Women's political power: Global progress, persistent challenges

This special issue provides a broad examination of the barriers to women's political representation across a spectrum of nations, highlighting the uneven progress despite a global rise. It critically evaluates the limitations of formal legal reforms, such as quotas, and probes into the persistent challenges women face in their pursuit of political power, including gender stereotypes, role conflicts, negative media portrayal, exclusion from influential networks, and lack of support. The collection of articles covers a broad range of geographic regions -from China, Afghanistan, Kosovo, Macedonia, the Czech Republic, Bolivia, Spain, to the Netherlands and Belgium - illumi-nating the unique progress and challenges encountered by women in these diverse contexts. The issue empha-sizes the necessity of challenging stereotypes, addressing institutional barriers, and adopting context-specific strategies for women's political empowerment. Through these insights, it aims to enhance our understanding of the struggles women endure in their quest for political power.