UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA, SAN DIEGO Do Women Represent Women? Gender and Policy in Argentina and Mexico A Dissertation submitted in partial satisfaction of the Requirements for the Degree of Doctor of Philosophy in Political Science by Jennifer M. Piscopo Committee in charge: Professor Peter H. Smith, Chair Professor Scott W. Desposato Professor Christine Hünefeldt Professor Sebastian Saiegh Professor Carlos Waisman 2011 Jennifer M. Piscopo, 2011 All rights reserved. The Dissertation of Jennifer M. Piscopo is approved, and it is acceptable in quality and form for publication on microfilm and electronically: Chair University of California, San Diego 2011 iii DEDICATION For Dad. iv TABLE OF CONTENTS Signature Page .............................................................................................................. iii Dedication ...................................................................................................................... iv Table of Contents ............................................................................................................ v List of Abbreviations .................................................................................................. viii List of Figures ................................................................................................................ xi List of Tables ............................................................................................................... xii Acknowledgements ....................................................................................................... xv Vita ............................................................................................................................. xvii Abstract ..................................................................................................................... xviii Introduction .................................................................................................................... 1 Chapter 1. Studying Women‘s Representation in Argentina and Mexico ..................... 7 1.1. Overview ............................................................................................................. 8 1.2. The Existing Literature ..................................................................................... 10 1.2.1. Gender as a Factor in the Social Sciences ................................................. 10 1.2.2. Evidence for Women‘s Interests and Substantive Representation ............ 13 1.2.3. Research on Women and Politics in Latin America .................................. 17 1.2.4. Explaining and Measuring Women‘s Substantive Representation ............ 20 1.3. Approach and Contributions ............................................................................. 24 1.4. Region and Country Selection .......................................................................... 27 1.4.1. Cultural Legacies and Non-Democratic Histories ..................................... 28 1.4.2. Democratization, Participation, and Electoral Quotas ............................... 31 1.4.3. Argentina as the Primary Case ................................................................... 37 1.4.4. Mexico as the Shadow Case ...................................................................... 41 1.5. Overview of Hypotheses, Methods, and Research Design ............................... 46 1.5.1. Quantitative Models ................................................................................... 48 1.5.2. Qualitative Interviews ................................................................................ 49 1.5.3. Qualitative Case Studies ............................................................................ 51 1.6. Conclusion ......................................................................................................... 53 Appendix 1.1. ............................................................................................................ 62 Appendix 1.2. ............................................................................................................ 63 Chapter 2. What Women Want: Sex Differences and Public Opinion ........................ 66 2.1. Introduction ....................................................................................................... 67 v 2.2. Methodology ..................................................................................................... 69 2.3. Women and Political Attitudes in Argentina .................................................... 71 2.4. Societal Values in Argentina ............................................................................ 86 2.4.1. Values about Work, Children, and Families .............................................. 87 2.4.2. Values about Reproduction, Contraception, and Abortion ........................ 93 2.5. Contrasts to Public Opinion in Mexico ............................................................. 97 2.5.1. Women and Political Attitudes in Mexico ................................................. 97 2.5.2. Women and Social Attitudes in Mexico .................................................. 102 2.6. Conclusion ...................................................................................................... 104 Appendix 2.1. .......................................................................................................... 123 Chapter 3. Setting Agendas: The Content of Bill Introduction in Argentina and Mexico ........................................................................................................................ 131 3.1. Introduction ..................................................................................................... 132 3.2. Legislative Politics in Argentina and Mexico ................................................. 133 3.3. Argentina: Data and Methods ......................................................................... 136 3.3.1. The Dependent Variables ......................................................................... 137 3.3.2. Dataset and Independent Variables .......................................................... 140 3.4. Female and Male Legislators‘ Activity in the Regular Policy Categories ...... 145 3.5. Specifying the Gender Content of Proposals in Argentina ............................. 149 3.5.1. To Represent Women‘s Interests or Not? ................................................ 150 3.5.2. The Substance of Women‘s Interests ....................................................... 154 3.6. Comparative Reflections from Mexico ........................................................... 160 3.6.1. The Mexican Dataset: Overview and Preliminary Comparisons ............. 160 3.6.2. The Content of Women‘s Interests in Mexico ......................................... 163 3.6.3. The Contrast Between Argentina and Mexico ......................................... 166 3.7. Walking Together in Mexico; Separately in Argentina .................................. 167 3.8. Conclusion ...................................................................................................... 174 Appendix 3.1. .......................................................................................................... 195 Appendix 3.2. .......................................................................................................... 199 Chapter 4. Representation, the Legislative Process, and Statute Change .................. 202 4.1. Introduction ..................................................................................................... 203 4.2. Understanding Women‘s Substantive Representation in Argentina ............... 204 4.2.1. Representation in the Argentine Context ................................................. 205 4.2.2. Why Women Represent Women ............................................................. 206 4.2.3. Fighting Informal Norms ......................................................................... 214 4.3. Women and the Legislative Process in Argentina .......................................... 219 4.4. Argentina: Which Bills Succeed or Fail ......................................................... 224 4.4.1. How Bills Become Laws ......................................................................... 225 4.4.2. Testing the General Model ....................................................................... 227 4.4.3. Testing the Model for Women‘s Interests Bills ....................................... 232 4.5. The Gender Policies that Become Laws ......................................................... 236 4.5.1. Argentina.................................................................................................. 236 4.5.2. Mexico Compared .................................................................................... 238 vi 4.6. Women, Representation, and the Legislative Process in Mexico ................... 241 4.6.1. Shared Themes in Women‘s Substantive Representation ....................... 242 4.6.2. Institutional Differences in the Representative and Policymaking Processes ............................................................................................................. 245 4.7. Conclusion: Tradeoffs in Substantive Representation .................................... 251 Chapter 5. Federalism, the Policymaking Process, and Implementation ................... 267 5.1. Introduction .....................................................................................................