This book presents 12 case studies on female legislative representation in new post-communist democracies in Europe. The cases represent a wide range of “pathways” from communist rule. Five rank as lower-middle income (Bulgaria, Lithuania, Macedonia, the Russian Federation, and Ukraine), four as upper-middle income (Croatia, Czech Republic, Hungary, and Poland, and two as high-income (Germany and Slovenia). A general framework on legislative recruitment based on Western political science literature is used to explain changes over time within each country. It is shown that many of the theoretic ... More

This book presents 12 case studies on female legislative representation in new post-communist democracies in Europe. The cases represent a wide range of “pathways” from communist rule. Five rank as lower-middle income (Bulgaria, Lithuania, Macedonia, the Russian Federation, and Ukraine), four as upper-middle income (Croatia, Czech Republic, Hungary, and Poland, and two as high-income (Germany and Slovenia). A general framework on legislative recruitment based on Western political science literature is used to explain changes over time within each country. It is shown that many of the theoretical predictions based on existing literature from industrialized democracies hold true in Eastern Europe. The book ends with a discussion on the next steps to take in understanding women’s access to political power in post-communist Europe.