US AID 1996
Latin American and the Caribbean Selected Economic and Social Data
Democracy Indicators

WOMEN IN POLITICS

	Year women given right to vote		Year women given right to stand for election		Year first woman in national parliament	% of ministerial posts held by women	Upper chamber of bicameral assembly 1993		Unicameral Assemb. or Lower chamber 1993
						1994	Total Seats	% Women	Total Seats	% Women
Antigua and Barbuda	1951		1951		1980	0.0	17	11.8	17	0.0
Argentina	1947	1/	1947	1/	1952	0.0	46	2.2	259	5.0
Bahamas	1962	2/	1962	2/	1977	23.1	16	18.8	49	4.1
Barbados	1951		1951		1951	0.0	21	28.6	28	3.6
Belize	1945		1945		1984	6.3	9	22.2	28	0.0
Bolivia	1938	3/	1938	3/	1966	0.0	27	7.4	130	6.9
Brazil	1934		1934		1934	4.6	81	2.5	503	6.0
Chile	1931	4/	1931	4/	1951	8.7	47	6.4	120	5.8
Colombia	1957		1957		1958	11.1	102	4.9	161	4.3
Costa Rica	1949		1949		1953	9.5			57	12.3
Cuba	1934		1934		1940	4.3			589	22.8
Dominica	1951		1951		1940	7.7			31	12.9
Dominican Republic	1942		1942		1946	4.2	30	3.3	120	11.7
Ecuador	1946	5/	1946		1957	4.6			77	5.2
El Salvador	1961		1961			10.0			84	8.3
Grenada	1951		1951		1976	10.0	13	7.7	15	13.3
Guadeloupe
Guatemala	1945		1945		1954	20.0			116	5.2
Guyana	1953	6/	1945	6/	1953	11.1			65	36.9
Haiti	1950		1950			20.0	17	0.0	83	3.6
Honduras	1957		1957		1967	10.5			128	11.7
Jamaica	1944		1944			5.0	21	14.3	60	11.7
Mexico	1947		1953		1952	5.0	64	4.7	500	7.6
Netherland Antilles
Nicaragua	1955	7/	1955		1958	9.5			92	16.3
Panama	1941	8/	1941	8/	1946	6.7			67	7.5
Paraguay	1961		1961		1963	0.0	45	11.1	80	2.5
Peru	1950		1956		1956	5.6	60	6.7	80	6.3
Saint Kitts and Nevis	1951		1951		1984				15	6.7
Saint Lucia	1951		1951		1951	8.3	11	36.4	17	0.0
Saint Vincent & Gren.	1951		1951		1979	0.0			21	9.5
Suriname	1953		1953			0.0			51	5.9
Trinidad and Tobago	1946		1946		1971	18.5	31	22.6	37	13.5
United States	1920		1788	9/	1924	15.0	100	7.0	435	11.0
Uruguay	1932		1932		1942	0.0	31	0.0	99	6.1
Venezuela	1947		1947		1948	10.7	49	6.1	201	10.0

Source: UN, WISTAT CD-ROM, 1994.

1/ Argentina: In some provinces, women were given the right to vote and to stand for election at an earlier date.
2/ Bahamas: Adult male suffrage was introduced under British colonial administration in 1959, although members of the electorate satisfying certain property qualifications also received a second vote. Women were granted the vote in 1962, and by 1964 al
3/ Bolivia: Literate women were given the right to vote and to be elected in 1938. These rights were extended to all women in 1952.
4/ Chile: 1931 for municipal elections and 1949 for legislative and presidential elections.
5/ Ecuador: Voting is mandatory for all literate Ecuadorean citizens between 18 and 65 years of age. Women have had the vote since 1946.
6/ Guyana: In 1953 universal adult suffrage was granted to both men and women 20 years and over; prior to this women became eligible to sit in the Legislative Council in 1945.
7/ Nicaragua: The Constitutions of 1939, 1948 and 1950 indicated that a law would determine when women would be given the right to vote. That right was established by the Electoral Law of 1950 and enshrined in the Constitution of 1955.
8/ Panama: In 1941, women had the right to vote and to be elected with certain conditions and restricitons, inter alia, the level of education; these conditions and restrictions were lifted in 1946.
9/ United States of America: The Constitution of 13 September 1788 does not mention sex with regard to the right to stand for election to the House of Representatives or the Senate, referring only to "members" or "persons." Nor does the Constitution men

U.S. Agency for International Development
Washington D.C. 1996.

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