Women in parliament, 1990-2014: comparing Hungary, Poland and the Czech Republic

Abstract

This article analyzes the different levels of women’s parliamentary representation in Hungary, Poland and Czech Republic since 1989, through institutional variables, such as gender quotas and electoral systems. In Poland quotas are legislative while in Hungary and the Czech Republic they are set out by the political parties. In Poland and the Czech Republic the electoral system is proportional while in Hungary it is mixed. If the existence of legislative quotas seems to favor women’s parliamentary representation in Poland, the electoral system does not seem to explain the different levels of women’s parliamentary representation among the countries surveyed.