Architectures of power: Longitudinal analysis of gender distribution in legislative committees under the parity law (2001–2023)

In 2001, Córdoba (Argentina) became one of the first jurisdictions in the world to implement a gender parity law; in 2020, it extended parity to legislative committees. This article analyzes both measures longitudinally through a mixed-methods approach, examining women's and men's trajectories across committees between 2003 and 2023. The findings challenge established assumptions: although electoral parity generates a positive externality effect on committee leadership, it fails to dismantle vertical or horizontal segregation. Moreover, the study coins the concept of relative horizontal segregation: gender stereotypes restrict women's access to committees related to production and the economy but do not operate symmetrically for men in feminized ones. Committee parity, far from reversing this asymmetry, can deepen thematic segmentation—a result that speaks directly to subnational parity regimes and underscores the need for sequential alternation mechanisms.