SHARECountry Data
Dominican Republic (Dominican Republic) has a Bicameral parliament with legislated quotas for the single/lower house and at the sub-national level. 53 of 190 (28%) seats in the Cámara de Diputados / Chamber of Deputies are held by women.
At a glance
Structure of Parliament: Bicameral
Are there legislated quotas...
- For the Single/Lower House? Yes
- For the Upper House?
- For the Sub-National Level? Yes
Are there voluntary quotas...
- Adopted by political parties? No
Is there additional information?...
- Yes
Last updated: Jan 24, 2023
Single/Lower House
Cámara de Diputados / Chamber of Deputies
| Total seats | 190 |
| Total Women | 53 |
| % Women | 28% |
| Election Year | 2020 |
| Electoral System | List PR |
| Quota Type | Legislated Candidate Quotas |
| Election details | IDEA Voter Turnout - IPU Parline |
| Legal source | Details | |
|---|---|---|
| Quota type: Legislated Candidate Quotas | Constitution | Under Article 39 (para. 5) of the Constitution, the state must promote and guarantee the equal participation of women and men in all nominations for public elections. |
| Electoral law | The Article 136 of the Dominican Republic´s electoral law (2019) states that, the nominations and proposals for candidacies to the Chamber of Deputies, to the Councilors and members will be governed by the principle of gender equality, for which reason they must be integrated in accordance with the provisions of the Law on Parties, by no less than one 40% nor more than 60% of men and women of the national proposal. |
|
| Legal sanctions for non-compliance | Electoral law | According to the Electoral Law, the lists of the political parties that do not include at least 33% of female candidates will be canceled and not accepted by the Electoral Commission. |
| Rank order/placement rules | Electoral law | Women candidates should be placed on the list in alternate positions with men candidates (Article 68 (3)). |
| Is the provision of direct public funding to political parties related to gender equality among candidates? | No | See more in International IDEA's Political Finance database |
| Are there provisions for other financial advantages to encourage gender equality in political parties? | No | See more in International IDEA's Political Finance database |
Quota at the Sub-National Level
- Quota type: Legislated Candidate Quotas
| Legal source | Details | |
|---|---|---|
| Quota type: Legislated Candidate Quotas | Constitution | The state must promote and guarantee the equal participation of women and men in all nominations for public elections (Article 39, para. 5). |
| Electoral law | In the nomination of candidates for elective offices at the municipal level, political parties and movements are obliged to maintain and encourage the participation of women. Therefore, when the principal candidate for mayor is a man, the alternate candidate must be a woman and vice versa. In addition, the principal and alternate candidate lists for elections to the municipal councils must include at least 33% of women candidates. In municipalities where only 5 council members are elected, all party lists should include a minimum of 2 women candidates (Article 34 of Law No. 176-07 on municipalities). |
|
| Legal sanctions for non-compliance | Electoral law | According to the Electoral Law, the lists of the political parties that do not include at least 33% of female candidates will be cancelled and not accepted by the Electoral Commission. |
| Rank order/placement rules | Electoral law | Women candidates should be placed on the list in alternate positions with men candidates (Article 68). |
Additional Information
In 1997, Electoral Law No. 275 imposed a 25 per cent quota for women among candidates for elective positions. After the elections in 1998, leaders of political parties negotiated with the Central Electoral Commission that this provision would be interpreted as the obligation to guarantee that women's representation at the national level would not be less than 25 per cent (or 45 of the 179 total number of seats for both houses of parliament). This decision, in effect, removed the burden for each individual party to guarantee 25 per cent women among their parliamentary delegations. In 2000, amendments to the electoral law increased the quota provision to 33 per cent,. In 2002 the legislated candidate quota requirement for the Senate was revoked.
Although elections were planned for May 2020, they have been postponed due to COVID-19 until the 5th of July.
Sources
LEGAL SOURCES:
- Consitution of Dominican Republic (rev.2015)(Spanish version)
- Constitution of Dominican Republic (rev.2015) (English version)
- Ley Electoral de la República Dominicana (Electoral Law, 2019) (In Spanish)
OTHER SOURCES:
- Llanos, B (2019): "Surcando olas y contra-olas. Una mirada paritaria a los derechos políticos de las mujeres en América Latina" Atenea, International IDEA, ONU Mujeres, UNDP.
- Balcacer, A. (2015):"Más allá de los Números: Las Mujeres Transforman el Poder Legislativo en América Latina y el Caribe. Estudio del País: República Dominicana" UNDP in collaboration with the Spanish Government.
- Espinal,R., Galván,S. and Croce, J. (2018): "Más mujeres, más Democracia: Desafíos para la Igualdad de Género en la Política" Santo Domingo: UNDP, JCE and TSE.
Additional reading
- See the latest updates on Dominican Republic on iKNOW Politics
- Morgan, J. , Espinal, R., & Hartlyn, J. (2008). Gender Politics in the Dominican Republic: Advances for Women, Ambivalence from Men. Politics & Gender. 4. 35 - 63. doi:10.1017/S1743923X08000020.
- Gender Equality Observatory for Latin America and the Caribbean: Dominican Republic (Official website)
- Htun, Mala N. 2002. Women in Political Power in Latin America. Manuscript.
- Htun, Mala N. and Mark P. Jones. 2002. ‘Engendering the Right to Participate in Decision-Making: Electoral Quotas and Women's Leadership in Latin America’, in Nikki Craske and Maxine Molyneux(eds) Gender and the Politics of Rights and Democracy in Latin America. New York: Palgrave. pp. 32-56
- Peschard, Jacqueline. 2002. The quota system in Latin America: General review. Manuscript.
- Jimenez Polanco, Jacqueline. 2001. ‘La représentation politique des femmes en Amérique Latine: Une analyse comparée’ (Women's political representation in Latin America: a comparative analysis). Bérengère Marques-Pereira and Patricio Nolasco (eds) La représentation politique des femmes en Amérique Latine (Women's political representation in Latin America). Brussels: L'Harmattan. pp. 27-81.
- Women's Leadership Conference of the Americas. 2001. Women and Power in the Americas: A Report Card. Washington: Women's Leadership Conference of the Americas.
- Htun, Mala N. 1998. Women's Political Participation, Representation and Leadership in Latin America. Issue Brief, Women's Leadership Conference of the Americas.