US AID 1996
Latin American and the Caribbean Selected Economic and Social Data
Democracy Indicators

WOMEN IN POLITICS

Year women given right to vote / Year women given right to stand for election / Year first woman in national parliament / % of ministerial posts held by women / Upper chamber of bicameral assembly 1993 / Unicameral Assemb. or Lower chamber 1993
1994 / Total Seats / % Women / Total Seats / % Women
Antigua and Barbuda / 1951 / 1951 / 1980 / 0.0 / 17 / 11.8 / 17 / 0.0
Argentina / 1947 / 1/ / 1947 / 1/ / 1952 / 0.0 / 46 / 2.2 / 259 / 5.0
Bahamas / 1962 / 2/ / 1962 / 2/ / 1977 / 23.1 / 16 / 18.8 / 49 / 4.1
Barbados / 1951 / 1951 / 1951 / 0.0 / 21 / 28.6 / 28 / 3.6
Belize / 1945 / 1945 / 1984 / 6.3 / 9 / 22.2 / 28 / 0.0
Bolivia / 1938 / 3/ / 1938 / 3/ / 1966 / 0.0 / 27 / 7.4 / 130 / 6.9
Brazil / 1934 / 1934 / 1934 / 4.6 / 81 / 2.5 / 503 / 6.0
Chile / 1931 / 4/ / 1931 / 4/ / 1951 / 8.7 / 47 / 6.4 / 120 / 5.8
Colombia / 1957 / 1957 / 1958 / 11.1 / 102 / 4.9 / 161 / 4.3
Costa Rica / 1949 / 1949 / 1953 / 9.5 / 57 / 12.3
Cuba / 1934 / 1934 / 1940 / 4.3 / 589 / 22.8
Dominica / 1951 / 1951 / 1940 / 7.7 / 31 / 12.9
Dominican Republic / 1942 / 1942 / 1946 / 4.2 / 30 / 3.3 / 120 / 11.7
Ecuador / 1946 / 5/ / 1946 / 1957 / 4.6 / 77 / 5.2
El Salvador / 1961 / 1961 / 10.0 / 84 / 8.3
Grenada / 1951 / 1951 / 1976 / 10.0 / 13 / 7.7 / 15 / 13.3
Guadeloupe
Guatemala / 1945 / 1945 / 1954 / 20.0 / 116 / 5.2
Guyana / 1953 / 6/ / 1945 / 6/ / 1953 / 11.1 / 65 / 36.9
Haiti / 1950 / 1950 / 20.0 / 17 / 0.0 / 83 / 3.6
Honduras / 1957 / 1957 / 1967 / 10.5 / 128 / 11.7
Jamaica / 1944 / 1944 / 5.0 / 21 / 14.3 / 60 / 11.7
Mexico / 1947 / 1953 / 1952 / 5.0 / 64 / 4.7 / 500 / 7.6
Netherland Antilles
Nicaragua / 1955 / 7/ / 1955 / 1958 / 9.5 / 92 / 16.3
Panama / 1941 / 8/ / 1941 / 8/ / 1946 / 6.7 / 67 / 7.5
Paraguay / 1961 / 1961 / 1963 / 0.0 / 45 / 11.1 / 80 / 2.5
Peru / 1950 / 1956 / 1956 / 5.6 / 60 / 6.7 / 80 / 6.3
Saint Kitts and Nevis / 1951 / 1951 / 1984 / 15 / 6.7
Saint Lucia / 1951 / 1951 / 1951 / 8.3 / 11 / 36.4 / 17 / 0.0
Saint Vincent & Gren. / 1951 / 1951 / 1979 / 0.0 / 21 / 9.5
Suriname / 1953 / 1953 / 0.0 / 51 / 5.9
Trinidad and Tobago / 1946 / 1946 / 1971 / 18.5 / 31 / 22.6 / 37 / 13.5
United States / 1920 / 1788 / 9/ / 1924 / 15.0 / 100 / 7.0 / 435 / 11.0
Uruguay / 1932 / 1932 / 1942 / 0.0 / 31 / 0.0 / 99 / 6.1
Venezuela / 1947 / 1947 / 1948 / 10.7 / 49 / 6.1 / 201 / 10.0

Source: UN, WISTAT CD-ROM, 1994.

1/ Argentina: In some provinces, women were given the right to vote and to stand for election at an earlier date.
2/ Bahamas: Adult male suffrage was introduced under British colonial administration in 1959, although members of the electorate satisfying certain property qualifications also received a second vote. Women were granted the vote in 1962, and by 1964 al
3/ Bolivia: Literate women were given the right to vote and to be elected in 1938. These rights were extended to all women in 1952.
4/ Chile: 1931 for municipal elections and 1949 for legislative and presidential elections.
5/ Ecuador: Voting is mandatory for all literate Ecuadorean citizens between 18 and 65 years of age. Women have had the vote since 1946.
6/ Guyana: In 1953 universal adult suffrage was granted to both men and women 20 years and over; prior to this women became eligible to sit in the Legislative Council in 1945.
7/ Nicaragua: The Constitutions of 1939, 1948 and 1950 indicated that a law would determine when women would be given the right to vote. That right was established by the Electoral Law of 1950 and enshrined in the Constitution of 1955.
8/ Panama: In 1941, women had the right to vote and to be elected with certain conditions and restricitons, inter alia, the level of education; these conditions and restrictions were lifted in 1946.
9/ United States of America: The Constitution of 13 September 1788 does not mention sex with regard to the right to stand for election to the House of Representatives or the Senate, referring only to "members" or "persons." Nor does the Constitution men

U.S. Agency for International Development
WashingtonD.C. 1996.

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