Political Participation of Women in Latin America
| Published date | 01 March 1981 |
| DOI | 10.1177/106591298103400113 |
| Date | 01 March 1981 |
| Subject Matter | Articles |
POLITICAL
PARTICIPATION
OF
WOMEN
IN
LATIN
AMERICA
JOANN
FAGOT
AVIEL
San
Francisco
State
University
HE
MOST
recent
survey
of
research
on
political
participation
in
Latin
America
mentioned
only
one
study
on
women
as
worthy
of
-~
note.’
However,
studies
of
the
political
participation
of
women
in
Latin
America
are
increasing
in
number,
due
to
the
expansion
of
interest
in
women
in
all
fields,
as
well
as
to
increased
support
for
such
research
gener-
ated
by
International
Women’s
Year.
One
problem
is
that
most
studies
are
case
studies
or
surveys
of
individual
countries,
and
thus
lack
a
comparative
perspective.
The
necessary
data
to
make
a
comprehensive
comparison
of
participation
in
each
Latin
American
country
are
often
lacking.
A
second
problem
found
in
many
studies
on
Latin
America
and
the
Third
World
is
the
use
of
very
narrow
definitions
of
participation.
For
example,
the
comparative
study
of
Participation
and
Political
Equality
by
Verba,
Nie,
and
Kim
limits
participation
to
&dquo;those
legal
activities
by
private
citizens
that
are
more
or
less
directly
aimed
at
influencing
the
selection
of
governmental
personnel
and/or
the
actions
they
take.&dquo;2
In
an
area
of
the
world
where
a
majority
of
the
countries
are
either
ruled
or
heavily
influ-
enced
by
the
military,
with
many
political
activities
outlawed,
this
definition
severely
restricts
the
area
of
investigation.
In
contrast,
the
definition
used
by
Myron
Weiner
is
sufficiently
broad
to
encompass
a
wide
range
of
activities:
I
shall
use
the
concept
of
political
participation
to
refer
to
any
voluntary
action,
successful
or
unsuccessful,
organized
or
unorganized,
episodic
or
continuous,
employing
legitimate
or
illegitimate
methods
intended
to
influ-
ence
the
choice
of
public
politics,
the
administration
of
public
affairs,
or
the
choice
of
political
leaders
at
any
level
of
government,
local
or
national.3
3
In
this
study
of
political
participation
of
women
in
Latin
America
the
independent
variables,
education
and
economic
participation,
will
be
exam-
ined
briefly
as
factors
contributing
to
the
amount
and
type
of
political
par-
ticipation
of
women.
Because
Latin
American
countries
have
similar
back-
grounds,
underlying
cultural
and
historical
attitudes
affecting
the
political
participation
of
women
do
not
constitute
a
significant
variable
affecting
par-
ticipation
between
countries
and
thus
will
not
be
analyzed
here.4
What
makes
Latin
America
interesting
for
those
studying
the
political
role
of
women
are
the
different
stages
of
development
and
different
regime
orien-
tations
that
exist.
These
intervening
variables
will
be
examined
for
their
effect
on
women’s
participation
in
various
forms
of
conventional
and
re-
volutionary
politics.
In
those
countries
which
hold
elections,
voting
is
the
most
widespread
political
activity
in
which
women
participate.
Next
in
importance
is
member-
’John
A.
Booth,
"Political
Participation
in
Latin
America:
Levels,
Structure,
Context,
Concent-
ration
and
Rationality,"
Latin
American
Research
Review
104,
No. 3
(1979):
29-61.
2 Sidney
Verba,
Norman
H.
Nie,
and
Jae-on
Kim,
Participation
and
Political
Equality,
A
Seven-
Nation
Comparison
(Cambridge:
Cambridge
University
Press,
1978),
p.
46.
3 Leonard
Binder
et
al.,
Crises
and
Sequences
in
Political
Development
(Princeton:
Princeton
Univer-
sity
Press,
1971),
p.
164.
4
For
articles
concerning
these
issues,
see
essays
in
Ann
Pescatello,
Female
and
Male
in
Latin
America
(Pittsburgh:
University
of
Pittsburgh
Press,
1973),
and
June
E.
Hahner,
ed.,
Women
in
Latin
American
History:
Their
lives
and
Views
(Los
Angeles:
U.C.L.A.
Press,
1976).
157
ship
in
organizations,
of
which
labor
unions
and
political
parties
are
the
most
important
but
in
which
women
participate
least.
Efforts
to
influence
public
officials
are
important
aspects
of
political
participation,
though
difficult
to
assess.
Finally,
at
the
top
of
the
political
pyramid,
are
those
women
who
hold
important
political
positions.
Operating
outside
the
legal
political
system
are
the
sympathizers,
members,
and
leaders
of
revolutionary
organizations.
Education
Education
levels
have
been
found
to
correlate
with
levels
of
political
information
and
involvement.5
In
Latin
America
both
high-school
and
uni-
versity
students
form
an
elite,
representing
only
a
small
percentage
of
the
population.
Through
their
dominance
of
party
youth
sections,
university
students
have
been
able
to
influence
party
decisions
at
the
national
level.
However,
the
influence
of
women
is
usually
negligible.
Bambirra
writes
of
the
female
student
in
Chile:
...
among
youth
she
is
absolutely
irrelevant.
In
the
student
movement,
for
example,
from
the
student
assemblies,
to
the
directive
posts
at
the
level
of
the
[university]
student
centers,
and
finally
in
the
[national
student]
federa-
tions,
her
presence
is
in
practice
only
an
ornament.s
6
Even
in
those
countries
where
the
percentage
of
women
and
men
attending
university
is
almost
equal,
women
are
not
to
be
found
in
equal
numbers
in
the
most
politicized
faculties
-
those
of
law
and
social
sciences.
The
contrast
is
even
more
striking
if
one
compares
percentages
of
women
graduating
in
the
different
schools,
since
many
women
do
not
complete
their
studies.
Graduation
rates
of
women
range
from
a
high
of
52
percent
in
the
Domini-
can
Republic
to
a
low
of
16
percent
in
Guatemala,
with
graduation
rates
from
the
politically
important
law
schools
ranging
from
32
percent
in
the
Dominican
Republic
to
2
percent
in
Costa
Rica.
(In
the
United
States
women
comprise
41
percent
of
university
graduates
and
7
percent
of
law
school
graduates .)7
The
completion
of
university
studies
is
often
motivated
by
the
decision
to
go
to
work.
Since
many
women
do
not
plan
to
work
outside
the
home
after
marriage,
they
find
no
reason
to
complete
their
studies,
espe-
cially
if
they
have
already
found
a
spouse.
Attempts
have
been
made
in
several
countries
to
increase
student
inter-
est
and
participation
in
the
political
system.
One
study
of
political
socializa-
tion
in
Costa
Rica
showed
the
importance
of
a
high-school
reform
program
in
increasing
the
participation
of
female
students
both
inside
and
outside
school.
However,
neither
inequality
nor
role
differentiation
between
men
and
women
was
eliminated,
since
men,
who
always
had
participated
more,
also
increased
their
participation.8
Verba,
Nie,
and
Kim’s
study
of
participa-
tion in
seven
nations
(Latin
American
countries
not
included)
found
that
in
each
nation
there
was
an
overrepresentation
of
men
and
those
of
high
socioeconomic
status
among
that
portion
of
the
population
interested
in
politics
and
engaged
in
community
activities.9
This
finding
holds
true
for
Latin
American
countries
also.
Thus
class,
as
well
as
sex,
is
an
important
variable
in
determining
who
will
participate
politically.
5 See
for
example,
Angus
Campbell
et
al.,
The
American
Voter
(New
York:
Wiley,
1960),
p.
491.
6
Vania
Bambirra,
"La
mujer
chilena
en
la
transicion
al
socialismo,"
Punto
Final
No.
133
(June
1971):
Supplement,
p.
5.
7
Statistical
Abstract
of
Latin
America,
Vol.
19
(Los
Angeles:
U.C.L.A.,
1978),
p.
129.
8
JoAnn
Aviel,
"Changing
the
Political
Role of
Women:
A
Costa
Rican
Case
Study,"
in
Jane
S.
Jaquette,
ed.,
Women
in
Politics
(New
York:
Wiley,
1974),
p.
300.
9
Verba,
Nie,
and
Kim,
Participation
and
Political
Equality,
pp.
291-94.
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