Do Female Legislators Represent All Women and Marginalized Groups? A Study of Two Latin American Legislatures

Abstract

This project, explores whether large numbers of women in the legislature are associated with the representation of interests of diverse groups within the group “women.” To begin to answer this question, I examine laws passed in Latin American legislatures specifically in Costa Rica (33.3% women, 2016), and Chiapas, Mexico (65% women). A novel aspect of my research is that I look at laws, rather than simply proposals that address needs of historically underrepresented groups, because I am interested in bills that actually get adopted. To create the dataset of laws examined in the paper I reviewed all laws passed during a year in each legislature selecting laws that relate to women, indigenous people, or people in poverty. I look at who initiated the bill (as well as their party and background), how often these groups are mentioned in each law, and how they are addressed. Additionally, I intend to examine if any of these groups appear together within the same law.