Where Do Women Hold Political Office?

As primary elections in the United States closed on Tuesday and the results trickled in on Wednesday, a clear pattern emerged from the ballot box: women winning. Female candidates cleaned up many primary wins, putting them on track to enter positions of power in various levels of government.

While Wednesday’s results were historic for the United States, many countries are light-years ahead of the US when it comes to women holding seats in the legislature. Rwanda, where most legislators are women, has three times as many women in government as the United states. Over the past two decades, women have entered government at increasing rates, with this uptick partially fueled by legislative or voluntary gender quotas for political parties and parliaments.