Abstract

FREIDENBERG, Flavia  and  GILAS, Karolina. Women Have the Seats, Men Have the Power! Female Legislative Representation in the State of Morelos. Rev. mex. cienc. polít. soc [online]. 2020, vol.65, n.240, pp.327-358.  Epub Feb 28, 2021. ISSN 0185-1918.  https://doi.org/10.22201/fcpys.2448492xe.2020.240.72869.

This article studies political representation in one of Mexico’ states, Morelos, where the most women have been elected after the approval of the Congress gender parity policy between 2014 and 2019. The number of women elected in Morelos has increased by 162 percent since 1997, making it the subnational Legislative branch with the most women in the country. The expectation was that more women in Congress would drive forward initiatives and policies aimed at reducing the gender gap and promoting substantial equality. The results of this research point to the opposite. Despite having the most significant number of women legislators in its history and compared to the other states, the Congress of Morelos has not been able to advance in terms of symbolic or substantial representation. Based on this case study, and aiming to contribute to the multidimensional evaluation of gender parity policies, the findings show that, despite the regulatory changes made, the institutional, partisan, and attitudinal obstacles persist and prevent women from participating equally with men in Morelos’ politics.

Keywords : women’s political representation; gender parity; setbacks to gender parity; substantial equality; Morelos; Mexico.