Why do women have a better performance in the less economically developed regions at Brazil's local elections? The article tests three possible answers, sometimes suggested in the debates about the question: 1) the association of female candidates with right-wing parties in those regions, 2) the educational gap, which is beneficial to the women, and 3) the greater proportion of women among the electorate. Nevertheless, data analysis says that all the hypotheses must be rejected. We concluded that more complex explanations are needed, in order to understand this phenomenon. The data also show the limitations of the Brazilian law which created electoral quotas for women.
Gender and Electoral Participation; Regional Differences; Local Elections; Brazilian Politics
