| More
See also special areas

At a glance

Structure of Parliament: Bicameral

Are there legislated quotas...

  • No for the Single/Lower House?
  • No for the Upper House?
  • No at the Sub-national level?

Are there voluntary quotas...

  • Yes adopted by political parties?

Is there additional information?

Yes

Chile

(Republic of Chile)

Single/Lower house

Cámara de Diputados / Chamber of Deputies

Total seats:120
Total women:19
% women: 16%
Election year:2013
Electoral system:List PR
Quota type: Voluntary Political Party Quotas
Election details: IDEA Voter Turnout
IPU Parline

Sources | Additional information | Contact us

Last updated 2014-02-03

Voluntary Political Party Quotas*

PartyAcronymOfficial NameDetails, Quota provisions
Party for Democracy PPD Partido por la Democracia Neither men nor women should be represented on electoral lists by more than 60 percent (Party statutes, article 7). However, this provision has been weakly enforced (Ríos Tobar, et al. 2008, p. 18, 24).
Socialist Party of Chile PS Partido Socialista de Chile Since 2003, the quota has been twofold: Neither of the sexes shall be represented on electoral lists by more than 60 percent; neither sex shall occupy more than 70 percent of the seats in parliament (Party statutes, Article 40). However, this provision has not been adhered to in practice (Ríos Tobar, et al. 2008, p. 18, 24).
Christian Democratic Party PDC Partido Demócrata Cristiano According to article 105 of the party statutes, PDC has a 20 percent quota for women on electoral lists. This provision was adopted in 1996 but has been weakly enforced (Ríos Tobar, et al. 2008, p. 18, 24).

* Only political parties represented in parliament are included. When a country has legislated quotas in place, only political parties that have voluntary quotas that exceed the percentage/number of the national quota legislation are presented in this table.

Sources | Additional information | Contact us

Last updated 2011-10-18

Additional information

The former Chilean president, Michelle Bachelet, introduced a Bill in the Lower House called "Participacion Poli­tica Equilibrada de Hombres y Mujeres" (Equal Political Participation of Men and Women), commonly known as "Ley de Cuotas" (Quota Law), in October 2007.

The Bill (Mensaje 860-355/Boletin 5553-06) aims, on the one hand, to establish rules to ensure a balanced participation of men and women in the access and exercise of internal positions of political parties and of public responsibilities, and on the other hand, provides more fiscal support to female candidates who are elected, as well as, a larger amount of resources, than what applies according to law, to the political parties that shall include a greater number of women in their lists of candidates.

The Bill aims to facilitate access of women to positions of political representation by setting that either gender (male or female) may not exceed 70% of the internal positions of the political parties, of the lists of candidates and of the municipal and parliamentary elections.

This would entail the modification of "Ley de Partidos Poli­ticos" (Law on Political Parties), "Ley de Votaciones Populares y Escrutinios" (Law on Popular Voting and Elections), "Ley Organica de Municipalidades" (Organic Law of Municipalities) and "Ley de Gasto Electoral" (Law on Electoral Expenditure).

The issue has been discussed in Chile many times before this Bill, but the motions were filed. So far the Bill has not made progress in Parliament.


Last updated 2010-11-18

Sources

Ríos Tobar, Marcela; Cook, Maggie & Hormazábal, Daniela (2008), "Buenas prácticas para la participación de mujeres en la política a través de los partidos políticos", in Del dicho al hecho: manual de buenas prácticas para la participación de mujeres en los partidos políticos latinoamericanos, Beatriz Llanos & Kristen Sample (eds.), Stockholm: International IDEA.

Additional reading

Chile | Americas | Global

Know about useful additional reading for Chile? Tell us!