Gender Gaps in Political Participation Across Sub-Saharan African Nations

Coffé, Hilde; Bolzendahl, Catherine

doi:10.1007/s11205-010-9676-6

Cited by 77 publications

(31 citation statements)

References 66 publications

(112 reference statements)

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“…In Latin America, for example, women who work outside the home are more likely to discuss politics or demonstrate (Desposato and Norrande, ). However, in Zambia, the gender gap in political participation persists even when controlling for socio‐economic characteristics (Coffe and Bolzendahl, ). This underscores the need to explore further factors at play.…”

Section: Literature Reviewmentioning

confidence: 99%

‘For the Elections, We Want Women!’: Closing the Gender Gap in Zambian Politics

Evans¹

2016

Development and Change

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This article examines the causes of women's rising political participation in Zambia. It argues that women's historical paucity in politics was largely the result of widely-shared gender stereotypes. These are now weakening due to growing flexibility in gender divisions of labour, which has been catalysed by worsening economic security. By performing work previously presumed to be beyond their abilities and valorized because of its association with masculinity, such women are increasingly perceived as equally capable of leadership. This gradual erosion of gender beliefs has fostered women's political participation and leadership in Zambia.

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Section: Literature Reviewmentioning

confidence: 99%

‘For the Elections, We Want Women!’: Closing the Gender Gap in Zambian Politics

Evans¹

2016

Development and Change

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“…For instance, Coffe and Bolzendahl (2011) have focused on the gender gap in political participation. They show that individual socio-economic characteristics that have been found to be important determinants of the gender gap in political participation in Western countries (see Burns (2007) are not very appropriate for explaining the gender gap in political participation in African countries.…”

Section: Related Literaturementioning

confidence: 99%

Gender difference in support for Democracy in Sub-Saharan Africa: Do social institutions matter?

Konté

Klasen²

2015

Feminist Economics

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Little investigation has been made to explain why women are less likely than are men to support democracy in sub-Saharan Africa. This gender difference in politics has been found in numerous studies and may hinder the much needed legitimation of democracy in this region. This paper addresses the question of whether this observed gender gap is due to the omission of social institutions related to gender inequality, something that affects women's daily life and deprives them of autonomy at home. We hypothesize that women who live under autocracy at home are less likely to support democracy outside, because it does not affect their private life; this follows the idea that the way women are treated in a society might have major implications for the economic, social, and political functioning of that society. We find that the gender difference in support for democracy is no longer significant after we control for gender discrimination in the family code, in physical integrity or in civil liberties. This study also provides evidence that women living in countries with favorable laws toward women are more supportive of democracy than women who do not, suggesting that democratic regimes may be more willing than are authoritarian regimes to protect laws friendly to women.

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“…Second, closely related to the present paper is the research that has analyzed various aspects of the gender difference in African political behaviour. For instance, Coffe and Bolzendahl (2011) have focused on the gender gap in political participation. They show that individual socio-economic characteristics that have been found to be important determinants of the gender gap in political participation in Western countries (see Burns (2007)) are not very appropriate for explaining the gender gap in political participation in African countries.…”

Section: Related Literaturementioning

confidence: 99%

Gender difference in support for democracy in sub-Saharan Africa: Do social institutions matter?

Konté¹

2014

WIDER Working Paper

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Little investigation has been made to explain why women are less likely than are men to support democracy in Sub-Saharan Africa. This gender difference in politics has been found in numerous studies and may hinder the much needed legitimation of democracy in this region. This paper addresses the question of whether this observed gender gap is due to the omission of social institutions related to gender inequality, something that affects women's daily life and deprives them of autonomy at home. We hypothesize that women who live under autocracy at home are less likely to support democracy outside, because it does not affect their private life; this follows the idea that the way women are treated in a society might have major implications for the economic, social, and political functioning of that society. We find that the gender difference in support for democracy is no longer significant after we control for gender discrimination in the Family Code, in physical integrity or in civil liberties. This study also provides evidence that women living in countries with favorable laws toward women are more supportive of democracy than women who do not, suggesting that democratic regimes may be more willing than are authoritarian regimes to protect laws friendly to women.

show abstract

Gender Gaps in Political Participation Across Sub-Saharan African Nations

Cited by 77 publications

References 66 publications

‘For the Elections, We Want Women!’: Closing the Gender Gap in Zambian Politics

‘For the Elections, We Want Women!’: Closing the Gender Gap in Zambian Politics

Gender difference in support for Democracy in Sub-Saharan Africa: Do social institutions matter?

Gender difference in support for democracy in sub-Saharan Africa: Do social institutions matter?

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