This article argues that in the contemporary world system higher levels of statist ideology and organization lead to the political incorporation of women. Cross-national data are analyzed to examine the influence of four measures of statist structure on two dependent variables: The level of constitutional equality between the sexes and the degree to which marital status impedes female participation in the labor force (the index of housewifery). In these analyses, all indicators of statism positively influence the constitutional status of women, and all but one statism measure reduce the negative influence of marital status. Economic development measures fail to show any appreciable effect in these analyses. The overall pattern of findings is consistent with the political incorporation of women thesis.
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