UC Riverside

This project examines the impact of having fewer or more women in national legislatures. Many scholars believe that as women become a greater presence in legislatures, they will pay more attention to women's interests, proposing legislation that reflects the needs of women. Htun states that "the growth in women's presence in legislatures has coincided with important legal advances in women's rights" (Htun 2001). Laws regarding issues important to women -- such as domestic violence, rape, and remedying years of discrimination -- have proliferated in recent years. While the amount of women's issues legislation has increased, there is a question as to whether the relationship between more women in the legislature and the proliferation of female-friendly bills is an automatic

one. Some scholars argue that the number of women in legislatures may increase but "the mere presence of women in positions of power will not automatically produce political outcomes favorable to women's interests"(Htun 2001). Particularly if women continue to constitute only a minority in a legislative body, we should not expect that they would have an overwhelming influence on the political agenda. However, is there a point at which women make up such a large percentage of the legislature that we can assume female-friendly policies will follow? The primary research question of this project is what is the legislative policy impact when women represent a critical minority of 30% or more? Related to the question of what legislative priorities drive women's political decision-making is the question, under which conditions are female legislators most likely to represent women's interests? Existing literature suggests that certain electoral conditions, such as closed-list proportional representation, are most favorable for electing women, but do those same conditions create optimal representation of women? Do women's movements within a country have an impact on legislative policy outputs? These questions will be addressed through an examination of the similarities and differences with regards to women in politics in Costa Rica and New Zealand.