Publication Date
2024
DOI
10.26736/ar.01.01.03
Abstract
Had it been approved, the 2022 Chilean Constitutional draft would have been the first Constitution in world history to be written by the same number of men and women. At the same time, it would have been one of the most progressive constitutions worldwide, guaranteeing the right to abortion; recognizing carework as an economic activity; and mandating equal representation for women in Chilean Congress, the Supreme Court, and political parties, among others. During the summer of 2022, I interviewed 12 women delegates from the 2021 - 2022 Chilean Constitutional Convention to understand the impact of gender parity in the policy drafting process and the factors that made such progressive policies possible. Based on the interviews and an analysis of recent Chilean political history, I find that three factors were necessary to achieve such a feminist draft: a recent history of strong feminist social movements in the country, an institutional and electoral system favorable to the election of women representatives, and strategic organization by feminist women representatives inside the Convention.
Recommended Citation
Davila, Maria Zambrano
(2024)
"How to Create Feminist Policy: The 2021-2022 Chilean constitutional rewrite,"
Araneum: Richmond Journal of American & Global Affairs: Vol. 1:
Iss.
1, Article 5.
DOI: 10.26736/ar.01.01.03
Available at:
https://scholarship.richmond.edu/araneum/vol1/iss1/5