Electoral Justice and Women Representation in Mexico

• In Event: Women's Representation

Abstract

Gender quotas are very efficient mechanisms to increase women's political representation (Dahlerup and Freidenvall, 2005; Krook, 2009). Recent scholarships show that the efficiency of gender quotas largely depends on the quotas' design and implementation, type of electoral system and actors' capability to monitor its implementation and results (Freidenberg, 2020; Gilas, 2020).

Unlike other research focused on how gender electoral design shapes the political representation of women (Schwindt-Bayer, 2018; Piscopo, 2015; Jones, 2009), this paper studies a little-explored dimension in neo-institutionalist comparative politics: the role of electoral justice in the protection of women's political rights. The Mexican case is an excellent illustration of how the judicial electoral authorities transformed the gender quota design, increased the political representation of women, and reduced the structural inequality (Saba, 2016).

From the survey of 9,388 judgments issued on women's rights by the electoral court between 2006 and 2018, the paper identifies 57 breakthrough decisions that changed the interpretation of gender quotas.
This study shows how electoral judgments have strengthened the gender quota, covering regulatory gaps that legislators had ignored, and boosted their effectivity through new and progressive interpretation, even though they have also generated certain inconsistencies and contradictory criteria. It also finds that, in the face of partisan resistance, electoral justice turned out to be a key to the effective monitoring and implementation of gender quota and gender parity.

Bibliography:
Dahlerup, Drude y Freidenvall, Lenita. 2005. “Quotas as a ‘Fast Track’ to Equal Representation of Women: Why Scandinavia is No Longer the Model”. International Feminist Journal of Politics, vol. 7, núm. 1, pp. 26-48.
Freidenberg, Flavia. 2020. “Electoral Reform and Women Political Representation in Latin America”, in Prevost, Gary and Vaden, Harry (eds.). The Encyclopedia of Latin American Politics. Londres: Oxford University Press.
Gilas, Karolina M. 2020. “Paridad y género en el sistema electoral mexicano: avances y desafíos”, In Julio Juárez Gámiz y Hernández Alcántara, Carlos (eds.), Autonomía, pluralismo y libertad en la elección presidencial 2018, México, CCICH-UNAM.
Jones, Mark P. 2009. “Gender Quotas, Electoral Laws, and the Election of Women: Evidence from the Latin American Vanguard”. Comparative Political Studies, Vol. 42, núm. 1, pp. 56-81. Londres, Sage Publications.
Krook, Mona Lena. 2009. Quotas for Women in Politics: Gender and Candidate Selection Reform Worldwide. Oxford: Oxford University Press.
Piscopo, Jennifer. 2015. “States as Gender Equality Activists: The Evolution of Quota Laws in Latin America”. Latin American Politics and Society, vol. 57 (3), pp. 27-49.
Saba, Roberto. 2016. Más allá de la igualdad formal ante la ley. Qué le debe el Estado a los grupos desaventajados. Buenos Aires: Editorial Siglo XXI.

Schwindt-Bayer, Leslie. 2018. Gender and representation in Latin America. New York: Oxford University Press.

Authors

• Karolina Monika Gilas, Universidad Nacional Autonoma de Mexico

• Flavia Freidenberg, Universidad de Salamanca