Women's representation in elected assemblies across varying levels of government is often theorized to be in the shape of a pyramid, with the highest proportion of women at the local level, where barriers to entry are minimal. Mapping women's representation in Germany, however, challenges the conventional view as we find the pyramid spun on its head. Looking at the representation of women in legislatures across four levels of government reveals relatively few women in municipalities and district assemblies, but sizably higher proportions at the Land and federal levels. We argue that differences in party system configurations across levels of government bear the potential to explain this surprising pattern: left-wing parties, which tend to have a higher share of female officeholders, are more successful at the highest than at the local echelons.
