State Capability in WEGE : Worldwide comparison with a structure-based approach

What sorts of institutional arrangements do states use to deliver women's or gender equality policies? This empirical article discusses results of a worldwide comparison of current state capability for women's empowerment and of promotion of gender equality (WEGE) policies. State capability in WEGE is the entirety of all women's policy agencies (WPAs) in one state. State capability in WEGE is measured over the occurrence of different kinds of WPAs in four sectors of governmental action: executive, legislative, judiciary, and outside (E, L, J, and O). WPAs are the structural basis of the typology of current state capability in WEGE. Analysis of most actual and comprehensive data for 151 states reveals that states employ a wide variety of state capability in WEGE. Meaning there are different types of combinations of WPAs. Currently, states use 13 different types of state capability in WEGE. There is one state without any sort of state capability in WEGE. 16 per cent of states employ WPAs in all four sectors: E, L, J, and O. Along the occurrence of the sectors this type is called Type ELJO. Bi-sectoral and trisectoral state capabilities are common. Many types entail a heterogeneous cluster of states. Despite the empirical relevance of structural complexity, there are global blueprints of current state capability in WEGE.