Who represents women in Mexico? Critical actors in times of congressional gender parity

Abstract

There is no sufficient evidence regarding the relationship between descriptive and women’s substantive representation in the Mexican Congress. This research asks, what characteristics do lawmakers who promote the rights and interests of women share? Critical actors theory calls for research to emphasize agents over numbers. Thus, information about the identity of sponsoring deputies was studied for the LXIII and LXIV Congresses. Results show that individual actors, mostly female legislators, promote women’s representation. Some have seniority, but most have no experience as elected officials, nor as part of the Congressional leadership. This suggests that actors who have the political will to promote women's issues have the least power to do so, which, in turn, undermines the power of a critical mass.