Hostname: page-component-6b989bf9dc-mbg9n Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-04-14T15:24:58.829Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

From Critical Mass to Critical Leaders: Unpacking the Political Conditions behind Gender Quotas in Africa

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  25 March 2018

Christie Marie Arendt
Christie Marie Arendt*
Affiliation:
George Washington University
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Abstract

The surge in gender quotas across Africa raises questions about the varied impacts of these measures on women's empowerment in legislatures. This study contends that we must explore the diverse political conditions under which quotas are adopted to understand the potential for empowerment in legislatures. By examining political context, we can pinpoint why political parties acquiesce to gender quotas and how they design laws to either empower women or reinforce party control. Parties influence aspects of gender quota design that have lasting effects on women legislators elected through these laws. Employing a new measure of legislative leadership equity, this article compares political conditions under which quotas are adopted across 18 African countries and the extent to which women reach leadership positions following the implementation of a quota. Levels of political competition and women's mainstream political activity at the time of gender quota adoption indicate how the interests of political parties shape the design and effects of the law. That the outcomes of gender quotas are highly contingent on adoption context suggests the need for academics and policy makers to analyze the politics behind these measures to develop country-specific approaches for empowering women in politics.

Keywords

Gender QuotasPublic PolicyAfricaWomen's Political Empowerment
Type
Research Article
Information
Politics & Gender , Volume 14 , Issue 3 , September 2018 , pp. 295 - 322
Copyright
Copyright © The Women and Politics Research Section of the American Political Science Association 2018 

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

Footnotes

*

The views and opinions expressed in this article are those of the author and are not necessarily those of the U.S. government.

I would like to thank Kimberly Morgan, Jennifer Brinkerhoff, and Eric Kramon from the George Washington University, as well as the editors and three anonymous reviewers at Politics & Gender, for their helpful comments. An earlier version of this article was presented at the Annual Meeting of the African Studies Association in Washington, DC, December 1–3, 2016.

References

REFERENCES

Bachrach, Peter, and Baratz, Morton S.. 1962. “Two Faces of Power.” American Political Science Review 56 (4): 947–52.Google Scholar
Baldez, Lisa. 2006. “The Pros and Cons of Gender Quota Laws: What Happens When You Kick Men Out and Let Women In?” Politics & Gender 2 (1): 102–9.Google Scholar
Barkan, Joel D. 2009. “African Legislatures and the ‘Third Wave’ of Democratization.” In Legislative Power in Emerging African Democracies, ed. Barkan, Joel D.. Boulder, CO: Lynne Rienner, 1–33.Google Scholar
Bashevkin, Sylvia B. 1993. Toeing the Lines: Women and Party Politics in English Canada. Toronto: Oxford University Press.Google Scholar
Bauer, Gretchen. 2012. “‘Let There Be a Balance’: Women in African Parliaments.” Political Studies Review 10 (3): 370–84.Google Scholar
Bauer, Gretchen. 2014. “‘A Lot of Headwraps’: Innovations in a Second Wave of Electoral Gender Quotas in Sub-Saharan Africa.” Working Paper, Robert Schuman Centre for Advanced Studies, European University Institute. http://cadmus.eui.eu/bitstream/handle/1814/32752/RSCAS_2014_92.pdf?sequence=1 (accessed October 26, 2017).Google Scholar
Beckwith, Karen. 2007. “Numbers and Newness: The Descriptive and Substantive Representation of Women.” Canadian Journal of Political Science 40 (1): 27–49.Google Scholar
Bjarnegård, Elin, and Zetterberg, Pär. 2016. “Political Parties and Gender Quota Implementation: The Role of Bureaucratized Candidate Selection Processes.” Comparative Politics 48 (3): 393–417.Google Scholar
Bogaards, Mattijs. 2004. “Counting Parties and Identifying Dominant Party Systems in Africa.” European Journal of Political Research 43 (2): 173–97.Google Scholar
Bonder, Gloria, and Nari, Marcela. 1995. “The 30 Percent Quota Law: A Turning Point for Women's Political Participation in Argentina.” In A Rising Public Voice: Women in Politics Worldwide, ed. Brill, Alida. New York: Feminist Press of the City University of New York, 183–93.Google Scholar
Burnet, Jennie E. 2011. “Women Have Found Respect: Gender Quotas, Symbolic Representation, and Female Empowerment in Rwanda.” Politics & Gender 7 (3): 303–34.Google Scholar
Cann, Damon. 2008. “Modeling Committee Chair Selection in the U.S. House of Representatives.” Political Analysis 16 (3): 274–89.Google Scholar
Cheng, Christine, and Tavits, Margit. 2011. “Informal Influences in Selecting Female Political Candidates.” Political Research Quarterly 64 (2): 460–71.Google Scholar
Childs, Sarah, and Krook, Mona Lena. 2008. “Critical Mass Theory and Women's Political Representation.” Political Studies 56 (3): 725–36.Google Scholar
Coppedge, Michael. 1999. “Thickening Thin Concepts and Theories: Combining Large N and Small in Comparative Politics.” Comparative Politics 31 (4): 465–76.Google Scholar
Cox, Gary. 1997. Making Votes Count: Strategic Coordination in the World's Electoral Systems. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.Google Scholar
Dahlerup, Drude. 1988. “From a Small to a Large Minority: Women in Scandinavian Politics.” Scandinavian Political Studies 11 (4): 275–97.Google Scholar
Dahlerup, Drude, and Freidenvall, Lenita. 2005. “Quotas as a ‘Fast Track’ to Equal Representation for Women.” International Feminist Journal of Politics 7 (1): 26–48.Google Scholar
Darhour, Hanane, and Dahlerup, Drude. 2013. “Sustainable Representation of Women through Gender Quotas: A decade's Experience in Morocco.” Women's Studies International Forum 41 (Part 2): 132–42.Google Scholar
Deering, Christopher, and Wahlbeck, Paul. 2006. “Determinants of House Committee Chair Selection: Republicans Play Musical Chairs in the 107th Congress.” American Politics Research 34 (2): 223–42.Google Scholar
Driscoll, Amanda, and Krook, Mona Lena. 2009. “Can There Be a Feminist Rational Choice Institutionalism?” Politics & Gender 5 (2): 238–45.Google Scholar
Fenno, Richard. 1973. Congressmen in Committees. Boston: Little, Brown.Google Scholar
Fish, M. Steven, and Kroenig, Matthew. 2009. The Handbook of National Legislatures: A Global Survey. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.Google Scholar
Franceschet, Susan, and, Piscopo, Jennifer M.. 2008. “Gender Quotas and Women's Substantive Representation: Lessons from Argentina.” Politics & Gender 4 (3): 393–425.Google Scholar
Franceschet, Susan, and, Piscopo, Jennifer M.. 2012. “Gender and Political Backgrounds in Argentina.” In The Impact of Gender Quotas, eds. Franceschet, Susan, Krook, Mona Lena, and Piscopo, Jennifer M.. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 43–57.Google Scholar
Fréchette, Guillaume R., Maniquet, Francois, and Morelli, Massimo. 2008. “Incumbents’ Interests and Gender Quotas.” American Journal of Political Science 52 (4): 891–907.Google Scholar
Gerring, John. 2007. “The Case Study: What It Is and What It Does.” In The Oxford Handbook of Comparative Politics, eds. Boix, Carles and Stokes, Susan C.. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 90–122.Google Scholar
Gilligan, Thomas W., and Krehbiel, Keith. 1987. “Collective Decision-Making and Standing Committees: An Informational Rationale for Restrictive Amendment Procedures.” Journal of Law, Economics, and Organization 3 (2): 287–335.Google Scholar
Goetz, Anne Marie. 2003. “The Problem with Patronage: Constraints on Women's Political Effectiveness in Uganda. In No Shortcuts to Power: African Women in Politics and Policy Making, eds. Marie Goetz, Anne and Hassim, Shireen. New York: Zed Books, 110–39.Google Scholar
Hazan, Reuven Y., and Longley, Lawrence D.. 2000. The Uneasy Relationships between Parliamentary Members and Leaders. London: Frank Cass.Google Scholar
Heath, Roseanna Michelle, Schwindt-Bayer, Leslie A., and Taylor-Robinson, Michelle M.. 2005. “Women on the Sidelines: Women's Representation on Committees in Latin American Legislatures.” American Journal of Political Science 49 (2): 420–36.Google Scholar
Htun, Mala, and Weldon, S. Laurel. 2010. “When Do Governments Promote Women's Rights? A Framework for the Comparative Analysis of Sex Equality Policy.” Perspectives on Politics 8 (1): 207–16Google Scholar
Hughes, Melanie M., Krook, Mona Lena, and Paxton, Pamela. 2015. “Transnational Women's Activism and the Global Diffusion of Gender Quotas.” International Studies Quarterly 59 (2): 1–16.Google Scholar
Hughes, Melanie M., and Tripp, Aili Mari. 2015. “Civil War and Trajectories of Change in Women's Political Representation in Africa, 1985–2010.” Social Forces 93 (4): 1513–40.Google Scholar
International Foundation for Electoral Systems. 1993. “Report of IFES Monitoring and Observation Delegation of Morocco's Direct Legislative Elections of 1993.” http://www.ifes.org/publications/morocco-direct-legislative-elections-monitoringobservation-report-june-25-1993 (accessed October 26, 2017).Google Scholar
Jaquette, Jane. 1997. “Women in Power: From Tokenism to Critical Mass.” Foreign Policy, no. 108: 23–37.Google Scholar
Jones, Mark P. 2002. “Explaining the High Level of Party Discipline in the Argentine Congress.” In Legislative Politics in Latin America, eds. Morgenstern, Scott and Nacif, Benito. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 147–84.Google Scholar
Jones, Mark P. 2009. “Gender Quotas, Electoral Laws, and the Election of Women Evidence from the Latin American Vanguard.” Comparative Political Studies 42 (1): 56–81.Google Scholar
Josefsson, Cecilia. 2014. “Who Benefits from Gender Quotas? Assessing the Impact of Election Procedure Reform on Members of Parliament's Attributes in Uganda.” International Political Science Review 35 (1): 93–105.Google Scholar
Kang, Alice. 2013. “The Effect of Gender Quota Laws on the Election of Women: Lessons from Niger.” Women's Studies International Forum 41 (2): 94–102.Google Scholar
Kerevel, Yann, and Atkeson, Lonna Rae. 2013. “Explaining the Marginalization of Women in Legislative Institutions.” Journal of Politics 75 (4): 980–92.Google Scholar
Krook, Mona Lena. 2006. “Reforming Representation: The Diffusion of Candidate Gender Quotas Worldwide.” Politics & Gender 2: 303–27.Google Scholar
Krook, Mona Lena. 2009. Quotas for Women in Politics. Oxford: Oxford University Press.Google Scholar
Laserud, Stina, and Taphorn, Rita. 2007. “Designing for Equality: Best-Fit, Medium-Fit and Non- Favourable Combinations of Electoral Systems and Gender Quotas?” International Institute for Democracy and Electoral Assistance. https://www.idea.int/sites/default/files/publications/designing-for-equality.pdf (accessed October 26, 2017).Google Scholar
Legewie, Nicolas. 2013. “An Introduction to Applied Data Analysis with Qualitative Comparative Analysis.” Qualitative Social Research 14(3): Art. 15. http://www.qualitative-research.net/index.php/fqs/article/view/1961 (accessed October 26, 2017).Google Scholar
Longman, Timothy. 2006. “Rwanda: Achieving Equality or Serving an Authoritarian State.” in Women in African Parliaments, eds. Bauer, Gretchen and Britton, Hannah E.. Boulder, CO: Lynne Rienner, 133–50.Google Scholar
Marx, Axel. 2006. “Towards More Robust Model Specifications in QCA Results from Methodological Experiment.” COMPASS Working Paper. http://www.compasss.org/wpseries/Marx2006.pdf (accessed October 26, 2017).Google Scholar
Matland, Richard. 2006. “Electoral Quotas: Frequency and Effectiveness.” In Women, Quotas and Politics, ed. Dahlerup, Drude. London: Routledge, 275–92.Google Scholar
McBride, Dorothy, and Mazur, Amy. 2010. Politics of State Feminism: Innovation in Comparative Research. Philadelphia: Temple University Press.Google Scholar
Meier, Petra. 2004. “The Mutual Contagion Effect of Legal and Party Quotas: A Belgian Perspective.” Party Politics 10 (5): 583–600.Google Scholar
Meintjes, Sheila. 2003. “The Politics of Engagement: Women Transforming the Policy Process—Domestic Violence Legislation in South Africa.” In No Shortcuts to Power: African Women in Politics and Policy Making, eds. Goetz, Anne Marie and Hassim, Shireen. New York: Zed Books, 140–59.Google Scholar
Murray, Rainbow. 2004. “Why Didn't Parity Work? A Closer Examination of the 2002 Election Results.” French Politics 2 (3): 347–62.Google Scholar
Norris, Pippa, and Lovenduski, Joni. 1995. Political Recruitment: Gender, Race and Class in the British Parliament. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.Google Scholar
Paxton, Pamela, and Hughes, Melanie. 2015. “The Increasing Effectiveness of National Gender Quotas 1990–2015.” Legislative Studies Quarterly 40 (3): 331–62.Google Scholar
Pitkin, Hanna Fenichel. 1967. The Concept of Representation. Berkeley: University of California Press.Google Scholar
Polity IV Project. 2015. “Political Regime Characteristics and Transitions, 1800–2015.” Center for Systemic Peace. http://www.systemicpeace.org (accessed October 26, 2017).Google Scholar
Quota Project. 2015. International IDEA, Stockholm University and Inter-Parliamentary Union. http://www.quotaproject.org (accessed October 26, 2017).Google Scholar
Ragin, Charles C. 1994. Constructing Social Research. Thousand Oaks, CA: Pine Forge press.Google Scholar
Ragin, Charles C. 2008a. Redesigning Social Inquiry: Fuzzy Sets and Beyond. Chicago: University of Chicago Press.Google Scholar
Ragin, Charles C. 2008b. “Fuzzy Set Analysis: Calibration versus Measurement.” In The Oxford Handbook of Political Science, eds. Collier, David, Brady, Henry, and Box-Steffensmeier, Janet. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 174–98.Google Scholar
Ragin, Charles C., Drass, Kriss A., and Davey, Sean. 2006. Fuzzy-Set/Qualitative Comparative Analysis 2.0. Tucson: Department of Sociology, University of Arizona.Google Scholar
Rosen, Jennifer. 2013. “The Effects of Political Institutions on Women's Political Representation: A Comparative Analysis of 168 Countries from 1992 to 2010.” Political Research Quarterly 66 (2): 306–21.Google Scholar
Salih, Mohamad. 2005. African Parliaments: Between Governance and Government. New York: Palgrave Macmillan.Google Scholar
Sanbonmatsu, Kira. 2006. Where Women Run: Gender and Party in the American States. Ann Arbor: University of Michigan Press.Google Scholar
Sater, James N. 2012. “Reserved Seats, Patriarchy, and Patronage in Morocco.” In The Impact of Gender Quotas, eds. Franceschet, Susan, Krook, Mona Lena, and Piscopo, Jennifer M.. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 72–86.Google Scholar
Schwindt-Bayer, Leslie A. 2009. “Making Quotas Work: The Effect of Gender Quota Laws on the Election of Women.” Legislative Studies Quarterly 34 (1): 5–28.Google Scholar
Stetson, Dorothy McBride, and Mazur, Amy, eds. 1995. Comparative State Feminism. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage Publications.Google Scholar
Studlar, Donley T., and Matland, Richard E.. 1996. “The Contagion of Women Candidates in Single-Member District and Proportional Representation Electoral Systems: Canada and Norway.” Journal of Politics 58 (3): 707–33.Google Scholar
Threlfall, Monica. 2010. “‘State Feminism or Party Feminism?’ Feminist Politics and the Spanish Institute of Women.” In Women, Gender and Politics: A Reader, eds. Krook, Mona Lena and Childs, Sarah. New York: Oxford University Press, 327–33.Google Scholar
Towns, Ann. 2003. “Understanding the Effects of Larger Ratios of Women in National Legislatures: Proportions and Gender Differentiation in Sweden and Norway.” Women & Politics 25 (1): 1–29.Google Scholar
Tripp, Aili Mari. 2015. Women and Power in Postconflict Africa. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.Google Scholar
Tripp, Aili Mari, Casimiro, Isabel, Kwesiga, Joy, and Mungwa, Alice. 2009. African Women's Movements: Changing Political Landscapes. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.Google Scholar
Van de Walle, Nicolas, and Butler, Kimberly Smiddy. 1999. “Political Parties and Party Systems in Africa's Illiberal Democracies.” Cambridge Review of International Affairs 13 (1): 14–28.Google Scholar
Weingast, Barry R., and Marshall, William J.. 1988. “The Industrial Organization of Congress; or, Why Legislatures, Like Firms, Are Not Organized as Markets.” Journal of Political Economy 96 (1): 132–163.Google Scholar
Yoon, Mi Yung. 2008. “Special Seats for Women in the National Legislature: The Case of Tanzania.” Africa Today 55 (1): 61–86.Google Scholar