This project investigated the relationship between women’s suffrage and substantive political representation, challenging the prevailing assumption that legal enfranchisement automatically ensures women's political inclusion. Using constituency-level election data and sex-disaggregated turnout figures from several Western democracies in the aftermath of women's suffrage, the study examined how and when access to the ballot translated into improved representation of women's interests. By tracing the conditions under which suffrage led to substantive representation, the study offered a more nuanced understanding of the mechanisms driving gender-responsive politics in democratic settings. The data consists of constituency-level election data, sex-separated turnout data, after women's suffrage.How do women achieve substantive representation? This project challenges conventional narratives, shared by scholars and practitioners alike, wherein the acquisition of voting rights 'automatically' improves women’s representation. While de jure electoral inclusion of women is clearly a necessary condition for women’s representation, the gender deficit in most legislatures today demonstrates that it is hardly sufficient. Through an analysis of the electoral processes that materialised in the aftermath of women's suffrage in several Western countries, this project develops new understanding of how and when access to the polling booth improves the representation of women's interests. Central to this project is an original proposition that politicians' responsiveness to women's interests is primarily determined by an electoral dynamic: vote-seeking politicians may not represent women's interests if women do not vote, or if women forgo their gender identity and vote on other non-gendered identities. This project thus formulates and tests several original hypotheses: representation of women's interests stems from politicians' electoral need to engage women voters and the ability of women's organised groups to enhance women's capacity to demand better representation. Specifically, this project seeks to answer two interrelated questions: (i) How do electoral systems shape politicians’ incentives to mobilise and engage women? (ii) To what extent does the resulting capacity of women to vote induces politicians’ responsiveness?

Topics: