Women in National Governments Around the Globe: Fact Sheet

Introduction

Women and girls make up half of the world's population; however, in most countries, women are underrepresented in the political process at the national level. As this report shows, women currently hold 24.5% of legislative seats around the world, an increase from 13.0% of legislative seats in 1999 (see Figure 1). As of October 1, 2019, women held 50% or more of the legislative seats in four countries: Rwanda, Cuba, Bolivia, and Andorra (see Table 3). At the executive level, at least 25 countries currently have an elected female head of state or government (see Table 5). Since 1960, about 110 women have been elected or appointed as head of the national government in approximately 70 countries.¹

The participation and representation of women in elected government is generally considered healthy for their communities. As Heather Nauert, then-Acting Under Secretary for Public Diplomacy and Public Affairs, and State Department Spokesperson, stated in March 2018, "the low status of women and girls has vast political, economic, and social implications. It can limit the ability of communities to resolve conflict, countries to boost their economies, or regions to grow enough food."²

In supporting efforts to empower women, the 116^th U.S. Congress has introduced legislation (H.R. 3352 and S. 2583) to authorize and appropriate funds for programs operated by the U.S. Department of State and the United States Agency for International Development (USAID), such as the Office of Global Women's Issues and the Women's Global Development and Prosperity Initiative.³ On June 19, 2019, the House passed H.R. 2740, which includes appropriations of at least $50 million for programs designed to strengthen protections for women's political status, and to expand women's participation in political parties and elections.⁴ The 115^th Congress enacted the Women, Peace, and Security Act of 2017 (P.L. 115-68) with the aim to increase the participation of women in conflict prevention and conflict resolution processes as a means to build more inclusive societies and to help stabilize countries and regions. This act expressed the sense of Congress that "the political participation, and leadership of women in fragile environments, particularly during democratic transitions, is critical to sustaining lasting democratic institutions."⁵

This report provides a global snapshot of women's political participation worldwide by compiling statistics and other information from a variety of sources, including The Global Gender Gap Report 2018 issued by the World Economic Forum, the Inter-Parliamentary Union, the International Institute for Democracy and Electoral Assistance, the CIA World Factbook, news reports, and other sources.

Voting Rights

The right to vote is a primary step toward involving a populace in the political decisions of a government. In many countries, voting rights were originally granted only to adult men who owned property, then were eventually expanded to include all adult male citizens regardless of property ownership, then women, and then other underrepresented groups. Definitions of what constituted a "citizen" may also have changed over time, as they did in the United States, and gradually have become more inclusive of minorities and indigenous peoples. Other countries enacted universal suffrage from their very founding, granting the right to vote to all adults, male and female, regardless of ethnicity, religion, economic standing, or other criterion.

Table 1 and Table 2, respectively, list the first and latest countries to extend the right and duty of voting to women. Although subnational regions (e.g., states, provinces) may have granted the right to vote earlier, the years in the tables below indicate when suffrage was extended for national elections to female adult citizens.

Legislative Representation

Women's suffrage has been closely linked to women's participation in legislative bodies. In 1907, the voters of Finland elected 19 women to the country's new unicameral parliament a year after Finnish women were granted suffrage; this was the first election in the world in which the names of both female and male candidates appeared on the ballot. On the other end of the spectrum, King Abdullah of Saudi Arabia granted Saudi women the right to vote and run in municipal elections in 2011; women were able to exercise this right for the first time in 2015.⁶

Gender Quotas

Several countries have instituted quotas to ensure that women are represented on the ballot or in the legislature. Similar quotas may also be used to ensure ethnic or religious diversity in the national legislature of some countries (e.g., Bosnia and Herzegovina, Iraq).

The Atlas of Electoral Gender Quotas explains that "[g]ender quotas are numerical targets that stipulate the number or percentage of women that must be included in a candidate list or the number of seats to be allocated to women in a legislature. They aim to reverse discrimination in law and practice and to level the playing field for women and men in politics." The Atlas further states that "gender quotas have proved to be the single most effective tool for 'fast-tracking' women's representation in elected bodies of government."⁷

Three main types of gender quotas are generally recognized, and they may be used at the national or subnational level, or both:

• Legislated candidate quotas. These quotas are mandated through national constitutions or legislation to regulate the gender composition of the ballot.
• Legislated "reserved seats." These quotas reserve a specific number or percentage of seats in the legislature for women members. The quotas are mandated through national constitutions or legislation and are implemented through special electoral procedures.
• Party quotas (also known as voluntary party quotas). These quotas are adopted by individual political parties through the party's statutes and rules. Such adoption is the prerogative of each party, and some parties in a country may adopt quotas while other parties choose not to do so.

Table 3 shows the number of seats held by women in the national legislative chambers of selected countries. The countries listed include the 19 nation members of the G-20 (excluding the European Union) and 11 countries that have legislative bodies in which women hold 44% or more of the seats. Two members of the G-20—South Africa and Mexico—are included in the 11 countries with more than 44% women legislators.

Table 4 lists countries where women hold fewer than 8% of the legislative seats.

Over a 20-year period, the percentage of seats held by women in national legislatures has risen worldwide from 13.0% in October 1999 to 24.5% by October 2019 (see Figure 1).

Figure 1. Worldwide Percentage of Seats Held by Women in National Legislatures 1999-2019

Source: Created by CRS using data from the Inter-Parliamentary Union, available at http://archive.ipu.org/wmn-e/world-arc.htm.

As shown in Figure 2, in 1999, women held more than 20% of legislative seats in only one region, the Nordic countries. In 2019, women legislators in four more regions held more than 20% of the legislative seats, and only slightly less than 20% in two additional regions. The Pacific region made the smallest gain, 3.3%, and is now the region with the smallest portion of legislative seats held by women.

Figure 2. Regional Percentages of Seats Held by Women in National Legislatures 1999-2019

Source: Created by CRS using data from the Inter-Parliamentary Union, available at http://archive.ipu.org/wmn-e/world-arc.htm.

Executive Representation

At least 70 countries have chosen a woman as their executive since Sirima Bandaranaike of Sri Lanka was selected as the world's first female Prime Minister in 1960. Executives may be selected through various methods: directly elected from a ballot dedicated to the executive office; indirectly elected by the legislature; appointed, following legislative elections, as the leader of the majority political party or majority coalition; or through other indirect means.

Women Leaders in the 21^st Century

Table 6 lists additional women who served as the executive of their country, and whose term of office has concluded.

Women Leaders of the 20^th Century

Table 7 identifies several notable female executives who held office in the 20^th century.

Acknowledgements

Sandra Delaney, CRS summer intern, and Jennifer Roscoe, CRS research assistant, helped in gathering data and presenting key points.

Author Contact Information

Footnotes

1.	The Global Gender Gap Report 2018, prepared by The World Economic Forum, December 18, 2018, https://www.weforum.org/reports/the-global-gender-gap-report-2018.
2.	Heather Nauert, remarks at the 2018 Annual International Women of Courage Awards Ceremony, Washington, DC, March 23, 2018, https://www.state.gov/r/pa/prs/ps/2018/03/279541.htm.
3.	H.R. 3352, the Department of State Authorization Act of 2019, and S. 2583, the Department of State, Foreign Operations, and Related Programs Appropriations Act, 2020.
4.	H.R. 2740, the Labor, Health and Human Services, Education, Defense, State, Foreign Operations, and Energy and Water Development Appropriations Act, 2020. See §7059(b), Women's Leadership.
5.	P.L. 115-68 §3(2).
6.	"'Surprise and Excitement': Saudi Women React to Voting Rights Decision," NPR, September 26, 2011, https://www.npr.org/sections/thetwo-way/2011/09/26/140819859/surprise-and-excitement-saudi-women-react-to-voting-rights-decision; "For Saudi Women, 'Baby Steps into this World of Democracy,'" NPR, December 2, 2015, https://www.npr.org/sections/parallels/2015/12/02/458162191/for-saudi-women-baby-steps-into-this-world-of-democracy.
7.	The Atlas of Electoral Gender Quotas was a joint project of the International Institute for Democracy and Electoral Assistance (IDEA), the Inter-Parliamentary Union, and Stockholm University, published in June 2014, p. 16, available at https://www.idea.int/publications/catalogue/atlas-electoral-gender-quotas?lang=en.