Implementing Parity Sanctions in Political Parties: A Multi-Level Analysis

Since 2000, following the ratification of article I on parity between men and women in the constitution, national level laws have been adopted to put into place progressive sanctions given to parties that do not present an equal number of men and women candidates in the legislative elections (2002, 2007, 2012, 2017). The implementation of these sanctions have taken place at at the national level for the laws, the sub-national level – districts-- and within the parties. In this Paper, we analyze first the sanctions process at the national level then present a research design to study the process in two districts through qualitative interviews with aspirants, candidates and the selectorate in all of the parties that present candidates. The detailed protocol for the interviews will be presented as well as the specific actors who will be interviewed. Here, we discuss the advantage of taking this multi level approach and discuss how the subnational qualitative case analyses will contribute to enhancing our understanding of the implementation process.