Methodology

Explanation of Quotas and Inclusion in this Database

The International IDEA and Stockholm University Global Database of Quotas for Women contains information on the use of electoral quotas for women. In this project, electoral quotas are defined as mandatory or targeted percentages of women candidates for public elections.

The electoral quota for women may be constitutional, legislative or a take the form of a political party quota. It may apply to the number of women candidates proposed by a party for election, or may take the form of reserved seats in the legislature. Quotas and other affirmative action strategies may apply to minorities based on regional, ethnic, linguistic or religious cleavages. However this Database focuses on gender quotas, that is quotas that apply to women for elective office.

In this Database, the types of quotas referred to include:

Constitutional Quota for National Parliament: These are quota provisions that are mandated in the constitution of the country
Election Law Quota or Regulation for National Parliament: These are quotas that are provided for in the national legislation or regulations of the country.
Political Party Quota for Electoral Candidates: These are rules or targets set by political parties to include a certain percentage of women as election candidates. This does not include quotas for internal party structures.

In addition to this tri-partite division, we have added a further quota type:

Constitutional or Legislative Quota for Sub-National Government: These are quotas that are provided for in the constitution or legislation that require or set targets for women to constitute a certain percentage of candidates at sub-national government level (including local, district or state/provincial levels). The Database contains preliminary information for quotas at sub-national levels, and we encourage the users of the web site to submit relevant information in this regard.

The quotas targets (% or number of women) differ from country to country. Quotas may fix the target at a certain percentage (for example, 30%) or they specify the ordering of women and men on party lists. Quotas may also apply at different stages of the selection process (for example, they may apply in the nomination process or at the end of the selection process of election candidates)

A minimum requirement for women implies a maximum set for the representation of men. Since women are the under-represented group, most regulations aim at securing women a minimum number of seats. However, in some countries quota regulations are formulated in a gender neutral way, such as a maximum of 40% of either sex. A 50-50 quota is gender neutral, and also sets maximum for women's representation as well as men's.

If a country is not listed this is because, to our knowledge, no quotas for women have been adopted.

The Database illustrates the situation as of March 2003. However, it does include information on quota legislation or political party quotas that have existed previously but no longer apply, as well as information on proposals for quota regulations in country without quotas.

The aim of the Database is to provide key provisions relating to quotas, and does include detailed information on the how quotas came to be implemented (for example, the debates and discourse regarding quotas, which organizations and political parties were key for the introduction of quotas in a specific country. Country case studies will be added in the future providing information on processes followed to achieve quotas, to allow for a full sharing of experience across countries).

The Database also details quota regulations but does not specify whether these were complied with in the last election (other than by providing the number of women elected). The high or low representation of women may be because of factors other than actual implementation of quota regulations (such as the strength of the women's movement).

This web site gives the first available global overview over the use of electoral quotas for women. From this website it is possible to see how many countries have adopted constitutional quotas, legislative quotas and quotas adopted by one or more political parties in a specific country. As the website provides information about quotas types and rules, it aims to provide the data and not to make conclusions about the connection between types of quota provisions and the representation of women globally. Further research is needed to illustrate the effect of quotas for women in different countries.

Data Collection Methods

Since this is the first overview over the use of electoral quotas for women worldwide, data has been collected through many different sources, including, in order of authoritativeness: Constitutions and electoral laws, parliamentary websites and political party websites. The Inter-Parliamentary Union's website on women in parliaments, as the standard reference in this field, has been of great help. We have also consulted many other international databases and separate web sides on parliaments, political parties, and international organizations.

Country-specific sources have been included in each country table. The additional reading contains only sources from after 1995.

Official electoral statistics on gender is not available in all countries in the world, although an increasing number of countries now comply with the demands of the international Convention on the Elimination of all Forms of Discrimination Against Women (CEDAW) for solid gender statistics. In gathering all this information, we have also benefited from research made by other scholars as well as from our personal networks worldwide. In order to check and verify the information, we have personally contacted numerous political parties, individual politicians and Electoral Management Bodies around the world, and we want to thank all for the help we have got.

Explanation of Fields Used

Country: We have used the common English name of countries. Inclusion of a country on this list should not be seen as a comment by either Stockholm University or International IDEA on the status of that country, or on the nature of their elections.

Electoral System: Classification taken from the International IDEA project on electoral systems. Full explanations can be found at www.idea.int/esd

Number of Women in Lower House: These statistics describe the representation of women in the most recent election for which results are available.

(Additional information on the percentage of women in this chamber in countries without quotas may be found at the IPU website at www.ipu.org)

Number of Women in Upper House: These statistics describe the situation after the most recent constitution of the upper house (either through election or appointment) for which results are available. It should be noted that not all countries have upper houses, and statistics for this chamber are not included for all countries.

(Additional information on the percentage of women in this chamber in countries without quotas may be found at the IPU website at www.ipu.org)

Constitutional Quota for National Parliament: The quota is set down in the Constitution of a country.

Election Law Quota Regulation for National Parliament: The quota is set down in legislation, either in the electoral law or other relevant laws (such as general laws for political parties in the country).

Sanctions for Non-Compliance: This refers to legislation or regulations that apply to the enforcement of quotas, i.e. what penalties are involved if the quota provisions are not followed. Only legislated sanctions, and not internal party regulations, are included.

Political Party Quota for Electoral Candidates: These are rules or targets set by political parties to include a certain percentage of women as election candidates.

Political Party Details: We have included details for those political parties that we know have quotas. Not all parties in a country will be included, nor will the parties featured necessarily have parliamentary representation. If you have information on quotas for other parties in a country that we have not featured, please contact the project team. Inclusion of a party here should not be construed as an endorsement, or a comment on the status or strength of a party in the country's legislature. Information on a party's parliamentary status can be found at each country's parliamentary website, or through the IPU website.

Constitutional or Legislative Quota for Sub-National Government: Where we have data on quotas used at elections for sub-national legislatures, we have included them under this section. We make no comment on the status of the legislature. (This field only appears for countries where there are quotas at the sub-national level).

Other: This field includes additional information on quotas in a particular country. This may include information on legislation that has been proposed (and not passed) in parliament, or information on the representation of women in sub-national legislatures. We make no comment on the status of the legislature.

N/A: We use the term N/A to refer to information that is either not-applicable for a given country or not available at the time of research and updating.

Updating and Supplementary Data: Use the web site!

This project on Electoral Quotas for Women will be in effect for a period of three years (2003-06). During this period, the database will be continuously updated and should be considered a research tool for verifying and expanding the information. We are grateful for all new information and supplementary data. Any questions concerning the web site database, or the submission of information, may be directed towards the research team: quotas@statsvet.su.se and quotas@idea.int (or use the contact form)

Each table shows a date when the information was last updated, and to our knowledge the information is correct at this time. We have used the most recent election statistics available. Further information on selected fields can be found at individual country's parliamentary websites, other IDEA websites. An excellent source of information is the IPU website on women in national parliaments.

We hope that this web site will be of value for all those that work to increase women's political representation. We plan to make a special news section. Therefore we welcome stories of "best cases" as well as "worst cases", where quotas have not been implemented or even worked against their intended purpose - the empowerment of women in politics.

	Global Database of Quotas for Women A joint project of International IDEA and Stockholm University
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[Home] » [About the project] Methodology Explanation of Quotas and Inclusion in this Database The International IDEA and Stockholm University Global Database of Quotas for Women contains information on the use of electoral quotas for women. In this project, electoral quotas are defined as mandatory or targeted percentages of women candidates for public elections. The electoral quota for women may be constitutional, legislative or a take the form of a political party quota. It may apply to the number of women candidates proposed by a party for election, or may take the form of reserved seats in the legislature. Quotas and other affirmative action strategies may apply to minorities based on regional, ethnic, linguistic or religious cleavages. However this Database focuses on gender quotas, that is quotas that apply to women for elective office. In this Database, the types of quotas referred to include: Constitutional Quota for National Parliament: These are quota provisions that are mandated in the constitution of the country Election Law Quota or Regulation for National Parliament: These are quotas that are provided for in the national legislation or regulations of the country. Political Party Quota for Electoral Candidates: These are rules or targets set by political parties to include a certain percentage of women as election candidates. This does not include quotas for internal party structures. In addition to this tri-partite division, we have added a further quota type: Constitutional or Legislative Quota for Sub-National Government: These are quotas that are provided for in the constitution or legislation that require or set targets for women to constitute a certain percentage of candidates at sub-national government level (including local, district or state/provincial levels). The Database contains preliminary information for quotas at sub-national levels, and we encourage the users of the web site to submit relevant information in this regard. The quotas targets (% or number of women) differ from country to country. Quotas may fix the target at a certain percentage (for example, 30%) or they specify the ordering of women and men on party lists. Quotas may also apply at different stages of the selection process (for example, they may apply in the nomination process or at the end of the selection process of election candidates) A minimum requirement for women implies a maximum set for the representation of men. Since women are the under-represented group, most regulations aim at securing women a minimum number of seats. However, in some countries quota regulations are formulated in a gender neutral way, such as a maximum of 40% of either sex. A 50-50 quota is gender neutral, and also sets maximum for women's representation as well as men's. If a country is not listed this is because, to our knowledge, no quotas for women have been adopted. The Database illustrates the situation as of March 2003. However, it does include information on quota legislation or political party quotas that have existed previously but no longer apply, as well as information on proposals for quota regulations in country without quotas. The aim of the Database is to provide key provisions relating to quotas, and does include detailed information on the how quotas came to be implemented (for example, the debates and discourse regarding quotas, which organizations and political parties were key for the introduction of quotas in a specific country. Country case studies will be added in the future providing information on processes followed to achieve quotas, to allow for a full sharing of experience across countries). The Database also details quota regulations but does not specify whether these were complied with in the last election (other than by providing the number of women elected). The high or low representation of women may be because of factors other than actual implementation of quota regulations (such as the strength of the women's movement). This web site gives the first available global overview over the use of electoral quotas for women. From this website it is possible to see how many countries have adopted constitutional quotas, legislative quotas and quotas adopted by one or more political parties in a specific country. As the website provides information about quotas types and rules, it aims to provide the data and not to make conclusions about the connection between types of quota provisions and the representation of women globally. Further research is needed to illustrate the effect of quotas for women in different countries. Data Collection Methods Since this is the first overview over the use of electoral quotas for women worldwide, data has been collected through many different sources, including, in order of authoritativeness: Constitutions and electoral laws, parliamentary websites and political party websites. The Inter-Parliamentary Union's website on women in parliaments, as the standard reference in this field, has been of great help. We have also consulted many other international databases and separate web sides on parliaments, political parties, and international organizations. Country-specific sources have been included in each country table. The additional reading contains only sources from after 1995. Official electoral statistics on gender is not available in all countries in the world, although an increasing number of countries now comply with the demands of the international Convention on the Elimination of all Forms of Discrimination Against Women (CEDAW) for solid gender statistics. In gathering all this information, we have also benefited from research made by other scholars as well as from our personal networks worldwide. In order to check and verify the information, we have personally contacted numerous political parties, individual politicians and Electoral Management Bodies around the world, and we want to thank all for the help we have got. Explanation of Fields Used Country: We have used the common English name of countries. Inclusion of a country on this list should not be seen as a comment by either Stockholm University or International IDEA on the status of that country, or on the nature of their elections. Electoral System: Classification taken from the International IDEA project on electoral systems. Full explanations can be found at www.idea.int/esd Number of Women in Lower House: These statistics describe the representation of women in the most recent election for which results are available. (Additional information on the percentage of women in this chamber in countries without quotas may be found at the IPU website at www.ipu.org) Number of Women in Upper House: These statistics describe the situation after the most recent constitution of the upper house (either through election or appointment) for which results are available. It should be noted that not all countries have upper houses, and statistics for this chamber are not included for all countries. (Additional information on the percentage of women in this chamber in countries without quotas may be found at the IPU website at www.ipu.org) Constitutional Quota for National Parliament: The quota is set down in the Constitution of a country. Election Law Quota Regulation for National Parliament: The quota is set down in legislation, either in the electoral law or other relevant laws (such as general laws for political parties in the country). Sanctions for Non-Compliance: This refers to legislation or regulations that apply to the enforcement of quotas, i.e. what penalties are involved if the quota provisions are not followed. Only legislated sanctions, and not internal party regulations, are included. Political Party Quota for Electoral Candidates: These are rules or targets set by political parties to include a certain percentage of women as election candidates. Political Party Details: We have included details for those political parties that we know have quotas. Not all parties in a country will be included, nor will the parties featured necessarily have parliamentary representation. If you have information on quotas for other parties in a country that we have not featured, please contact the project team. Inclusion of a party here should not be construed as an endorsement, or a comment on the status or strength of a party in the country's legislature. Information on a party's parliamentary status can be found at each country's parliamentary website, or through the IPU website. Constitutional or Legislative Quota for Sub-National Government: Where we have data on quotas used at elections for sub-national legislatures, we have included them under this section. We make no comment on the status of the legislature. (This field only appears for countries where there are quotas at the sub-national level). Other: This field includes additional information on quotas in a particular country. This may include information on legislation that has been proposed (and not passed) in parliament, or information on the representation of women in sub-national legislatures. We make no comment on the status of the legislature. N/A: We use the term N/A to refer to information that is either not-applicable for a given country or not available at the time of research and updating. Updating and Supplementary Data: Use the web site! This project on Electoral Quotas for Women will be in effect for a period of three years (2003-06). During this period, the database will be continuously updated and should be considered a research tool for verifying and expanding the information. We are grateful for all new information and supplementary data. Any questions concerning the web site database, or the submission of information, may be directed towards the research team: quotas@statsvet.su.se and quotas@idea.int (or use the contact form) Each table shows a date when the information was last updated, and to our knowledge the information is correct at this time. We have used the most recent election statistics available. Further information on selected fields can be found at individual country's parliamentary websites, other IDEA websites. An excellent source of information is the IPU website on women in national parliaments. We hope that this web site will be of value for all those that work to increase women's political representation. We plan to make a special news section. Therefore we welcome stories of "best cases" as well as "worst cases", where quotas have not been implemented or even worked against their intended purpose - the empowerment of women in politics.
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