A quota is an allocation rule through which offices, goods, or political functions are distributed in accordance with a certain formula. A quota system for women’s representation is generally employed in situations where an unregulated distribution would cause unintentional imbalances and inequalities. It is aimed to give women equal or more balanced access to political power by applying positive measures. Why women?

Three main arguments lie behind the call for quotas to enhance women’s representation [1]

• Women represent (more than) half the population and hence have the right to half of the seats (the justice argument)
• Women have different experiences (biological or socially constructed) that ought to be represented (the experience argument)
• Women and men have partly conflicting interests, and thus men cannot represent women (the interest group argument)

 

 

The types of legislated quotas are set out in the section about Legislated Quotas.

Notes:

[1] Dahlerup, Drude (2003) “Comparative Studies of Electoral Gender Quotas” in International IDEA (2003) The Implementation of Quotas: Latin American Experiences, International IDEA, Stockholm.