Women and Politics Across Latin America

Abstract

Chapter 1 presents the puzzle of gender differences in political engagement and support for democracy. Traditional explanations come up short in fully explaining these gender gaps: gender differences in democratic engagement endure for some countries despite women’s increased participation in higher education and in the paid labor force. Much research has focused on gender gaps in voting, giving short shrift to the more puzzling differences in political interest (and related measures of political engagement) and support for democracy. Yet, the latter set of behaviors and motivations are essential to a strong democracy: at the individual level they are essential components of full democratic citizenship, and in the aggregate contribute to equality in the democratic process and to enlightened, inclusive debate. We explain why the Uruguayan case proves an unrivaled laboratory for investigating the effects of women’s gains in politics for changes in mass-level connections to the democratic process.