The Role of Public Policies in Women’s Participation in Civil Society

Abstract

This study aims to examine the role of public policies in women's participation in civil society from a public finance perspective. To this end, panel data from 45 developed and developing countries for the period 2006–2023 were used. During the analysis process, the linear effects of public policies on women's participation in civil society were first tested using a fixed effects model. Subsequently, Hansen's (1999) panel threshold model was applied to determine whether this relationship varied depending on public sector efficiency. The findings show that social protection expenditures increase women's civic participation, particularly in countries with high institutional capacity, while public sector efficiency plays a decisive role in all country groups. The threshold model results reveal that the impact of social spending varies depending on the level of public administration effectiveness and may not produce the expected results in conditions of low institutional capacity. These results indicate that policies aimed at increasing women's participation in civil society should focus not only on the level of spending but also on strengthening public administration effectiveness and institutional capacity.