Kathleen B. Babasa 2012-49720 Political Science 160 Prof. Jean Paul Zialcita The Pros and Cons of Gender Quotas Women’s roles and rights have vastly improved throughout the course of history. Previous stereotypes that have restricted their actions and their impact on the conduct of their political lives have mostly been broken. Women can now vote, run for office and enjoy rights that were previously reserved only for men, thanks to the conscious efforts of individuals and groups from different parts of the world that have actively worked for the recognition of women’s roles in society. In line with this, one of the most dynamic and frequently discussed matters on women’s rights is their representation in politics. Representation is essential because “...the development of any political agenda that does not include the perspectives, views and experiences of those who will be affected is not credible.” (Ballington, 2005, p. 24). Put in another way, all members of a particular society should be able to articulate their interests and demands in principle, but we see that this is not always the case in practice, for there are still societies where certain groups are marginalized and not accorded the rights and the mechanisms to express their interests. This is true for women, because they have not always been politically recognized. Quotas for women entail that women must constitute a certain number or percentage of the members of a body, whether it is a candidate list, a