A lasting legacy

Organised by

• Department of Political and Social Sciences
• Gender Working Group

Does female political representation under autocratic regimes have long-lasting effects on democratic politics? The presence of women in politics under autocratic regimes is not uncommon but previous studies have only studied female representation within regimes, overlooking the consequences it might have after a democratic transition process. This paper explores whether the presence of women in local politics under the Franco autocratic regime in Spain, had an impact on women’s presence in local politics once the democratic transition consolidated. It exploits a novel database from archival records detailing all women who were local councilors and mayors in the final years of the Francoist period. The results show that the presence of women local politicians under an autocratic regime paved the path for women to enter into democratic politics after the regime transition. The differential lasts for almost 20 years, initially driven by higher female presence in right-wing parties, and the effects were only reversed when compulsory gender quotas were implemented.