USAID/LANIC: Democracy Indicators

[an error occurred while processing this directive] Women in Politics

				Women in Government (%)			Female Representation
		Year Women	Year First			Sub-	Upper Chamber of		Lower Chamber
	Year Women	Given Right to	Women in		Ministerial	Ministerial	Bicameral Assembly		or Unicameral Assembly
	Given Right	Stand for	National	Total	Level	Level	Total Seats	% Women	Total Seats	% Women
	to Vote	Election	Parliament	1995	1995	1995	1993	1993	1993	1993
Antigua & Barbuda	1951	1951	1980	30	0	47	17	11.8	17	0.0
Bahamas	1962	1962	1977	34	20	38	16	18.8	49	4.1
Barbados	1951	1951	1951	23	33	24	21	28.6	28	3.6
Belize	1945	1945	1984	10	0	14	9	22.2	28	0.0
Cuba	1934	1934	1940	8	4	10	..	..	589	22.8
Dominica	1951	1951	1940	31	8	39	..	..	31	12.9
Dominican Republic	1942	1942	1946	12	3	16	30	3.3	120	11.7
Grenada	1951	1951	1976	19	10	24	13	7.7	15	13.3
Guyana	1953	1945	1953	16	11	21	..	..	65	36.9
Haiti	1950	1950	..	14	17	11	17	0.0	83	3.6
Jamaica	1944	1944	..	13	6	16	21	14.3	60	11.7
St. Kitts & Nevis	1951	1951	1984	21	10	28	..	..	15	6.7
St. Lucia	1951	1951	1951	5	8	0	11	36.4	17	0.0
St. Vincent & the Grenadines	1951	1951	1979	25	10	50	..	..	21	9.5
Suriname	1953	1953	..	14	0	21	..	..	51	5.9
Trinidad & Tobago	1946	1946	1971	14	20	10	31	22.6	37	13.5
Caribbean
Guatemala	1945	1945	1954	18	19	18	..	..	116	5.2
El Salvador	1961	1961	..	18	6	25	..	..	84	8.3
Costa Rica	1949	1949	1953	21	15	24	..	..	57	12.3
Honduras	1957	1957	1967	17	11	21	..	..	128	11.7
Nicaragua	1955	1955	1958	11	11	10	..	..	92	16.3
Panama	1941	1941	1946	11	11	11	..	..	67	7.5
Central America
Argentina	1947	1947	1952	3	0	4	46	2.2	259	5.0
Bolivia	1938	1938	1966	9	0	10	27	7.4	130	6.9
Brazil	1934	1934	1934	13	4	15	81	2.5	503	6.0
Chile	1931	1931	1951	12	16	10	47	6.4	120	5.8
Colombia	1957	1957	1958	25	11	29	102	4.9	161	4.3
Ecuador	1946	1946	1957	10	7	10	..	..	77	5.2
Paraguay	1961	1961	1963	3	0	4	45	11.1	80	2.5
Peru	1950	1956	1956	10	6	11	60	6.7	80	6.3
Uruguay	1932	1932	1942	3	0	5	31	0.0	99	6.1
Venezuela	1947	1947	1948	6	4	9	49	6.1	201	10.0
South America
Mexico	1947	1953	1952	7	14	4	64	4.7	500	7.6
United States	1920	1788	1924	30	21	31	100	7.0	435	11.0

Sources: Women’s suffrage, etc: United Nations, WISTAT CD-ROM, 1994. Ministerial and Chamber representation: United Nations, Human Development Report, 1996 and 1998.

Notes: (a) 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 righ t to vote in 1962, and by 1964 all property qualifications had been abolished;

(b) universal adult suffrage was granted in 1953; prior to this women became eligible to sit in the Legislative Council in 1945;

(c) the Constitutions of 1939, 1948 and 1950 indicated that a law would determine when women would be granted the right to vote. That right was established by the Electoral Law of 1950 and recorded in the Constitution of 1955;

(d) female suffrage was established in 1941 based on various conditions, including level of education. All conditions were abolished in 1946;

(e) in some provinces women were given the right to vote and to stand for election at an earlier date;

(f) literate women were granted the right to vote and to be elected in 1938. These privileges were extended to all women in 1952;

(g) women were granted the right to vote and stand for election at the municipal level in 1931 and at the legislative and presidential level in 1949;

(h) voting is mandatory for all literate citizens between 18 and 65 years of age’ I) the U.S. Constitution does not mention sex with regard to the right to stand for election to the House of Representatives, the Senate, the Presidency o r the Vice-Presidency, referring only to "members" or "persons.

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