Closed
lists, especially when used in conjunction with candidate quotas for women,
tend to produce better results than open lists in terms of women’s
representation. In systems with closed lists voters vote for a party and cannot
alter the sequence in which candidates will be elected, whereas in open lists
systems voters can directly select individual candidates. Considering this, it
is commonly believed that in countries where public acceptance of women
politicians is low, open lists could lead voters to select more men candidates
and avoid women candidatures, while in closed lists systems voters would not be
able to alter the sequence of elected candidates proposed by the party.[1]
Despite this tendency that often favors women’s representation in systems with
closed lists, some countries show that it is also possible to have a high
number of women elected with open lists. This is the case of Ecuador, with 38
percent of women elected in its parliament’s single chamber.[2]
[1] International IDEA,
Inter-Parliamentary Union and Stockholm University (2013): op. cit., p. 22.
