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Challenging Gender Inequality Within the State: Policy Agencies and Quota Laws in Latin America

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Women, Politics, and Democracy in Latin America

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Abstract

As part of democratization, Latin American nations created institutions to increase women’s political representation and to promote gender equality. This chapter compares the implementation and success of the national gender machinery in Chile (Servicio Nacional de la Mujer) to Argentina’s pioneering gender quota law. Both institutional mechanisms succeded in representing women's interest in certain policy areas. Yet, neither policy agencies nor gender quotas can fully combat women’s marginalization within the apparatus of the state as a whole. The chapter suggest that institutional layering, meaning the evolution of new formal rules and informal practices, can either challenge or uphold elite mes's dominance over the policy agenda.

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Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Occidental College, Los Angeles, CA, USA

    Jennifer M. Piscopo

  2. University at Buffalo, Buffalo, NY, USA

    Gwynn Thomas

Authors
  1. Jennifer M. Piscopo
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  2. Gwynn Thomas
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Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. Institute of Political Science, Pontifical Catholic University of Chile, Chile

    Tomáš Došek

  2. Institute of Legal Research, National Autonomous University of Mexico, Mexico

    Flavia Freidenberg

  3. School of Politics and Government, National University of San Martín, Argentina

    Mariana Caminotti

  4. Organization of American States, USA

    Betilde Muñoz-Pogossian

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Piscopo, J.M., Thomas, G. (2017). Challenging Gender Inequality Within the State: Policy Agencies and Quota Laws in Latin America. In: Došek, T., Freidenberg, F., Caminotti, M., Muñoz-Pogossian, B. (eds) Women, Politics, and Democracy in Latin America. Crossing Boundaries of Gender and Politics in the Global South. Palgrave Macmillan, New York. https://doi.org/10.1057/978-1-349-95009-6_5

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