Beyond Gender Quotas: A Multi-Level Approach to Expand Female Political Participation

Institutional barriers to female political participation have fallen worldwide in recent decades, resulting in a dramatic increase in the number of women elected to public office. Despite these gains, women continue to face deep-seated challenges when attempting to seek, win, hold, and succeed in public office. This has significant implications for democracy, human rights, and governance (DRG) interventions that aim to promote substantive female political participation.

This brief, developed by the International Republican Institute (IRI) as part of its 2021 Learning Agenda and alongside academic partners at the University of California Los Angeles (UCLA), offers an overview of the institutional, economic, and cultural hurdles women commonly face throughout the electoral process. The brief concludes with recommendations and good practices for DRG efforts designed to promote women’s political empowerment at three levels of intervention: institutional, candidate, and community.

Key Takeaways:

Up ArrowTop