Underrepresentation in government is a widely discussed, studied and debated phenomenon, the issue of which continues to gain greater attention and concern as the global community achieves greater levels of equality, inclusion and equity in the political realm . Underrepresentation in government excludes many from participating in the political arena based on defining characteristics of ethnic, cultural, and gender differences, to list a few. Although efforts have been made globally to reduce the gaps related to underrepresentation in politics, the phenomenon continues to prevail and affect many. It is therefore important to examine underrepresentation in politics comprehensively to determine why it prevails, where it occurs most prevalently, and the reasons for its existence. The focus of this article will be to examine gender underrepresentation in politics, trying to understand why women are less represented globally. Specifically, this article will examine the role of women in politics in both South Africa and Britain, in order to compare and contrast the different levels of representation in each region, whilst deciphering the reasons for these differences. This article aims to explore the issues surrounding the different levels of female political representation in the two regions, the implications of these different levels of representation and how history has influenced these levels of difference in both regions. Comparing the levels of female political representation in South Africa and Great Britain one can observe a large gap between the two regions. There is a clear distinction between the two, with South Africa in 5th place in the decreasing world ranking of women in national parliaments of the Inter-Parliamentary Union and the U… in the center of the paper… Annah Evelyn. 4Women in the South African Parliament: from resistance to governance. Urbana: University of Illinois Press, 2005. Web. Explains the reasons for the rather dramatic change in the levels of political representation of women in South Africa, which rose from 2.4% to 26%. It also mentions the time periods when changes in women's political representation in South Africa began to occur, it has been useful in researching the political history of women in South Africa. Bromhead, Evelyn. "Women in British Politics". Parliamentary Affairs 28 (1975): 448-450. Network. 4 February 2014. Provides insight into why women are underrepresented in British politics. This text provides particularly interesting insight because it was written in 1975, it was useful to make a comparison between the older and newer ideas, even though they turned out to be relatively similar.