The trouble of a double gender gap in politics. What Lies beyond Women’s Descriptive Representation in Peru’s Congress (2016–2019)
This article examines Peru’s experience with gender quotas and how this mechanism has impacted women’s representation in Congress beyond mere numbers. Drawing on Pitkin’s (1967) multidimensional concept of representation, the study explores the substantive dimension on one hand, and on the other an...
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| Formato: | Artículo revista |
| Lenguaje: | Español |
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Universidad Nacional de Rosario - Centro de Investigaciones Sociales (CIS) IDES /CONICET
2025
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| Acceso en línea: | https://www.estudiossocialesdelestado.org/index.php/ese/article/view/394 |
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| Sumario: | This article examines Peru’s experience with gender quotas and how this mechanism has impacted women’s representation in Congress beyond mere numbers. Drawing on Pitkin’s (1967) multidimensional concept of representation, the study explores the substantive dimension on one hand, and on the other an intermediate dimension, that will be referred to as structural. The objective is to understand, on one side, how female legislators contribute their distinct perspectives across a range of policy areas and on the other, how they gain access to key political spaces, such as legislative committees. The analysis relies on two data sources: original interviews with thirty members of Congress conducted online during the COVID-19 pandemic, and secondary quantitative data from the 2016–2019 legislative period, at a Congress-level. The concepts of marginalization, horizontal and vertical segregation, and double gender gap serve as crucial analytical tools to reveal what remains invisible behind the growing number of women in Peru’s national parliament. Ultimately, the Peruvian case offers a critical reflection on Critical Mass theory, challenging its assumptions and highlighting the persistence of a dual gender gap in political representation. This study thus contributes to a more nuanced understanding of gendered power dynamics within legislative institutions and calls for more comprehensive approaches to evaluating women’s political inclusion beyond descriptive metrics. |
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