Elites, Gender and Political Careers: Portugal in a Comparative Perspective

Several social challenges are getting more visibility, by the end of this second decade of the XXI century. It is the case of political elites, in terms of gender differentiation. Spite the important achievements made, throughout the XX century, considering the Occidental countries and democracies, one might still observe that gender is still a motive for differentiation, in what political careers are concerned. The reasons to explain how women are still being a social and political minority are important to attend, considering men and women, in society and in politics as a whole. For instance, we still have a low rate of women as party affiliated, no matter the dimension or the ideology of political parties, as well as a lower proportion of women in Parliaments, Governments and in politics in general. Public policies and mechanisms, such as sex quotas, set to correct these situations do not appear to be working as intended. Concerning to this, we aim to respond to the following questions: What kind of evolution may we observe, in a cross cultural perspective, in the last decades? What do public policy evaluations tell us? Having these issues and questions in mind, we aim to discuss the social and political basis to access to a political career, considering the Portuguese case in a comparative perspective.