Party Discipline and Women’s Substantive Representation in Autocracies

Do female legislators exhibit more party discipline in autocratic regimes? How does party discipline affect the representation of women’s interests? Work has provided mixed evidence on women’s substantive representation in autocracies. On the one hand, work has shown that female legislators are more likely to act on behalf of their female constituents and push for policies that serve their interests. On the other hand, others have highlighted the limited role played by female legislators and viewed them as merely “token” women. We present one of the first systematic studies of women’s substantive representation in autocracies. Focusing on the case of Morocco, we analyze the oral and written queries initiated by female legislators for almost a decade. Our results suggest that female politicians in autocracies advance women’s rights. Furthermore, we find that women demonstrate high levels of party discipline; however, this does not negatively affect the representation of women’s interests.