Research

Women are generally under-represented in political offices worldwide, and their under-representation becomes larger in more senior positions. In this brief we review some recent academic literature in economics and political science on the likely causes of women’s under-representation. Broadly speaking, the literature has divided such causes into “supply-side” and “demand-side” factors: the former include women’s potentially lower willingness to run for political office, whereas the latter include voters’ and party leaders’ prejudices against women in politics. Understanding the underlying causes of women’s under-representation in political institutions is crucial in order to design the most effective policies to address the existing gender gaps. In concluding we summarize some of the policies that have been proposed or used to empower women in politics and review the evidence on their effectiveness when available.

All country reports >