Introduction

Worldwide, women hold just under 16 per cent of all parliamentary seats. This global figure masks great divergences between countries. In the Netherlands women comprise 36 per cent of national assembly members, while in Indonesia, they make up only 11 per cent of parliamentarians. In Spain, 36 per cent of legislators are women, while in Peru women’s parliamentary representation stands at 18 per cent. Established democracies such as the United Kingdom and Canada have surprisingly low levels of women in parliament with 18 per cent and 21 per cent respectively. Women’s presence in the national assemblies of some emerging democracies such as Hungary (10 per cent) is even more scant, although in Croatia 22 per cent of legislators are women. This book seeks to explain these wide variations in women’s parliamentary presence through a series of closely investigated country case studies carried out within a common framework. The 15 substantive chapters cover over 20 cases chosen to represent democracies at various stages of development, ranging from the postCommunist transition democracies of Eastern Europe and the emerging democracies in Asia and Africa to the long-established liberal democratic states in Europe, North America and the Antipodes. Our cases cover five continents, presidential and parliamentary regimes, and political cultures where religion influences public attitudes along with cultures where secular views predominate.