Sufragio femenino en Chile: origen, brecha de género y estabilidad, 1935-2009

Abstract

Women’s suffrage was introduced in two steps in Chile: first for local elections in 1934 and later extended to all elections in 1949. This article analyzes the legislative process and the effects of women´s enfranchisement in Chile from a temporal perspective through a documentary and quantitative analysis, by means of ecological inference. Firstly, we argue that the political parties´ strategic calculations about the possible consequences of the women’s vote were fundamental for explaining the Chilean route to women´s suffrage. Secondly, we maintain that the incorporation of women into the electorate did not cause any significant electoral instability. Thirdly, our study of the gender gap shows that even though it favored right-wing and reformist-center parties for a long time, this effect has diminished considerably with the passing of time.

Keywords

• Chile
• gender gap
• women´s vote