Correlates of Women's Representation in Lower State Legislative Chambers

This comparative, quantitative analysis complements the varied literature concerning women in politics by illustrating the importance of two domains in that literature: state socio-economic development and political-cultural factors. This analysis supports the observations made in some case studies that women's representation is bound by certain socio-economic parameters. Factors which operationalize the socio-economic development of a state are found more important than political-cultural dimensions of state politics. By supplementing case studies with the comparative aggregate data of this paper, one contributes to a more holistic understanding of women in state politics.