Beyond hearth and home : female legislators, feminist policy change, and substantive representation in Mexico

Artículo originalThis paper uses the Mexican case to explore outstanding questions in the connection between women’s descriptive representation (that is, women’s numerical presence in the legislature) and women’s substantive representation (that is, women’s policy interests). Consistent with previous work in Latin America, I find that electing women indeed diversifies the legislative agenda, and that female legislators –rather than male legislators– author proposals with feminist understandings of women’s rights and roles. These trends are robust across Mexico’s ideologically-organized political parties, indicating that feminist advocates should care about electing leftists and women. That is, rightist women are still more progressive than rightist men. Finally, I make a case for unpacking the relationship between women, hearth, and home, and eliminating the conflation of “women’s interests”with childre

Neither Penalised nor Prized: Feminist Legislators, Women's Representation, and Career Paths in Argentina

The conventional wisdom holds that party leaders punish women legislators who advocate for gender equality. We test this assumption using the Argentine case, asking two questions. First, who counts as a feminist legislator and how do we know? Second, do feminist legislators have career trajectories that indicate marginalisation or penalisation? We use bill authorship data and expert surveys to identify legislators of both sexes who champion feminist causes and who adopt a gendered, though not necessarily feminist, perspective. Comparing these categories of legislators to those in the general population, we find no meaningful differences in political careers by either legislators’ gender or policy profile. In fact, many feminist champions hold prestigious positions while in congress, but this political capital results neither in punishment nor reward after congress. Women who represent women do not go on to the top posts after congress, but neither do they disappear from public life

Lessons from a late adopter: feminist advocacy, democratizing reforms, and gender quotas in Chile

Many Latin American and other Global South countries adopted gender quotas during democratic transitions. What explains late-adopting cases like Chile? We analyze two instances: the 2015-2016 electoral reforms, which finally introduced a 40-percent gender quota, and the 2020-2023 constitutional process, which introduced gender parity. Using a qualitative analysis that draws on 39 elite interviews, we posit that efforts to redesign national political institutions in order to address democratic deficits create transition-like moments. In turn, these moments create windows of opportunity for quota advocates. We show how quota advocates in the parties, congress, and civil society leveraged growing voter discontent to pressure their resistant colleagues and ultimately secure gender quotas (and later gender parity) as part of larger reform efforts. Our analysis of the Chilean case elevates two factors explaining quota adoption: the long arc of democratization and women's role as protagonists in electoral reforms

Reproducing Hierarchies at the APSA Annual Meeting: Patterns of Panel Attendance by Gender, Race, and Ethnicity

Research on the political science profession has shown that homophilous research networks—that is, those organized along the lines of gender and race/ethnicity—reproduce hierarchies. Research networks composed of white men experience the most prestige and lead to the most opportunities. This study documents homophilous networks in a setting where they likely are nurtured: academic conferences. Drawing data from the 2019 Annual Meeting of the American Political Science Association, we examine the correspondence between the gender and the racial/ethnic composition of section members, panelists, and audience members for four research sections: Political Methodology; Political Psychology; Race, Ethnicity, and Politics; and Women and Politics. We find that attendees’ and panelists’ gender and racial/ethnic identity largely mirror the dominant gender and racial/ethnic group in their section. These findings indicate that homophily manifests at academic conferences and that efforts to diversify research networks should consider who listens to whom in these settings

SARS-CoV-2 susceptibility and COVID-19 disease severity are associated with genetic variants affecting gene expression in a variety of tissues

Variability in SARS-CoV-2 susceptibility and COVID-19 disease severity between individuals is partly due to genetic factors. Here, we identify 4 genomic loci with suggestive associations for SARS-CoV-2 susceptibility and 19 for COVID-19 disease severity. Four of these 23 loci likely have an ethnicity-specific component. Genome-wide association study (GWAS) signals in 11 loci colocalize with expression quantitative trait loci (eQTLs) associated with the expression of 20 genes in 62 tissues/cell types (range: 1:43 tissues/gene), including lung, brain, heart, muscle, and skin as well as the digestive system and immune system. We perform genetic fine mapping to compute 99% credible SNP sets, which identify 10 GWAS loci that have eight or fewer SNPs in the credible set, including three loci with one single likely causal SNP. Our study suggests that the diverse symptoms and disease severity of COVID-19 observed between individuals is associated with variants across the genome, affecting gene expression levels in a wide variety of tissue types

A first update on mapping the human genetic architecture of COVID-19

peer reviewe

Rights, equality, and democracy : the shift from quotas to parity in Latin America

Seven Latin American countries—Ecuador, Bolivia, Costa Rica, Honduras, Mexico, Nicaragua, and Panama—have recently shifted from quota laws to parity regimes. This paper offers the first scholarly examination of the discourses underlying this parity shift, exploring how proponents frame and justify the measure in these seven cases. I find that Latin America’s parity advocates appeal to universal human rights and the equality of outcomes (rather than the equality of opportunities); in doing so, they establish parity as a prerequisite of the democratic state. This framing is further legitimated by court decisions validating the constitutionality of affirmative action. I conclude by arguing that these discourses have significant policy implications: parity will continue to diffuse rapidly across Latin America

Engineering Quotas in Latin America

Proponents of electoral quota laws suggest that equitable representation will deepen democratization and transform policy outcomes. Eleven Latin American countries have gender quotas, but their efficacy varies: women’s parliamentary representation ranges from 35% in Costa Rica to 6% in Honduras. Systematic, cross-national analysis reveals that institutional engineering intersects with gender disadvantages in politics. This interaction creates conditions under which quotas succeed or fail. Long-term effects include whether quotas meaningfully empower female legislators and whether greater gender representation transforms policy outcomes. This paper explores the interaction between institutions and gender, using a case study from Argentina to develop the research agenda

Do women represent women? : gender and policy in Argentina and Mexico

This work examines the link between descriptive representation and substantive representation: do female legislators, in sharing a common gender identity, promote public policies that improve women's rights and citizens' wellbeing? Mexico and Argentina are ideal case studies. Both countries have gender quota laws, compelling political parties to nominate thirty percent women to closed candidate lists. The countries vary, however, on the proportions of female legislators elected and on institutional support for gender policy. Mexico under- fills its quota, but formalizes women's representation through a Bicameral Commission on Equity and Gender. Argentina, by contrast, over-fills its quota, but lacks those institutional mechanisms that legitimate the development of gender policy. I use quantitative and qualitative data to compare female legislators' and male legislators' interventions throughout the policy process. This data includes an original dataset of bill introduction and bill passage, debate transcripts and policy proposals, over 50 interviews with male and female legislators in both countries, and case studies of successful reforms. I consider constituent demands, as expressed through public opinion, and whether these demands link to legislators' agenda setting initiatives. Next, I determine the frequency of bill introduction across policy areas, and compare this statistic to the frequency of legislative success. Finally, I analyze the implementation of successful policies, to evaluate whether or not material benefits reach female constituents. This dissertation is located at the intersection of the comparative politics literature on legislatures and policymaking, on the one hand, and women and politics, on the other. I find that female legislators, more than male legislators, advocate for policies dealing with health, minority rights, and women's rights; I further find that the vast majority of female legislators adopt progressive positions on women's roles and opportunities. Most importantly, I conclude that legislative institutions and practices--namely gender commissions and women's caucuses- -contribute significantly to whether or not the substantive representation of women unfold