The rules of the game

Abstract

The executive summary presents a brief account of the results of the research “Democracy and Representation in the 2018 Elections: electoral campaigns, funding and gender diversity”, which are presented in greater length in the book “The rules of the game: a study of the impact of electoral practices and regulations on women’s political participation”, published in Portuguese as “Candidatas em jogo: um estudo sobre os impactos das regras eleitorais na inserção de mulheres na política” https://hdl.handle.net/10438/29826). Although it is the result of two years of academic research, the book and the executive summary are written in accessible language to nonexperts. The design is also less severe than academic publications as you will see from the somewhat colorful theme of the summary. The research looked at three dimensions of the electoral process: (i) candidate selection and the enforcement of the gender quota law; (ii) the use of financial and non-financial resources during the campaign; and (iii) the profile of elected female and male federal representatives.