Objective/context:

To present the Departmental Political Female Representation Index (IRFED). This tool allows contrasting spatially and temporally the way in which women’s descriptive representation has developed between 1992 and 2018. The IRFED helps to analyze how institutional and regional factors affect women’s descriptive representation at the departmental level; and, likewise, the impact of descriptive representation on the recognition of women’s rights at the spatial level can be evaluated.

Methodology:

Using data collected from the National Civil Registry on the election of women in different departmental bodies, a principal component factor analysis was carried out to construct an index that captured the level of representation that women obtained in each of the departments of Colombia between 1992 and 2016. This index was analyzed to show how some institutional factors influence women’s access to public power.

Conclusions:

The IRFED is capable of showing two things: first, variations in descriptive representation of women in spatial and temporal terms; and second, the heterogeneous effect of institutional changes promoting women’s entry into elected positions in different regions.

Originality:

The IRFED contributes to understanding the political representation of women in elected positions by decentralizing the discussion from national representation institutions.