Gender Parity Through Norm Diffusion?: Gender Quota Implementation in Latin American and Caribbean Countries

This study examines the role of norm diffusion from the United Nations (UN) system in the adoption of gender quota policies and its impact on gender parity within political representation in Latin America and the Caribbean. Currently, twenty of the thirty-three countries in Latin America and the Caribbean have some form of gender quotas. Additionally, Latin America leads globally in the percentage of female legislators. The UN advertises legislated gender quotas as an effective measure to achieve gender parity. This capstone research paper thus seeks to explore the question: What is the role of norm diffusion through the UN system in the process of adoption of gender quota policies in Latin America and the Caribbean? How does this ultimately impact the level of political representation of women in these countries? Using a comprehensive analysis of timelines, this research aligns key UN recommendations, such as those from the Committee on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women Committee (CEDAW), with the implementation and evolution of gender quota laws in the region. These timelines are then compared to data from the Inter-Parliamentary Union and GQUAL, to identify patterns in the timing of gender quota adoption, and changes in the de facto representation of women in parliaments in Argentina, Bolivia, Brazil, Colombia, Costa Rica, Ecuador, El Salvador, Guyana, Haiti, Honduras, Mexico, Nicaragua, Paraguay, Peru, Dominican Republic, and Uruguay.