Over the past 15 years, gender quota debates have emerged in national politics all over the world. The book addresses why gender quotas have been adopted by countries and their effectiveness and attempts to answer both normative and empirical questions, ranging from whether gender quotas are appropriate to why countries adopt them and how effective they have been. The book together a diverse group of authors who examine quotas in seven regions of the world, and brackets their contributions with theoretical chapters on quota adoption and implementation.