This is the first study of the controversial new trends of gender quotas now emerging in global politics, presenting a comprehensive overview of changes in women's parliamentary representation across the world.

Part I 1. Introduction 2. Arguing for and against quotas: theoretical issues Part II: Regional Chapters 3. The Nordic Countries: An incremental model 4. Latin America: The experience and the impact of quotas in Latin America 5. Sub-Saharan Africa: On the Fast Track to Women's Political Representation 6. The Balkans: From total rejection to gradual acceptance of gender quotas 7. The Arab Region: Women's Access to the Decision-Making Process Across the Arab Nation 8. Western Europe, North America, Australia and New Zealand: Gender Quotas in the Context of Citizenship Models 9. South Asia: Gender Quotas and the Politics of Empowerment : A comparative study Part III: Short Case Studies 10. Gender Quotas in Post-Conflict States: East Timor, Afghanistan and Iraq 11. Indonesia: The struggle for gender quotas in the world's largest Muslim country 12. Affirmative action at the IPU Part IV: Concluding Chapters 13. Electoral Quotas: Frequency and Effectiveness 14. Conclusion