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Do Women Legislators Represent Disadvantaged Groups More Actively? Evidence from Chile
Published online by Cambridge University Press: 03 November 2025
Abstract
This research examines whether women legislators represent more than their male counterparts the interests of disadvantaged groups in society, such as women themselves, the poor, migrants, LGBT groups, or indigenous peoples. Our main hypothesis is that women legislators are more active in promoting the interests of disadvantaged groups. Also, we expect to observe disparities in the representation of disadvantaged groups as a function of legislators’ ideology. To test our arguments, data are examined from parliamentary speeches and meetings with interest groups held in the Chilean Chamber of Deputies from 2014 to 2022. The inferences drawn from the data uphold the hypothesis that gender does affect the degree to which legislators represent the interests of disadvantaged groups. Moreover, ideology also explains variation: left-wing legislators embrace more often the representation of marginalized groups.
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- © The Author(s), 2025. Published by Cambridge University Press on behalf of University of Miami
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