Lex localis - Journal of Local Self-Government_11(1)_January

L EX LOCALIS - J OURNAL OF L OCAL S ELF -G OVERNMENT Vol. 15, No. 3, pp. 387 - 410, July 2017 Determinants of Women’s Descriptive Representation in the 2014 Czech and Slovak Local Elections P AVEL M AŠKARINEC & D ANIEL K LIMOVSKÝ 2 Abstract The main objective of this article is to analyse the determinants of women’s descriptive representation in the 2014 local elections in the Czech Republic and Slovakia. It is shown that although both countries are considered democratic and in spite of two decades of multi-dimensional transition, women are underrepresented at the local level. Especially electoral results in the municipalities which are considered sub-regional centres and where almost one-half of the population of both countries is concentrated are studied. As it is pointed out, factors like local population or political and institutional factors play an important role in women’s success in local politics. Keywords: • local politics • local elections • women’s representation • women and politics • Czech Republic • Slovakia C ORRESPONDENCE A DDRESS : Pavel Maškarinec, Ph.D., Assistant Professor, Jan Evangelista Purkyně University in Ústí nad Labem, Faculty of Arts, Pasteurova 3571/13, 400 96 Ústí nad Labem, Czech Republic, email: maskarinec@centrum.cz. Daniel Klimovský, Ph.D., Assistant Professor, Comenius University in Bratislava, Faculty of Arts, Gondova 2, 814 99 Bratislava, Slovakia, email: daniel.klimovsky@gmail.com. https://doi.org/10.4335/15.3.387-410 (2017) ISSN 1581-5374 Print/1855-363X Online © 2017 Lex localis Available online at http://journal.lex-localis.press.