Publication Type: Conference Paper/Unpublished Manuscript
Review Method: Peer Reviewed
Abstract: Research on women in politics, like most work in political science, gravitates towards large-n statistical analyses or small-n case studies. Employing these conventional techniques, it offers relatively consistent explanations for cross-national differences in the percentage of women elected to national parliaments. This apparent consensus, however, obscures important disagreements among scholars that -- combined with recent empirical developments -- cast doubt on the causal effect of central variables, most notably the role of the electoral system and women's social and economic status in facilitating or undermining women's access to political office. Exploring the possibilities of qualitative comparative analysis (QCA), this paper outlines the methodological trade-offs involved in analyzing common trends across many cases (the large-n solution), unique trajectories across a few cases (the small-n solution), and causal diversity across a middle range of cases (the medium-n solution).