Why Do Some Women Are Selected? Gender and the Selection of Legislative Candidates at the Subnational Level. Chubut (Argentina) 1983–2019

This study examines why some women are selected as legislative candidates while others are not, and to what extent party selection criteria differ between men and women. By addressing these questions, the research sheds light on how political parties make decisions, how internal power relations operate, and how gender inequalities shape candidate selection. Although political science has theorized extensively about candidate selection, the mechanisms explaining women’s access to subnational legislative nominations remain underexplored. This work argues that women’s incorporation into politics involves more than descriptive representation—it entails substantive transformation—so gender equality in politics cannot be reduced to numbers. This research seeks to explain the influence of systemic, party, and individual criteria on women’s access to subnational legislative candidacies. The analysis focuses on the province of Chubut (Argentina) between 1983 and 2019, encompassing three institutional moments: without gender quotas, with quotas, and with parity. It combines semi-structured interviews with candidates, legislators, and party selectors; documentary analysis of regulations, ballots, and party statutes; and a database of provincial legislators. Methodologically, it employs Qualitative Comparative Analysis (QCA) to identify configurations of selection criteria and Network Analysis to map family and political linkages. The main hypothesis is that party selection criteria significantly shape women’s access to subnational legislative candidacies, in interaction with systemic and individual factors. Two alternative hypotheses are explored: (1) women are selected according to masculinized criteria of trust, political experience or strategic balance; and (2) women are evaluated through differentiated criteria emphasizing diverse trajectories, suggesting a feminization of politics in candidate selection.