Women’s Political Empowerment in Spain and Denmark. A Comparative Case Study of Women’s Political Participation in Spain and Denmark During the 20th and 21st Century

Abstract

The Kingdom of Spain and the Kingdom of Denmark have substantial similarities in their political systems, geographical locations and cultures; both have developed gender equality under the scope of the European Union. However, their evolution towards women’s political empowerment differs vastly. Spain has opted for gender quotas following EU’s recommendation of using positive action to address gender equality in political participation. Meanwhile Denmark has refused to adopt gender quotas, Danish society defend freechoice and prefer “democratic voluntary means” (Rolandsen, 2015). The adoption of gender quotas is found to be crucial for Spain in surpassing the 40% mark of women’s participation, while Denmark seems to be unable to achieve 40% participation with its current strategy. Spanish quotas have led Spain to the top of world rankings (GGGR, 2021). In addition, women in maximum power positions continued to be the area with least development as gender quotas are not adequate to tackle this gap.