Women waging War and Peace

Since the World Conference on Women of September 1995 by the United Nations, female political participation was put at the forefront of political decision-making (UN Women, 2020a). A country’s achievement in women’s political participation is typically measured by its share of women in national legislatures (UN Women, 2020b). The gender balance in politics is increasingly shifting towards more female participation. Simultaneously, numerous studies showed differences for men and women when it comes to decision-making processes, especially in regard to violent conflict. An analysis of 40 peace processes since the end of the Cold War shows that when women are exercising a strong influence on peace negotiations, the chances of successfully reaching an agreement went up. Moreover, the total number of countries involved in internationalized conflicts is exploding annually, calling for thorough investigation into conflict prevention, management and conciliation. This research therefore examined the influence of women legislators on decision-making in regard to conflict. After conducting a literature review, it was expected that an increase in the share of women in national parliaments decreases the share of military expenditure as part of GDP. Moreover, it was expected that an increase in the share of women in national parliaments decreases the number of armed conflicts a country engages in. Based on two standard multiple regression and one binary logistic regression, both hypotheses had to be rejected. Explanations for findings contrary to expectations referred mainly to the need to examine the concept studied in more nuance and to control for more interfering factors. Support for this recommendation was found in additional literature.