Introducing the Worldwide Age Representation in Parliaments (WARP) data set.

Stockemer, Daniel; Sundström, Aksel

The absence of young adults in elected legislative assemblies is a democratic deficit with potentially severe repercussions. Yet, research is rarely able to address the issue of age group representation systematically because we are lacking empirical information on the age distribution in parliaments. The Worldwide Age Representation in Parliaments (WARP) data set remedies this dearth of data. It provides information about the numerical presence of age groups in parliaments, spanning across the globe and over time and includes age data on legislators, such as the share of members of parliament (MPs) aged 30 years or under, 35 years or under, or 40 years or under. The data set also reports measures that compare the presence of legislators aged 30 years or under, aged 35 years or under, aged 40 years or under, aged 41 to 60 years, as well as aged 61 years or over in relation to the same age group in the general population of a given country. Moreover, it includes gendered figures, such as the presence of young female MPs. The WARP data set contains data for more than 700 elections in 149 countries, so far, and is freely available online. It allows for a novel analysis of the age composition of legislatures.

AGE distribution; LEGISLATIVE bodies; YOUNG adults; LEGISLATORS; AGE; AGE groups

Social Science Quarterly (Wiley-Blackwell), 2022, Vol 103, Issue 7, p1765

0038-4941

Academic Journal

10.1111/ssqu.13221