Gender (Im)Balance? Gendered Committee Allocation Outcomes in Spain And Sweden

This paper investigates gendered patterns in parliamentary committee assignments within two gender-balanced legislatures: the Swedish Riksdag and the Spanish Congress of Deputies. Drawing on classical theories of legislative organization and gendered political institutions, we examine how gender balance in elected chambers translates into the distribution of power through committee memberships. Using a unique longitudinal dataset covering committee assignments, MP characteristics, and partisan affiliation from 1976–2022 (Sweden) and 1978–2022 (Spain), we assess whether gender parity in representation leads to parity in committee influence. Our findings reveal that professional and educational specialization consistently influences committee placement in both countries. However, the broader dynamics of gendered power distribution diverge. In Spain, where gender balance is a more recent development, women MPs are disproportionately assigned to stereotypically “feminine” committees, such as those focused on social issues. This trend intensifies as women’s representation increases, suggesting a paradoxical deepening of gender segregation. In contrast, Sweden’s long-standing gender balance corresponds with a more egalitarian distribution of committee assignments over time. We test our hypotheses using OLS regression models and find that while increased female representation correlates with broader committee access, significant gender gaps persist in key domains such as justice and economics. Moreover, standard predictors of committee assignment—such as specialization, seniority, and party affiliation—do not operate uniformly across genders. These findings underscore the importance of institutional history and party dynamics in shaping gendered access to legislative power. By comparing two distinct trajectories toward gender balance, this study contributes to the literature on gendered legislative institutions and the stratification of political power. It highlights how formal parity does not automatically dismantle informal barriers to influence and suggests that gender balance alone is insufficient to ensure equitable power distribution. These insights have implications for understanding the conditions under which gender-balanced legislatures can foster genuine political empowerment for women.