 Jones 1995, pp. 12-15; Nickson 1995, p. 62.
voters some say in the allocation of a list’s seats 29 The rules used in Peruvian municipal elections
among its candidates’ (Cox 1997, p. 61). are complex. For discussion, see Schmidt,
Although the mechanics of flexible list systems 2003a.
vary widely, in most cases, list order is the pre- 30 The Pearson’s r for district magnitude and Gq
dominant factor in determining which candida- in 1998 are -.477** for provincial councils, -
tes are elected. This paper focuses on the more .740** for district councils in Lima, and -
basic distinction between open and closed list .679** for the sample of 99 district councils
systems. outside of the capital.
2 Taagepera and Shugart 1989, p. 25, refer to the 31 Schmidt 2003a.
Chilean and Finnish systems as ‘quasi-list’. 32 Schmidt 2003a.
3 Personal communication with Timothy Power, 33 Indeed, this sometimes occurred in higher mag-
an expert on Brazil. nitude districts under the arcane rules used in
4 Katz 1986, p. 101, also see Ames 1995. Peruvian municipal elections, see Schmidt
5 Matland 1998, p. 82. 2003a.
6 Htun and Jones 2002, p. 39. 34 Nickson 1995, pp. 63-64.
7 Burrell 1998. 35 Jones 1998, pp. 8-9.
8 Duerst-Lahti 1998 . 36 IPU 2002.
9 Shugart 1994, pp. 37-38. 37 Bermúdez Valdivia 1998, pp. 47-50.
10 Rule 1994, p. 18. 38 Diario Oficial 2003.
11 Matland 1998, p. 81. 39 Open list voting with a single preferential vote
12 Some of the systems in Table 1 use a mixture of had been used in the 1978 Constitutional
party list PR and plurality, but the generaliza- Assembly election, which had been conducted
tions in this paragraph are also true if we just in a single national district.
compare those that use party lists exclusively. 40 ONPE 2002.
13 Taagepera and Shugart 1989, p. 19. 41 IMASEN 1995, pp. 19-20. It is also very likely
14 For example, see: Rule 1987; Norris 1996; that illiterate citizens cast fewer preferential
Matland and Brown 1992; Jones 1998, p. 16. votes.
15 Matland 1993. 42 ONPE 2002.
16 This would appear to be especially true in open 43 Yáñez 2000.
list systems, in which candidates can be elected 44 Tuesta Soldevilla 2001, p. 70.
from any position on the list. 45 El Comercio and Movimiento Manuela Ramos
17 See Matland 1993, p. 738; Norris 1996, p. 1999.
201. 46 Yáñez (2000) counted 18 limeñas among 26
18 Norris 1996, pp. 199-200. congresswomen (69 percent). The JNE listed
19 Ames 1995. 64 members of Congress from the capital (53
20 See Jones 2000 and Rule 2000. percent) in unpublished data.
21 Yáñez 1999. 47 The author developed an index of unmet basic
22 See Schmidt 2003b. need from data in (INEI 1993).
23 Htun and Jones 2002. 48 Tuesta Soldevilla 2001, pp. 76-77.
24 Jones 1996, pp. 78-80, 87-89. 49 Schmidt 1996.
25 Personal communication with Andrés Mejía 50 See Schmidt 2003b.
Acosta, an authority on Ecuadorian elections. 51 See Fujimori 2002.
26 Jones 1998. 52 See Moser 2001, pp. 367-368.
27 Indeed, the Pearson’s r for district magnitude
and the election of women are all negative: -
.035 for provincial councils, -.075 for district
131
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133
Conclusion:
Lessons Learned from the

Latin American Experience
with Quotas
At the February 2002 workshop in Lima, various discussion and the lessons learned from Latin
types of quota provisions were discussed, including America.
constitutional, legislative and political party quotas,
with legislated quotas dominating in the region. The 1. The Context in which Quotas are
comparative analysis that emerged from the work- Promoted is Important
shop is extremely valuable for identifying strategies A common theme throughout the workshop was
for quota implementation and for assessing both that the introduction of gender quotas is highly
positive and negative lessons learned. The workshop influenced by the recommendations of international
began with key questions. What is the likelihood organizations and by cross-country inspiration. This
that quotas will be introduced? What is the likeli- is especially obvious in Latin America, where there is
hood that they will be implemented? It is apparent little doubt that the recommendations of internatio-
that Latin America offers some of the best and worst nal organizations and international agreements like
examples of quota implementation in the world, but the CEDAW and the Beijing Platform for Action
it must be remembered that what is best practice in have all provided impetus for groups lobbying for
one country is not necessarily best practice in anot- quotas. During the process of democratization in
her. Country contexts are important. It emerged that Latin America in the 1980s, the women’s movement
the implementation of quotas seems to depend worked hard to get its issues on the political agenda,
somewhat on strong mobilization of women with building alliances across countries and international-
many organizations involved, and that windows of ly. This phenomenon is global, but no other region
opportunity exist for reform, especially when electo- has witnessed implementation of electoral quotas on
ral codes and laws are revised. It is also important to a par with Latin America.
note how the argument for quotas is being articula- It was agreed that the implementation of quotas is
ted-what kinds of arguments are being forwarded for country-specific: what works in one country will not
the inclusion of women in democracy building, in necessarily work in another. The introduction of
regard to citizenship and to the perspectives that quotas should be based on a number of considera-
women bring to politics. In relation to successful tions, including the political culture and context of
implementation, it emerged that preciseness in terms each country, the type of electoral system, the politi-
of sanctions for non-compliance with the laws is key, cal system and the socioeconomic context, with par-
and that these sanctions are closely tied to the type of ticular attention being paid to how they affect
electoral system in existence. women. Additionally, consideration should be given
The following is a summary of the main points of to the culture of the organization and the operation
134
of the political parties, and to how the latter view via party lists in multi-member districts. Although
quotas. The case of Peru illustrates that, while wome- quotas may be applicable to party lists, the quota
n’s groups, women in political parties and the does not apply to elections in single-member dis-
Committee on Women continually flagged the issue tricts, as is the case in Bolivia. Therefore, different
of quotas, it took the public support of former strategies need to be considered for implementing
President Alberto Fujimori to get quota legislation quotas in single-member districts. In this respect,
through Congress. Having support from below, as further analysis of the relationship between the suc-
well as from high-ranking officials in government cess or failure of quotas and the electoral system of
has been especially important in some countries. each country is needed.
Finally, it was noted that quotas should be promoted
as part of a set of policies, rather than being treated 3. Implementation and Enforcement
as a policy intervention. These are some of the con- of Quotas
text-specific factors to be mindful of when conside- When considering the legal framework of quotas, a
ring quotas or lobbying for them. distinction needs to be made between indicative
quotas, where the quota percentage is established
2. Quotas and Electoral Systems without specifying how it is to be met, and compul-
The legislative quota system is widely used in Latin sory quotas, which stipulate how the percentage is to
America, with Argentina pioneering the introduc- be achieved by specifying the alternation or sequen-
tion of legislative quotas in the region in 1991, and cing of candidates-for example, that at least one of
ten other countries in the region following suit bet- every three candidates must be a woman. Indicative
ween 1996 and 1997. It is important to bear in mind quotas exist in Brazil and Paraguay, whereas
the factors that influence the efficiency of quotas, Argentina, Bolivia, Costa Rica, and Uruguay have
including the type of electoral system-the proportio- compulsory quotas. In Argentina, Costa Rica and
nal representation system easily lends itself to the Mexico, the initial quota laws that were implemen-
implementation of quotas because of placement ted did not contain placement mandates and as a
mandates that can be applied to political party lists. result political parties complied minimally with the
However, it is important to consider whether lists are quota, or sometimes not at all. The process of quota
open or closed, as voters may be able to influence the implementation has now progressed to a second level
number of women elected by voting for women in in these countries where there has been a shift from
open list systems. This is not possible in a closed list legislative recommendations to a quota system based
system where the political party determines the rank on laws and regulations that specify the alternation
ordering of candidates. While most researchers have of candidates on lists and provide strict enforcement
highlighted the merits of the closed list system as a sanctions if the quota is not met. The examples at the
means of increasing the representation of women, workshop demonstrate the importance of developing
Schmidt shows that, in the case of Peru, open list sys- clear and detailed laws regarding implementation
tems can be beneficial to women candidates. and enforcement of quotas, and to examine further
In open list systems, though, candidates are expec- the concept of the ‘effective quota’, which can provi-
ted to campaign to gain the support of voters. It was de a common yardstick for comparing the extent to
noted consistently that women face obstacles in the which quotas have been implemented (or not) across
area of campaign funding, often not having access to districts of varying magnitude and with different
‘moneyed’ networks from which large quantities of electoral systems.
funds for campaigning are raised. This often puts In regard to implementation, many political
women at a disadvantage compared to men. This is actors are involved, from political parties to the elec-
also a particular problem in uninominal elections (or toral management body. It is important to investiga-
constituency elections) in which candidates actively te which entities are involved and what their respon-
campaign for votes. A further problem was highligh- sibilities are in the implementation process: the cri-
ted in regard to mixed electoral systems, under teria adopted and the obstacles that they may
which some candidates are elected by a majority vote encounter. The ‘second wave’ of quota reform has led
in single-member districts, while others are elected to a key role for EMBs in enforcing the implemen-
135
tation of the quota in a handful of countries. A particular issue raised was why the political parti-
Additionally, support from civil society organizations cipation of women is not considered a key element
and the women’s movement has been critical in of a democracy. It was agreed that women’s move-
many countries, in terms of monitoring quota ments have been somewhat successful at putting this
implementation, and pressing for changes to existing on the political agenda and that it is important to
laws that were inadequate in practice. initiate some discussion of it. Strengthening demo-
The examples from the region highlight the cracies requires the participation of all actors in a
importance of how laws are drafted, and an impor- society, including women.
tant consideration in this respect is the language that A related issue that was raised in the Latin
is employed. Quotas can be drafted to apply to American context, where quota laws have been in
women, or they can be drafted in a gender-neutral existence for nearly a decade, is how to translate
way, whereby, for example, a list of candidates must numbers into real changes in politics. That is, in
contain 30 percent of each sex. Framing a quota law areas where quotas have been applied, what has been
in this manner circumvents the argument that is the impact of women’s participation on national
often used by opposing groups: that quotas are dis- decision-making? This issue is tied to the arguments
criminatory. that are advanced to push for quotas-that women
bring different experiences and perspectives to poli-
4. Political Parties tics or that a greater presence of women will ensure
Another key aspect to consider in further research on that gender-related issues are put on the legislative
electoral quotas is that of political parties. In the agenda. However, there is no comparative research
nomination and recruitment of electoral candidates, that assesses the impact that women have had on
political parties are the real gatekeepers, and hence politics in Latin America, or the obstacles that
are able to promote women candidates. It is impor- women continue to face once elected to decision-
tant, therefore, to analyse how women participate in making bodies. Women’s political participation
the party, what guidelines political parties have for should be evaluated in the context of the political
selecting candidates and whether these include regimes.
women, and how parties seek to ensure that they Opinion surveys conducted in the region reveal
abide by quota laws. Transparency in nomination that electoral quotas are accepted in Latin American
and selection processes is important to foster a cul- societies. Jacqueline Peschard shows that two-thirds
ture of inclusiveness and democracy within political of the population consider quotas to be beneficial to
parties. It is apparent that women are confronting the continent and that a majority of the populations
both explicit and implicit barriers when trying to supports the idea of having more women in political
reach higher positions within parties. A related issue positions. What is particularly interesting is that they
that has already been mentioned is that of financing consider women to be more honest than men, and
election campaigns, both those within the party if they believe that women are better at taking deci-
primary elections are held, or for seats at the natio- sions. This is a key issue for further investigation,
nal level. Further research is needed to document the since more female politicians might engender quali-
real challenge that financing poses to women. tative changes in politics and policy. Research carri-
Another area for comparative research is whether ed out in the Nordic countries clearly demonstrates
party ideology or the size of the party matter for the that more women in politics have dramatically chan-
election of candidates. Araújo writes that it has been ged politics and policymaking, and that women do
easier for Brazilian women to be nominated in small have an effect on political decision-making.
parties and in left-wing parties. Other studies also A further area that was mentioned was how the
include the green parties in this group. mechanisms of access for women can be extended to
new areas of decision-making, such as multilateral
5. Women’s Participation, Democracy agencies, financial institutions, international organi-
and Political Power zations, and, generally, the national, regional and
Participants also discussed the relationship between international fora in which the economic agendas are
the political participation of women and democracy. decided upon.
136
6. The Role of Civil Society, Networks national context, where different actors are a part of
and the Media the development, successfully or unsuccessfully.
It was agreed that there is a need for a network wit- The workshop showed that there are many simila-
hin Latin America, and across regions, of civil socie- rities between the countries of Latin America, but
ty organizations and other stakeholders involved in also that there are numerous differences. This impli-
the issue of quotas to allow for cross-country infor- es that we cannot generalize about the region, since
mation sharing on strategies and lessons learned. every country is a unique case with its own history
Successes in one country can serve as a model for and its own social, economic, and political context.
other countries, and can be a source of inspiration. It is important, therefore, to carry out further com-
Networks may work as a forum for cross-national parative analyses and to establish cross-country net-
exchanges of experiences. Additionally, the contribu- works in Latin America and elsewhere. The imple-
tion made by civil society organizations to the pro- mentation of electoral gender quotas is one of the
cesses of lobbying and enforcing quota laws is an challenges facing women in gaining full rights of citi-
important lesson from the region. The examples of zenship, and they are also an expression of the state
Argentina and Costa Rica demonstrate the impor- of the democratization process in Latin America.
tant contribution of civil society to the implementa- The examples and experiences in this report are
tion and also the reform of the quota laws. not only relevant to the Latin American context but
On acquiring political positions, furthermore, it is they should also be seen to contribute to a growing
important for the elected women to get support as awareness of the need to generate global and compa-
women and as leaders. Women’s organizations are rative knowledge about quota implementation and
essential in this respect, and may constitute a base for enforcement. While there is agreement that quotas
further education (capacitación) and empowerment. have contributed significantly to increasing female
The media was also highlighted as a potential resour- representation in the region, there is also some agree-
ce in the fight for, and the implementation of, quo- ment that quotas in themselves are not sufficient to
tas. While there is awareness that the media tends to alter fundamentally power relations in society. Yet
stereotype both sexes, it is apparent that having it on quotas are a key step towards ensuring inclusive deci-
side will be advantageous. By building relationships sion-making processes and policy development, the-
with journalists and developing communication reby involving women in the decisions that have a
skills, women will find that the media can be an direct bearing on their lives and those of their fami-
effective channel for garnering public support. Yet lies. Underpinning all efforts is the need to foster the
further investigation on how best to utilize this political will that nurtures and promotes true gender
resource is needed. equality.
The successful implementation of quotas seems to
depend on well-developed strategies and strong civil
society mobilization, as well as political will. The
women’s movement has played a central role in the
implementation of gender quotas, and the interac-
tion between political institutions and women’s orga-
nizations is crucial. However, electoral quotas are a
new global phenomenon, and comparative research
on a worldwide scale is needed. Several areas of
potential research were suggested in the workshop,
including investigating whether quotas are really a
temporary or transitory measure, in how many
countries there have been legislative attempts at quo-
tas and why they have succeeded or failed, and where
and how quotas apply in regional parliamentary
assemblies. Additionally, the implementation of elec-
toral quotas has to be analysed in the very specific
137
About the Authors
CLARA ARAÚJO has a PhD in Sociology. She tea- VIOLETA BERMÚDEZ is a lawyer from the
ches Social Science at the Satte University of Rio de Universidad Nacional Mayor de San Marcos with
Janeiro and her area of research is gender relations, graduate degrees in Constitutional Law from the
with special emphasis on citizenship, the political Pontificia Universidad Católica del Perú. She was
participation of women, and public policy. Over the General Coordinator for Movimiento Manuela
past few years, she has been conducting comparative Ramos, a non-governmental organisation, and wor-
research on Brazil’s experience of quotas for women ked as Project Coordinator of Human Rights and
in politics. She is also a consultant with the State Democratic Institutions at USAID in Peru. She was
Council of Women’s Rights in Rio de Janeiro. Vice-Minister at the Ministry for the Promotion of
Women and Human Development (PROMU-
CHRISTINA ALNEVALL is a Ph.D. candidate at the DEH).
Department of Political Science, Stockholm
University, Sweden, and has a B.Sc. in Political DRUDE DAHLERUP is Professor of Political Science
Science and Gender Studies. Former experience at Stockholm University, Sweden. She has underta-
includes fieldwork in Nicaragua. Her doctoral thesis ken extensive research on women in politics, social
focuses on gender quotas and citizenship in Mexico movements, the history of the women’s movement,
and Spain. sex segregation in the labour market and feminist
theory. She has published many articles and books in
JULIE BALLINGTON is the Manager of the Gender Danish and has also written a handbook on women’s
and Political Participation Project at IDEA, based in representation, which was published by the Nordic
Stockholm, Sweden. Prior to joining IDEA in 2001, Council of Ministers in all five Nordic languages.
she was a researcher and Gender and Elections
Project Manager at the Electoral Institute of ANA ISABEL GARCÍA QUESADA is a Costa Rican
Southern Africa (EISA) in Johannesburg, South journalist and sociologist, who has been dealing with
Africa. Her research interests include issues relating gender issues since the late 1980s when she worked
to the political representation and participation of for the University for Peace and for the Latin
women, voter turnout and electoral politics. American Social Science Faculty (FLACSO) as a
researcher of the Central American conflict and its
JIMENA COSTA BENAVIDES is a lawyer by trai- impact on women. She later (in 1989) directed the
ning and holds graduate degrees in Political Science project ‘Central American Women Facing Crisis,
and Social Science with emphasis on Political War and the Peace Process’. In 1994 she was appoin-
Analysis of Latin America and Political Manage- ted by the Costa Rican Government as the Director
ment. She is currently a second-year doctorate stu- of the National Mechanism for the Promotion of
dent in Latin American Cultural Studies at the Women, holding the post until 1998. Currently, she
Simón Bolivar Andean University. She has participa- is the Director of the Fundación Género y Sociedad
ted in numerous seminars, conferences and symposia (GESO) and also works as an international consul-
and has published and written on the politics and tant for several development cooperation agencies.
social/cultural development of Bolivia. Ms Costa She has participated in and directed various national
Benavides has also worked as a political consultant and regional research projects, and has also written
for aid agencies like the United States Agency for books and articles about the situation of women and
International Development (USAID) and the their socio-political participation.
German International Cooperation Agency and is
very much involved in social planning and develop- MARIA JOSÉ LUBERTINO, a lawyer, law school
ment at the local level in La Paz. professor, and human rights activist in Argentina for
nearly 20 years, is President of the Political and
Social Institute for Women (ISPM), coordinating a
138
nationwide education campaign on the prevention and has a Ph.D. in Public Law from the Universidad
of violence against women. Dr Lubertino was pre- Autónoma de Madrid. She is a university professor,
viously a political campaigner, a member of the con- author of various publications on women’s rights and
stitutional assembly, and a journalist. currently serves as Deputy Ombudsman on
Women’s Rights in the Office of the Ombudsman in
MYRIAM MÉNDEZ-MONTALVO is a Colombian Peru.
attorney who carried out her legal studies at the
Pontificia Universidad Javeriana of Bogotá. She ANA MARÍA YÁÑEZ is a lawyer from the Pontificia
holds postgraduate degrees in International Universidad Católica del Perú, expert in women’s
Relations and Development, Human Rights, and rights, and General Coordinator of the Movimiento
Public Administration and Public Policy from the Manuela Ramos. She is the presenter of ‘Barra de
Kennedy School of Government at Harvard Mujeres’, a television programme that discusses issu-
University. Until 2003 she worked in the Latin es related to women and politics. She is also the aut-
American programme section of IDEA, running hor of various publications on women and political
capacity-building projects in Guatemala, Peru and participation.
Paraguay, among others. She now works for the
Latin American Bureau of the United Nations
Development Programme (UNDP), based in New
York.
JACQUELINE PESCHARD has been an elections

adviser to the general board of Mexico’s Institute
Federal Electoral since 1996. From 1979 to 1991,
she was a full-time professor in the School of
Political and Social Sciences at the Universidad
Nacional Autónoma de México, and from 1992 to
1998, she was a professor and researcher at the
Colegio de México. She has published several articles
on political parties, elections and political culture in
academic journals in Mexico, Spain and the United
States.
GREGORY D. SCHMIDT is Professor of Political

Science at Northern Illinois University in DeKalb.
He completed his B.A. degree at the University of
Texas at Austin and his M.A. and Ph.D. at Cornell
University in Ithaca, New York. Professor Schmidt
has a long-standing interest in Peru where he worked
as a consultant for USAID, completed research
under Fulbright and other grants, and served as a
visiting professor at the Escuela de Administración
de Negocios para Graduados (ESAN), the Catholic
University, and the University of the Pacific. He has
published extensively on Peru, focusing on develop-
ment, decentralization, electoral rules and adminis-
tration, executive-legislative relations, and gender.
ROCÍO VILLANUEVA FLORES is a lawyer from the

Pontificia Universidad Católica del Perú and Lodz,
139
List of Participants
Dr. Cecilia Aldave Dr. Jennie Dador

Advisor to the Vice Minister of Women Vice Manager, Political Participation Program,
and Social Development Manuela Ramos Movement, Peru
Ministry for Women and Development, Peru E-mail: [email protected]
E-mail: [email protected]
Professor Drude Dahlerup
Ms. Christina Alnevall Professor, Department of Political Science,
Ph.D. candidate, Department of Political Science, Stockholm University
Stockholm University E-mail: [email protected]
Dr. Silvia Loli Espinoza
Dr. Clara Araújo Consultant, Women and Human Rights Project,
Teacher, Department of Social Science, State Manuela Ramos Movement, Peru
University of Rio de Janeiro E-mail: [email protected]
Ms. Ana Isabel Garcia Quesada
Ms. Julie Ballington Director of Gender and Society Foundation -
Programme Officer, GESO
Women’s Participation Programme, E-mail: [email protected]
International IDEA
E-mail: [email protected] Dr. Marcela Huaita
Consultant, Health Policy Project, Manuela Ramos
Mrs. María Mercedes Barnechea Movement, Peru
Canadian Cooperation Organization- E-mail: [email protected]
OCC based in Peru
E-mail: [email protected] Dr. María José Lubertino
President of the Political and Social Institute for
Ms. Violeta Bermúdez Women - ISPM, Argentina
Chief advisor to the Prime Minister of Peru E-mail: [email protected]
Presidency of the Cabinet of Ministers
E-mail: [email protected] Ms. Myriam Méndez-Montalvo
Latin American Bureau of UNDP
Dr. Patricia Carrillo E-mail: [email protected]
Responsible for Governance and Citizen
Participation Dr. Jacqueline Peschard
ARD - Pro-Decentralization Project, Peru Commissioner, Federal Electoral Commission,
E-mail: [email protected] Mexico
Ms. Jimena Costa Benavides
Ph.D. Candidate, Latin American Cultural Studies, Dr. Mayda Ramos
Simon Bolivar Andean University Commissioner of the Women’s Rights Office, The
E-mail: [email protected] Ombudsman Office, Peru
140
Professor Gregory D. Schmidt
Professor, Department of Political Science,
Northern Illinois University
Dr. Rocío Villanueva

Ombudsman Official for Women’s Rights at the
Ombudsman Office, Peru
Mrs. Victoria Villanueva

Board of Directors
Manuela Ramos Movement, Peru
Dr. Ana María Yañez

General Coordinator
Manuela Ramos Movement, Peru
141

Implementation of Quotas Latin American Experiences

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The Implementation of Quotas:

Latin American Experiences

International IDEA publications are independent of specific national or political

Applications for permission to reproduce or translate all or any part

Graphic design by: Magnus Alkmar

1. Quota Systems: An Overview 8

1.1. Overview of the Session 8

2. Introducing Quotas in Latin America: Discourses and Legal Reforms 30

2.1. Overview of Presentations 30

3. Quotas in Practice: The Challenge of Implementation and Enforcement 68

3.1. Overview of Presentations 68

4. Democracy and Electoral Systems 112

4.1. Overview of Presentations 112

5. Conclusion: Lessons Learned from

6. About the Authors 138

7. List of Participants 140

Comparative Analysis of Gender Quotas:

Electoral Gender Quotas

Electoral Gender Quotas

Electoral Gender Quotas

Electoral Gender Quotas

Electoral Gender Quotas

Argentina 1991 30% Yes Closed

Box 1: Types of quotas

Constitutional Enshrined in basic laws, mainly constitutions.

Table 2: Composition by gender of the Chambers of Deputies and Senates

Region/Country Election Quota % Women Representatives % Women Senators %

Possible Solutions to the Lack of

The Argentine Experience

From Women’s Political Participation to the Need for Quotas

The Argentine Experience and Beyond

Table 1: Number of Women Legislators in Both Chambers, 1983-2003

Year 1983 1993 1995 2003

Chamber Women Total % Women Total % Women Total % Women Total %

The Argentine Experience and Beyond

The Argentine Experience and Beyond

The Argentine Experience and Beyond

Gender Quotas in Peru

1. Percentage of Candidates 23.82 37.56 44.64** 30.65**

Gender Quotas in Peru

Table 2: The Impact of Lists in PROMUJER Districts in Lima, 1998

Lists in PROMUJER Districts Lists in Other Districts

1. Female Percentage of Candidates

Female % of Councillors Percentage % Women ÷

Gender Quotas in Peru

Note: * On Lists that Won At Least One Seat.

Gender Quotas in Peru

Table 3: Number of Women Elected to Local Councils (Provincial and District)

Number of council Percentage Number of council Percentage

Men 10,074 92 8,945 76

Provinces Number of women Provinces Number of women

La Mar (Ayacucho) 1 Casma, Ocros (Ancash) 2

Source: National Office on Election Processes. Prepared by Movimiento Manuela Ramos.

Table 6: Number of Members of Parliament Needed to Comply with

Number Electoral Congresspersons Number of candidates Minimum number of

Source: National Elections Tribunal.

1 Council with 39 members 11.7 12

Source: Resolution No. 186-2002-JNE, 11 June 2002, National Elections Tribunal.

Regions Council members 30% of all candidates Minimum number of

1. Percentage of Candidates 23.82 37.56 44.64 30.65