The orthodox political science literature on democratization has so far made very little mention of gender or more specifically women, despite evidence of the significant role women and women's movements have played, for example, in the return to democratic politics in much of Latin America. This is one important aspect of the analytical inadequacy of much of this work. It is clear that any analysis of democratization that fails to incorporate a gendered perspective - that ignores the actions and impact of certain groups - will be flawed. The study of comparative politics can only be improved by creating a framework for analyzing the interplay between gender relations and democratization.