Women’s political empowerment in Latin America: have civil liberties turned into political power?
Overview
The expansion of civil liberties and the rise of social movements advocating for gender equality have significantly contributed to increased women’s participation in politics in Latin America in recent decades. This progress has created opportunities for women to occupy positions of political power. However, despite these advancements, women continue to face subtle yet persistent barriers that hinder their effective political empowerment and participation. To investigate the relationship between these factors, this study uses a panel dataset involving ten Latin American countries from 1985 to 2021. Using panel co-integration methodology, this study explores the long-term dynamics between women’s civil liberties and their political empowerment and, by applying Granger causality tests, the study explores the predictive effect between the variables. The findings reveal that the expansion of civil liberties and women’s political empowerment are not related in the long run, signalling that although there have been specific improvements in the short run, in the long run there is a lack of substantive political participation spaces to enhance women’s empowerment.
Additional details
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DOI
https://doi.org/10.1080/13552074.2025.2535869ISBN
1364-9221How to cite this resource
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