The current study deals with how sustainable development based on an integrated process of social, economic and political action can be key to achieving and maintaining a balance between women and men in the public space. It presents how institutional and cultural factors influence the dynamics of growth of women's electoral representation in selected EU Member States that joined the European Union in 2004, so that sustainable development can take place with and for the benefit of both genders. The study states that the equal participation of women and men depending on cultural and institutional factors may be the key to positive developments that will lead to a dynamic increase in the representation of women in decision-making bodies. The perspective of both genders' participation was discussed in the context of balanced participation, which is a guiding principle of the European Union.