STUDY OF EXPERIENCE OF THE APPLICATION OF GENDER QUOTAS IN THE POLITICAL SPHERE OF THE EU COUNTRIES AND UKRAINE THROUGH THE PRISM OF EFFICIENCY

. The article reveals the experience of using gender quotas and the issues of their effectiveness in the political sphere of the European Union and Ukraine. The relevance of the article is due to the fact that gender quotas are a common and at the same time institutionalized mechanism for ensuring gender equality. The article uses historical, comparative and structural-functional research methods. The authors determined the legal basis of gender quotas, mechanisms for their implementation, types of quotas and criteria for their effectiveness. Legislative candidate quotas and voluntary party quotas have been found to apply in European countries. The experience of applying gender quotas in the EU and Ukraine was studied. Gender quotas have been shown to increase women's representation, but not immediately after application. The effectiveness of quotas is determined by a good legal basis and the use of quotas in combination with other means. It is determined that even a single application of gender quotas has a lasting effect on increasing the number of women in representative bodies. The adoption of voluntary party quotas by leading political parties also contributes to the equal representation of women and men. In addition to directly affecting the number of women in the legislature, gender quotas indirectly affect other aspects of life. Key words: gender, gender equality, gender quotas, affirmative action, European Union.