Does PR Affect The Election of Women?
Yes, very much so. Research has shown that systems of proportional representation result in greater numbers of elected women, and that greater numbers of women are elected in multi-seat rather than single-seat districts. Women currently make up only 11% of the U.S. House of Representatives and 8% of the U.S. Senate. In state and local legislatures, women average only one out of five legislators. According to United Nation reports, the United States ranks 24th of 54 western democracies in terms of women’s representation in national legislatures. In fact, scholars have demonstrated that the underrepresentation of blacks is largely an underrepresentation of black women. African American women have only about one fourth the representation of black men.
