Resumen de When Is Contagion Not Very Contagious?: Dynamics of Women's Political Representation in Scotland

Meryl Kenny, Fiona Mackay

• Research on the 'contagion effect' suggests that the dynamics of party competition explain the adoption of party gender quotas. However, there is little systematic evidence as to the conditions under which contagion occurs. Based upon analysis of trends in women's political representation in Scotland 1992-2011, we ask how intra-party factors and multi-level dynamics impact on party decisions to adopt and implement gender quotas. We find mixed evidence of quota contagion across party systems or different party and political levels and conclude that multi-level party dynamics play a key role in explaining why contagion is not very 'contagious' in Scotland.