Date of Award

Fall 12-2015

Degree Type

Honors College Thesis

Department

Political Science, International Development, and International Affairs

First Advisor

Ngoc Phan

Advisor Department

Political Science, International Development, and International Affairs

Abstract

Do higher levels of female labor force participation increase female political representation? Over the past 40 years, the involvement of Latina women in the labor force and the number of female legislators in Latin America has been steadily increasing. To determine if there is a correlation between these two variables, this research builds on the socio-economic status model created by Brady, Verba and Schlozman (1995). Using both a bivariate and a multivariate model, I test for a correlation between the number of women working and the number of elected female legislators in 24 Latin American countries. Contrary to expectations, I find that increases in female labor force participation did not increase female political representation. Instead, gender quotas significantly impacted female representation in Latin America.

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