State fragility and women’s political empowerment in developing countries

The aim of this paper is to analyze the effect of state fragility on women’s political empowerment in a panel of 96 developing countries from 2006 to 2021. The results reveal the detrimental effect of state fragility on women’s political empowerment, whether considered globally or disaggregated into its different components. The findings remain robust when state fragility is unbundled into its economic, political, social, and cohesion indicators, as well as when political empowerment is declined into civil liberties, engagement in civil society, and political participation. Additionally, the most enduring effects are observed in low-income countries. Finally, the adoption of gender quotas, the ratification of the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women, and democracy appear as mitigating factors.