Women represent a slight majority of Quebec's population, yet they continue to occupy a minority of seats in its National Assembly and in Canada's House of Commons and Senate. To explain this situation, Manon Tremblay examines Quebec women's political engagements from 1791 to the present. She traces the path that led to the vote and elected office and then draws on statistics and interviews with female politicians to paint an in-depth portrait of women's under-representation and its main causes. This innovative account not only documents the significant democratic deficit in Canada's parliamentary systems, it also outlines strategies to improve women's access to legislative representation in Canada and elsewhere.