International Research
Women's representation doesn't happen by chance — it happens by design.
At RepresentWomen, we believe democracy works best when everyone has a seat at the table. Through data, design, and collaboration, we're rewriting the rules to make that vision a reality.
See the world
How democracies vote — and who gets elected
The problem
The U.S. isn't just behind — it's the only one doing this
Women make up more than half the U.S. population. They hold a fraction of its political power. Among the 38 OECD countries, the U.S. ranks 28th for women's representation in its national legislature, at 28.8%. It's the only OECD country that combines a winner-take-all voting system with no official gender quota.
28th of 38
OECD countries for women's representation (28.8%)
22 of 27
countries above the U.S. use proportional voting
1 of 38
the U.S. is the only country with no quota + winner-take-all
Source: RepresentWomen, "Women's Political Representation in the OECD-38," IPU data, updated August 2026.
"When I founded RepresentWomen in 2018, the United States ranked behind 105 countries — nearly all our democratic allies — for the percentage of women in elected office."
— Cynthia Richie TerrellThe solutions
Other democracies have already solved this
Countries that combine proportional voting, gender quotas, and placement mandates average 38% women's representation. Countries with winner-take-all systems and no quota average 20%.
38%
PR + quota + placement mandate
20%
winner-take-all, no quota
New from our research team
What international data tell us about the keys to gender parity
Read the full piece →Explore the data