Vying for a Man Seat: Gender Quotas and Sustainable Representation in Africa

Abstract

Abstract:This article explores the impact of gender quotas on sustainable representation in Africa. Sustainable representation is broadly defined as viable and substantial political representation secured for the long run. The research draws on evidence from cross-national election data and two case studies, Uganda and Kenya, which demonstrate that women rarely exceed the minimum thresholds set by gender quotas. This suggests that these quotas may have a ceiling effect on women’s representation. For gender quotas to generate long-term representational outcomes, they must be designed to account for other characteristics of the electoral context that affect women’s participation outside the quota mandate.

Gender quotas: an interdisciplinary scoping review

“…Most research evaluates the impact of quotas at a given point in time, but it should also be assessed over a period of time. The notion of "sustainable representation" has been coined to account for the durable effects of quotas (Darhour and Dahlerup 2013;Edgell 2018). Bjarnegård et Zetterberg offer a theoretical discussion around quota type and its likeliness to durably affect parties' recruitment practices; they argue that party and legislative quotas with rank order specifications are more likely to have long-term positive effects after their retraction than reserved seats (Bjarnegård and Zetterberg 2011).…”

Affirmative action measures and electoral candidates’ positioning in Zambia

“…This has amongst other reasons led to an unprecedented interest in studies of gender quotas (Muriaas et al 2013; Bauer 2018; Kang & Tripp 2018). The main attention of these studies is establishing how and when gender quotas are likely to be adopted (Krook 2009; Tripp 2015) and what their effects are on political representation (Franceschet et al 2012; Clayton & Zetterberg 2018; Edgell 2018).…”

Cotas Eleitorais de Gênero e Representação Descritiva Feminina nas Câmaras Baixas da América Latina (1947-2021)

“…As eleições da Câmara Baixa na América Latina entre 1947 e 2020 são postas como unidade de análise, contudo nem todos os países têm o mesmo recorte temporal, pois esses têm como critério o índice de Regime político do "Varieties of Democracy" (V-Dem)(COPPEDGE et al, 2020), consequentemente, somente os anos nos quais ocorreram eleições multipartidárias estão inclusos na base de dados. Raros são os trabalhos na área sobre representação feminina que detêm um recorte temporal que abrange retroativamente a 1980 até os dias atuais(ADAMS et al 2019;EDGELL, 2018;HUGHES et al 2017; SURAY, 2019, WILLIAMS; SNIPPES, 2021), esse escopo temporal mais amplo fornece um número razoável de observações anteriores e posteriores a adoção da cota para testar as hipóteses.ainda que os partidos respeitem a porcentagem mínima da cota, podem posicioná-las no fim da lista, o que reduziria a chance de serem eleitas substancialmente. Em vista disso, cotas legislativas com sanções eleitorais e mandato de posição elegem mais mulheres que os outros desenhos de cota legislativa (H3).…”