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This article examines the differences in socio-demographics, professional backgrounds, and political careers between women and men who were part of the Ecuadorian Congress, 1979-2017. We propose a descriptive statistical study in which, through a bivariate analysis, we compare women and men in terms of age, marital status, professional qualifications, and political ambition before and after their participation in Congress. Based on an unpublished database, the main empirical findings indicate that the differences between them are not statistically significant. Nevertheless, since the implementation of the Parity Law in 2009, women legislators are increasingly younger and single, with more academic training and previous political experience than their male colleagues. This work covers the lack of diachronic studies, focuses on a novel case, and corrects shortcomings in previous research, obtaining more conclusive information on the subject matter. Keywords: Women legislators, Parity Law, Ecuador, Representation, Democracy, Bivariate analysis Este articulo se propone analizar las diferencias sociodemograficas, antecedentes profesionales y carreras politicas entre mujeres y hombres que formaron parte del Congreso ecuatoriano, 1979-2017. Proponemos un estudio estadistico descriptivo en el que, mediante un analisis bivariado, comparamos a mujeres y hombres en terminos de edad, estado civil, cualificacion profesional y ambicion politica antes y despues de su participacion en el Congreso. Basado en una base de datos propia e inedita, los principales hallazgos empiricos indican que las diferencias entre ellos no son estadisticamente significativas. Sin embargo, desde la implementacion de la Ley de Paridad en 2009, las legisladoras son cada vez mas jovenes y solteras, con mas formacion academica y experiencia politica previa que sus colegas masculinos. Este trabajo cubre la falta de estudios diacronicos, se centra en un caso novedoso y corrige defectos de investigaciones anteriores, obteniendo informacion mas concluyente en torno al tema tratado. Palabras claves: Mujeres legisladoras, Ley de paridad, Ecuador, Representacion, Democracia, Analisis bivariado, Introduction Studies on women representatives in different political decision-making arenas have evolved in different directions - some works focus on the effects of quota laws about the increase of women [...]

Previous literature documents the steady increase in the number of women serving in state legislatures as well as the lingering differences in demographic characteristics and policy priorities between male and female officeholders. Yet, this research does not address the question of evolutionary change among women state legislators themselves. Are women serving in contemporary state legislatures different from their female colleagues of previous decades in the personal and political characteristics and legislative agendas they bring to office? To answer this question, we use data collected on all women state legislators serving in 15 states in 1972, 1982, and 1992 and a stratified random sample of male legislators serving in the same chambers during the same time periods. This two-stage analysis allows us first to focus on the changing profile of women state legislators; and secondly, to consider whether these changes are unique to women or common to all state legislators. The analyses confirm the hypothesis that the profile of the 'typical woman state legislator' has changed significantly in the last three decades.

There is a distinct gap in women's representation in national legislatures between countries with single-member district electoral systems and those with proportional representation electoral systems. While this gap has been well documented, there have been only limited attempts at explaining its existence. After reviewing the literature on the representation gap, we turn to the party change literature and propose a modified contagion theory as one possible explanation for the gap. Contagion theory suggests that traditional parties will feel pressured to nominate more women if one of their political rivals, usually a smaller party farther to the left, starts to promote representation of women. We distinguish between macrocontagion and microcontagion and argue that especially microcontagion is more likely to occur in party list proportional representation systems than in single-member district systems. This should be true because contagion pressures are more likely to develop, and the costs of adapting to these pressures are less, in party list proportional representation systems. We formally test for microcontagion at the electoral district level in Canada and Norway, both leaders among their type of electoral systems in female representation. The data confirm our hypothesis by showing no indication of microcontagion in Canada, but evidence of such an effect in Norway.

Through a longitudinal analysis of bills initiated in the Arizona state legislature between 1969 and 1986, this study investigates qualitative and quantitative changes in the effects of gender on public policy. Women legislators generally initiated more proposals than men in traditional women's interest areas and on feminist issues. Differences can be seen in the number, subject matter, and enactment rate of women's bills as the proportion of women in the state legislature increased. This study suggests that proportional group size may be an important consideration in the evaluation of the impact of gender on public policy.