Women in Latin American Elections

Historically, Latin America countries have followed a traditional society, where women accept more conservative ideals and vote that way in elections more than men have. There has been a movement toward modern societies in this region of the world, meaning a shift in women voters to more left-leaning political parties, candidates, and ideologies. More recently, there has been an uptick in females in leadership role, like President, in Latin America. I believe that this shift from traditional to modern societies occurs form females having more independence, the author calls it “autonomy” from their male counterpart. They are able to have a well-paying job, become involved politically, and their main purpose in life doesn’t have to be marriage and motherhood. This freedom allows for independent thinking away from that of your husbands so you are able to form your own opinions. Female voters are more likely to vote for a female candidate not only because it would mean better representation, but also because female leaders would care more about female rights and policies than would a male counterpart.

 

Could the same research apply to the United States and other western countries? Economic development for women occurred much earlier in these regions of the world than it did in Latin America. The United States made the transformation from traditional to modern society at some point in the 1960s. Women had the ability to have a role in the family other than motherhood and the amount of women getting higher education increased exponentially. Because of this, women in political positions increased and more women shifted to voted more left. I predict that the movement towards women’s increased voting numbers and voting for left-leaning candidates to continue as women have more access to technology. They will have more access to literature, articles, and other academic sources to enhance their education and, in turn, political involvement.