Transparency in local government: exploring the impact of female leadership and political context

Transparency is crucial for good governance and the prevention of maladministration. Since 2013, the Municipal Transparency Index – Portugal has assessed the transparency of local governments based on the information available on their websites. However, few studies have examined how the gender of mayors, together with the political context in which they govern, shapes municipal transparency. Drawing on Social Role Theory and Representative Bureaucracy Theory, this study uses OLS estimations to address this gap. The results indicate that female mayors, on their own, do not have a statistically significant impact on municipal transparency. Moreover, in the absence of favourable political conditions, they tend to be associated with lower levels of transparency. Nevertheless, this relationship reverses when they govern with an absolute majority and belong to left-wing parties. These findings underscore the conditional nature of the relationship between gender and transparency.