Research project Gender equality in political representation: Learning from 100 years of Swedish experience

Research on the historical origins of gender equality in political representation is scarce. This project applies insights about the historical origins of gender inequality on labor markets on the case of political representation. We compile a comprehensive data set for 100 years of political representation in Swedish municipalities and the pre-industrial economic endowments across small geographic areas. This data is combined with detailed administrative data for the full Swedish population in the past 40 years, and including the universe of nominated and elected politicians. These unique data sources are used to study three important phenomena. First, we study how pre-industrial economic structures (mining, agricultural crops etc.) shape local patterns of labor division between women and men and, in turn, gender equality in political representation. Second, we study how local marriage markets shape women’s entry into and rise within political organizations. The third sub-project studies these entries and careers from the perspective of intergenerational transmission of norms, looking at impacts of the gender division of labor among parents and in-laws. Taken together, the long-term perspective of our project can offer important insights into the development of gender equality in political representation across societies.