The Role Of Gender And Women In Political Institutions In Africa: A Case Of Political Parties

Year 2019, , 124 - 144, 31.03.2019

İsrael Nyaburi Nyadera , Michael Otieno Kisaka

https://doi.org/10.33722/afes.496602

Cited By: 3

Abstract

The
democratization process in Africa opened up space
for the emergence of several political parties across the continent as most
countries moved from one-party rule to
multi-party democracy. This tectonic shift signaled
a new beginning in the political arena, and there were expectations that equal
representation in the political sphere
would be a by-product of the democratization process. This paper underscores
the challenge of gender inequality in representative politics and as it would be expected in patriarchal societies; women
shoulder the brunt of marginalization in the political arena.  It argues that despite the inclusion of
gender-responsive texts in political parties’ manifestoes and constitution, the
gender gap is still burgeoning. It
recommends that political parties should come up with pragmatic strategies to enhance gender equality and cease to
include gender texts as mere political rhetoric. 

Keywords

Gender Inequality, Feminism, Political Parties, Africa

References

• Banaszak, Lee Ann, Karen Beckwith and Dieter Rucht (2003), ‘When Power Relocates: Interactive Changes in Women’s Movements and States’, in Lee Ann Banaszak, Karen Beckwith and Dieter Rucht (eds), Women’s Movements Facing the Reconfigured State, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, pp. 1–29.Beckwith, Karen (2005), ‘A Common Language of Gender?’, Politics & Gender, 1: 1, 128–37.Britton, Hannah E. 2002. The incomplete revolution: South African women’s struggle for parliamentary transformation. International Feminist Journal of Politics 4 (1): 43–71. 2005. From resistance to governance: Women in the South African parliament. Champaign: University of Illinois Press. Connell, R.W. (1990), ‘The State, Gender, and Sexual Politics: Theory and Appraisal’, Theory and Society, 19: 5, 507–44.Coquery-Vidrovitch, Catherine. 1997. African women. Boulder, Colo.: Westview Press.Duerst-Lahti, Georgia and Rita Mae Kelly (eds) (1995), Gender Power, Leadership, and Governance, Ann Arbor, MI: University of Michigan Press.Ferguson, Kathy (1984), The Feminist Case Against Bureaucracy, Philadelphia, PA: Temple University Press.Frank, Liz. 1999. Women challenge “government by men for men” with the Namibian Women’s Manifesto. Sister Namibia 11 (3).Good, Regan. 2002. Rape is a prominent issue in Kenya elections. 1 April (accessed 5 August 2003). Available fromwww.womensenews.org/article.cfm/dyn/aid/864/context/archive.Hall, Peter A. (1986), Governing the Economy: The Politics of State Intervention in Britain and France, Oxford: Oxford University Press.J. Ballington and A. Karam (eds), Women in Parliament: Beyond Numbers, Handbook Series (Stockholm: International IDEA, 2005), available at <http://www.idea.int/publications/wip2/>, accessed 12 November 2013Jacobsen, K. and S. Fratzke (2016) Building Livelihoods Opportunities for Refugee Populations: Lessons from Past Practice, http://www.migrationpolicy.org/research/building-livelihood-opportunities-refugee-populations-lessons-past-practiceKittilson, Miki Caul (2006), Challenging Parties, Changing Parliaments: Women and Elected Office in Contemporary Western Europe, Columbus: Ohio State University Press.Krook, Mona Lena (2009), Quotas for Women in Politics: Gender and Candidate Selection Reform Worldwide, New York: Oxford University Press.Kulawik, Teresa (2009), ‘Staking the Frame of a Feminist Discursive Institutionalism’, Politics & Gender 5: 2, 262–271.Mackay, Fiona (2004), ‘Gender and Political Representation in the UK: The State of the “Discipline” ’, The British Journal of Politics and International Relations, 6: 1, 99–120.March, James G. and Johan P. Olsen (2005), Elaborating the “New Institutionalism”, Centre for European Studies, University of Oslo.Matland, R. E., (2006)‘Quotas: Frequency and Effectiveness’, in D. Dahlerup (ed.), Gender Quotas: a Key to Equality? (Oxford, UK: Routledge Publishing)Norris, P., ‘Comparing Legislative Recruitment’, in J. Lovenduski and P. Norris (eds), Gender and Party Politics (Place: Publisher, 2006)Phillips, Anne (ed.) (1998), Feminism and Politics, Oxford: Oxford University Press.Roza, V., Llanos, B., and Garzón de la Roza, G., Gender and Political Parties: Far from Parity (Stockholm and Washington, DC: International IDEA and IDB, 2011), available at <http://www.idea.int/publications/parties_ and_parity/en.cfm>, accessed 12 November 2013Sacchet, T., ‘Political Parties: When Do They Work for Women’, paper prepared for the United Nations Department for Economic and Social Affairs, 2005, available at <http://www.un.org/womenwatch/daw/egm/ eql-men/docs/EP.10_rev.pdf>, accessed 12 November 2013Towns, Ann (2010), Women and States: Norms and Hierarchies in International Society, New York: Cambridge University Press.Tripp, Aili Mari. 1994 2001a. New trends in women’s political Participation in Africa. Paper presented at the workshop on democracy in Africa in comparative perspective, the Democratization Seminar, Institute for International Studies and the Center for African Studies, Stanford University.Tripp, Aili, Isabel Casimiro, Joy Kwesiga, and Alice Mungwa. 2008. Women in movement: Transformations in African political landscapes. New York: Cambridge University Press.Waylen, Georgina (2007), Engendering Transitions: Women’s Mobilization, Institutions, and Gender Outcomes, Oxford: Oxford University Press.Waylen, Georgina (2007), Engendering Transitions: Women’s Mobilization, Institutions, and Gender Outcomes, Oxford: Oxford University Press.Wipper, Audrey.1989. Kikuyu women and the Harry Thuku disturbances. Africa Journal of the International African Institute 59: 300–337.Witz, Anne and Mike Savage (1992), ‘The Gender of Organizations’, in Mike Savage and Anne Witz (eds), Gender and Bureaucracy, Oxford: Blackwell, pp. 3–62.