Women’s participation in parliaments, high courts, and executive

offices worldwide has reached record high numbers, but this

global increase in women’s representation masks significant variation

among different democratic political systems. For example, in

December of 2009, Rwanda’s legislature contained 56% women,

while the U.S. Congress contained only about 17% and the Japanese

Diet had only 11%. Since 2000, only twenty-seven women

have achieved executive office worldwide. Contagious Representation

is a comprehensive look at women’s participation in all aspects

of public life in the main democratic political institutions—the executive,

the judiciary, the legislature, and within political parties.



Moving beyond studies of single countries and institutions, Contagious

Representation presents original data from 159 democratic

countries spanning 50 years, providing a comprehensive understanding

of women in democracies worldwide. The first volume to

offer an analysis on all avenues for women’s participation for such

a lengthy time period, Contagious Representation examines not

only the causes of women’s representation in the main democratic

political institutions but also how women’s representation in one

institution affects the others. Each chapter contains case studies

and examples of the change in women’s participation over time

from around the world. Thames and Williams definitively explain

the rise, decline, or stagnant levels of women’s political participation,

considering how representation is contagious across political

institutions and gaining a better understanding of what factors affect

women’s political participation.