During the period from 1990 to 2000 the percentage of women in the Croatian parliament did not exceed 7%. The parliamentary elections in 2000 created an opportunity for the ideological and power shift which enabled the feminist movement to form various alliances for endorsing its agenda. The change in the electoral system, the higher district magnitude of the strongest parties, an advocacy campaign and the regime change explain the leap to 23% of parliamentary seats occupied by women in 2000. Although the path for the institutionalization of gender equality was opened from this point on, the quotas were introduced on the national level in 2008. Yet, for more than a decade the number of women stagnates around 20%. The presentation will elaborate on the process of adoption and formulation of gender quotas, identify the main implementation problems, offer possible recommendations and discuss their limits in the context of Croatia.
