Women's Representation Deficit: Evidence from European Union Policies

• In Event: Gender, Advocacy, and Policy

Abstract

The equal representation of citizens' opinions, such as between men and women, is a vital feature of democratic regimes. While the literature has investigated many factors that can foster or hinder the representation of women versus men, we know relatively little about absolute levels of gender representation. In this paper, I analyze gender representation in the policies of the European Union, an institution at the forefront of promoting gender equality. Regardless, I show that women's preferences are less represented than men's preferences. I propose a possible explanation for the representation gap by demonstrating that the greatest bias is due to not implementing majority-desired policy changes in areas such as environmental and consumer protection, which are particularly salient for women, and in which women hold more liberal opinions, with a higher status quo bias. My results have important implications given that they show that more needs to be done to achieve gender equality in democratic representation.

Author

• Alessio Albarello, Princeton University