非洲婦女政治參與及政治代表：盧安達與甘比亞的案例比較 - 政大學術集成

全文

(1)INTERNATIONAL MASTER’S PROGRAM IN INTERNATIONAL STUDIES NATIONAL CHENGCHI UNIVERSITY COLLEGE OF INTERNATIONAL AFFAIRS. WOMEN’S POLITICAL PARTICIPATION AND REPRESENTATION IN AFRICA:. 政治大. WHY PROGRESS IN RWANDA AND UNDER-REPRESENTATION IN THE GAMBIA?. 立. 㠀Ὢ፬ዪᨻ἞ཨ⯅ཬᨻ἞௦⾲㸸├Ᏻ㐩⯅⏑ẚவⓗ᱌౛ẚ㍑. ‧. ‧ 國. 學. STUDENT: ISATOU BITTAYE (䔊ὅⳃ) – 102862016. sit. y. Nat. io. n. al. er. ADVISOR: ASSOCIATE PROFESSOR, TITUS C. CHEN. Ch. engchi. i n U. v. MASTER’S THESIS. SUBMITTED IN PARTIAL FULLFILMENT OF REQUIREMENT FOR A GRADUATE DEGREE IN INTERNATIONAL STUDIES. JULY, 2015.

(2) WOMEN’S POLITICAL PARTICIPATION AND REPRESENTATION IN AFRICA: WHY PROGRESS IN RWANDA AND UNDER-REPRESENTATION IN THE GAMBIA? 㠀Ὢ፬ዪᨻ἞ཨ⯅ཬᨻ἞௦⾲㸸├Ᏻ㐩⯅⏑ẚவⓗ᱌౛ẚ㍑. ABSTRACT Women’s political participation and representation is crucial for gender equality to be attained.. 政治大 have seen improvements not only in the Western world but Africa as well, a continent that had 立 Politics in the world has always been male dominated for centuries. However, recent decades. ‧ 國. 學. occupied the bottom rankings of women’s political representation for long. Currently, the leading country in female-dominated parliaments is Rwanda with 63.8% women in its Chamber of. ‧. Deputies and 38% in the Senate. On the other hand, countries like The Gambia have been. sit. y. Nat. lagging behind in women’s political participation and representation for decades, and only 9.4%. io. er. women are presently represented in the country’s parliament. This thesis argued that the different levels of national leadership’s political will to gender equality in each country is the key. al. n. v i n determinant of progress in women’s C political and representation in decision-making U h e nparticipation i h gc bodies in both respective countries.. Key Words: Women, Political Participation, Political Representation, Rwanda, The Gambia. 1.

(3) TABLE OF CONTENTS ACKNOWLEDGEMENT .......................................................................................................................... 13 CHAPTER 1 ............................................................................................................................................... 14 INTRODUCTION ...................................................................................................................................... 14 BACKGROUND .................................................................................................................................... 14 RESEARCH JUSTIFICATION AND CASE SELECTION .................................................................. 17 Why Rwanda and The Gambia? ......................................................................................................... 18 RESEARCH DESIGN ............................................................................................................................ 28. 政治大 Research Statements ........................................................................................................................... 29 立. Research Question .............................................................................................................................. 28. ‧ 國. 學. Research Methodology ....................................................................................................................... 29 DEFINITION OF KEY TERMS ............................................................................................................ 31. ‧. Political Participation .......................................................................................................................... 31. y. Nat. Political Representation ...................................................................................................................... 32. io. sit. Political Will ....................................................................................................................................... 32. n. al. er. Temporary Special Measures .............................................................................................................. 33. Ch. i n U. v. STRUCTURE OF RESEARCH ............................................................................................................. 34. engchi. RESEARCH LIMITATIONS ................................................................................................................. 35 CHAPTER 2 ............................................................................................................................................... 37 REVIEW OF LITERATURE ON WOMEN’S POLITICAL PARTICIPATION AND REPRESENTATION .................................................................................................................................. 37 INTRODUCTION .................................................................................................................................. 37 STATE OF WOMEN’S POLITICAL STATUS .................................................................................... 38 Modernization Theory......................................................................................................................... 42 Political and Institutional Factors ....................................................................................................... 46 Cultural Obstacles ............................................................................................................................... 55 2.

(4) Role of Women’s Movement .............................................................................................................. 60 EXISTING LITERATURE ON WOMEN’S POLITICAL PARTICIPATION AND REPRESENTATION IN RWANDA AND THE GAMBIA .................................................................. 62 Factors Influencing the Critical Mass in the Rwandan Parliament ..................................................... 62 Women’s Political Status in The Gambia: Factors Influencing Under-Representation ...................... 67 Critique of the Literature..................................................................................................................... 69 CHAPTER 3 ............................................................................................................................................... 74 WOMEN’S POLITICAL PARTICIPATION AND REPRESENTATION IN RWANDA ....................... 74. 治政 Political System .................................................................................................................................. 76 大立 STATUS OF WOMEN’S POLITICAL PARTICIPATION AND REPRESENTATION ..................... 78. NATIONAL CONTEXT ........................................................................................................................ 74. ‧ 國. 學. Women in Parliament.......................................................................................................................... 78 Women in Ministerial Positions.......................................................................................................... 81. ‧. Women in Local Governance ............................................................................................................. 83. Nat. sit. y. THE GENOCIDE AND CHANGING GENDER ROLES IN RWANDA............................................. 88. er. io. FACTORS CONTRIBUTING TO PROGRESS OF WOMEN’S POLITICAL REPRESENTATION . 90. al. v i n Ch Institutional Factors .......................................................................................................................... 103 engchi U n. Normative Factors ............................................................................................................................... 90. Organizational Factors ...................................................................................................................... 108. CONCLUSION ..................................................................................................................................... 115 CHAPTER 4 ............................................................................................................................................. 117 WOMEN’S POLITICAL PARTICIPATION AND REPRESENTATION IN THE GAMBIA .............. 117 NATIONAL CONTEXT ...................................................................................................................... 117 Political System ................................................................................................................................ 118 STATUS OF WOMEN’S POLITICAL PARTICIPATION AND REPRESENTATION ................... 120 Women in Parliament........................................................................................................................ 121 3.

(5) Women in Ministerial Positions........................................................................................................ 122 Women in Local Governance ........................................................................................................... 124 FACTORS INFLUENCING WOMEN’S POLITICAL UNDER-REPRESENTATION .................... 129 Normative Factors ............................................................................................................................. 129 Institutional Factors .......................................................................................................................... 141 Organizational Factors ...................................................................................................................... 142 CONCLUSION ..................................................................................................................................... 147 CHAPTER 5 ............................................................................................................................................. 149. 政治大 COMPARISON OF POLITICAL WILL AS THE KEY DETERMINANT TO WOMEN’S 立 PARTICIPATION AND REPRESENTATION ................................................................................... 149. ANALYSIS OF FINDINGS ..................................................................................................................... 149. ‧ 國. 學. ANALYSIS OF THEORIES EXPLAINING WOMEN’S UNDER-REPRESENTATION IN THE CASE STUDIES ................................................................................................................................... 155. ‧. PROPOSED MEAURES TO BRIDGE THE GAP BETWEEN DE JURE AND DE FACTO EQUALITY IN THE GAMBIA ........................................................................................................... 156. Nat. sit. y. Increase Leadership’s Political Will ................................................................................................. 157. ii.. Adoption of Quotas by Political Parties .................................................................................... 159. al. v i n C h ................................................................................... Supporting Institutional Mechanisms 159 engchi U n. iii.. er. Adequate Legal Framework ...................................................................................................... 158. io. i.. Increase Civil Society Campaign and Advocacy .............................................................................. 160 Capacity Building for Women Politicians ........................................................................................ 161 CHAPTER 6 ............................................................................................................................................. 162 CONCLUSION ......................................................................................................................................... 162 OVERALL CONCLUSION ................................................................................................................. 162 LESSONS LEARNT ............................................................................................................................ 164 IMPLICATIONS FOR FUTURE RESEARCH ................................................................................... 166 BIBLIOGRAPHY ..................................................................................................................................... 180 4.

(6) List of Tables Table 1: Parliamentary Composition of Women in Rwanda from 1965 – 2015 ………85 Table 2: Cabinet Composition of Women in Rwanda from 2000 – 2014………………86 Table 3: Composition of Women in The Gambian Parliament from 1965 – 2015…….125 Table 4: Cabinet Composition of Women in The Gambia from 2000 – 2014…………126. 立. 政治大. ‧. ‧ 國. 學. n. er. io. sit. y. Nat. al. Ch. engchi. 5. i n U. v.

(7) List of Figures Figure 1: Current Status of Women’s Representation in Decision-Making Institutions……….87 Figure 2: Current Status of Women’s Representation in Decision-Making Institutions in The Gambia…………………………………………………………………………………………127. 立. 政治大. ‧. ‧ 國. 學. n. er. io. sit. y. Nat. al. Ch. engchi. 6. i n U. v.

(8) LIST OF APENDICES Appendix. 1:. Synopsis. of. Legal. and. Policy. Framework. on. Rights…………………………………..166. 立. 政治大. ‧. ‧ 國. 學. n. er. io. sit. y. Nat. al. Ch. engchi. 7. i n U. v. Women’s. Political.

(9) List of Abbreviations ACDHRS. African Centre for Democracy and Human Rights Studies. ACHPR. African Charter on Human and People’s Rights. AFPRC. Armed Forces Provisional Ruling Council. AI. Amnesty International. APRC. Alliance for Patriotic Reorientation and Construction. AU. African Union. ‧ 國. African Union Solemn Declaration on Gender Equality in Africa Banjul City Council. ‧. BBC. 立. 學. AU SD. 政治大. British Broadcasting Corporation. BDFA. Beijing Declaration and Platform for Action. CEDAW. Convention on the Elimination of all forms of Discrimination. n. sit. er. io. al. y. Nat. BBC. Ch. Against Women. engchi. i n U. v. CHRI. Common Human Rights Institute. CIA. Central Intelligence Agency. CPRW. Convention on the Political Rights of Women. CSOs. Civil Society Organizations. 8.

(10) DPI. Islamic Democratic Party. ECOWAS. Economic Community of West African State. FFRP. Forum des Femmes Rwandaises Parlementaires, or Forum of Rwandan Women Parliamentarians. FH. Freedom House. FLAG. Female Lawyers Association of The Gambia. GA. General Assembly. ‧ 國. 學. GAMCOTRAP. 立. 政治大. Gambia Committee on Traditional Practices Affecting the Health. ‧. of Women and Children. Nat. GII. Gender Inequality Index. n. al. er. sit. y. Global Gender Gap. io. GGP. Ch. engchi. GMC. Gambia Moral Congress. GoG. Government of The Gambia. GoR. Government of Rwanda. GPDP. Gambia People’s Democratic Party. GR. General Recommendation. GSB. Gambia Bureau of Statistics. 9. i n U. v.

(11) HDR. Human Development Report. HRW. Human Rights Watch. ICCPR. International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights. ICESCR. International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights. ICG. International Crisis Group. IDEA. Institute for Democracy and Electoral Assistance. Inter-Parliamentary Union Kanifing Municipal Council. ‧. KMC. 學. IPU. ‧ 國. IEC. 政治大 Independent Electoral Commission 立. Local Government Authorities. MDG. Millennium Development Goal. MDR. Democratic Republican Movement. NA. National Assembly. NADD. National Alliance for Democracy and Development. NCP. National Convention Party. NDAM. National Democratic Action Movement. NDI. National Democratic Institute. n. Ch. engchi. 10. sit er. io. al. y. Nat. LGA. i n U. v.

(12) NGO. Non-Governmental Organization. NGP. National Gender Policy. NISR. National Institute of Statistics of Rwanda. NRP. National Reconciliation Party. OAU. Organization of African Unity. PDC. Centralist Democratic Party. PDOIS. 政治大 People’s Democratic Organization for 立 Party for Democratic Renewal Protocol on Good Governance and Democracy. Nat. sit. y. ‧. PGGD. ‧ 國. PDR. 學. Socialism. Independence. PPC. Party for Progress and Concord. PPP. People’s Progressive Party. PR. Proportional Representation. PRB. Population Reference Bureau. PS. Socialist Party. PSD. Social Democratic Party. n. al. er. Liberal Party. io. PL. Ch. engchi. 11. i n U. v. and.

(13) PSP. Solidarity and Prosperity Party. PSR. Rwandan Socialist Party. RPF. Rwandan Patriotic Front. TANGO. The Association of Non-Governmental Organizations in The Gambia. TSMs. Temporary Special Measures. UDHR. Universal Declaration on Human Rights. UDPR. Democratic Popular Union of Rwanda. ‧ 國. United Nations. ‧. United Nations Charter. y. Nat. sit. UNC. 立. 學. UN. 政治大. UNDP. United Nations Development Programme. UNWCW. United Nations World Conference on Women. US DS. United State Department of State. WANEP. West African Network of Peacebuilding. WB. World Bank. WEF. World Economic Forum. n. al. er. United Nations Division for the advancement of Women. io. UNDAW. Ch. engchi. 12. i n U. v.

(14) ACKNOWLEDGEMENT I am profoundly grateful to certain individuals and institutions who have greatly contributed in seeing me through the completion of this work. First, I would like to thank the Taiwan International Cooperation Development Fund (TaiwanICDF) for granting me scholarship to pursue a master’s degree in Taiwan that has led me writing this thesis. I am particularly grateful to my Advisor, Professor Titus C. Chen whose meticulous feedback and guidance saw this work to fruition. Also, I must thank my thesis. 政治大. committee members for their wonderful comments and advice through this process.. 立. To my family, I am truly grateful for the continuous motivation, support and prayers throughout. ‧ 國. 學. my academic pursuit. My wonderful husband Kebba Jobe, you are one incredible person who in no small measure contributed to the success of this work. I wouldn’t have reached this level. ‧. without your constant support, encouragement, prayers and advice. A true friend and sister,. y. Nat. sit. Oumie Sissokho I wouldn’t end without extending gratitude to you. You have been a great. n. al. er. io. supporter throughout my stay in Taiwan and your encouragement, guidance and assistance is truly appreciated.. Ch. engchi. i n U. v. To the wonderful staff of IMPIS, I say thank you all for the support and hospitality. Finally, my classmates, friends and IMPIS family, you have all made my stay in Taiwan a memorable one. Your friendship and altruism shall forever be treasured.. 13.

(15) CHAPTER 1. INTRODUCTION BACKGROUND Gender equality and women’s empowerment is no longer seen as a radical initiative by gender activists and feminists in the twenty - first century. As a human rights and development issue, it has been studied in theoretical and empirical basis. For decades many scholars have explored. 政治大 public spheres. Works by Tremblay 立 (2008), Markham (2012), Steady (2011), Delvin and Elgie. gender - related themes and studies, including women’s political representation and leadership in. ‧ 國. 學. (2008) and Markham (2013) have focused on women representation in decision making in public spheres; impact of women’s political representation; obstacles to equal gendered political. ‧. participation and male domination of parliaments in almost three quarters of the world’s. sit. y. Nat. parliaments. Other scholars like Dahlerup and Freidenvall (2006) focus on measures to ensure. n. al. er. io. equal political representation of women such as gender quotas. The inequality between men and. v. women have existed for centuries in almost all domains, however, the unequal representation in. Ch. engchi. i n U. public decision making remains to be one of the greatest disparity. According to the Inter-Parliamentary Union (2008), women have been sidelined over the years in governance structures where decisions of political and legislative priorities are made. Equal and effective political participation and representation by all is not only a human rights issue but a yardstick for democracy. Even though research has shown that the full enjoyment of women’s rights to political participation and representation has a greater link with a nation’s economic advancement and democracy, women’s full and effective engagement in politics continues to be minimal compared to their male counterparts. Scholars such as Makham (2013) 14.

(16) and Osborn (2012) argued that women’s effective political participation and representation could lead to policy changes in critical issues of concern for women and improved living standard. Makham observes that countries with women political leaders often experience higher standards of living with positive developments in education, infrastructure and health, and increased democracy (Makham, 2013). Women’s political representation has significant impact on a country’s development, and substantial studies have generally agreed that states with more female parliamentarians have. 政治大 political representation have more 立policies that addressed women’s issues and at the same time. influenced their development endeavors. As Osborn (2012) argue, countries with high women. ‧ 國. 學. gave women more opportunities to control and influence other policy issues. Arguably, women’s effective political participation and adequate representation in political institutions could lead to. ‧. policy changes in critical issues of concern for women. As outlined in the Inter-Parlimentary. sit. y. Nat. Union (2008) survey, women representatives tend to prioritize issues of social and development. io. er. matters in areas of gender equality, family-related concerns, health and education. This view is. al. v i n C over decision making participation will lead to their influenceh e n g c h i U regarding national budgets, policy n. further consolidated by the arguments of Bauer and Britton (2006) that women’s political. priorities and ideological direction of government policies. The full enjoyment of women’s right to political participation and representation also contributes to consolidating democracy as popular citizen participation is a basic characteristic of genuine democracy. As argued by Tocqueville, the political essence of citizenship is citizens partaking in the governing process (Tocqueville, 2000 as cited in Nabaneh, 2014). Therefore, a country cannot be considered fully democratic if half of its population is not represented in key decision making bodies. This view is substantiated by Kasse (2004) as she expounded that a country with 15.

(17) half of its population left behind in the formulation and implementation of decisions in public spheres cannot be considered democratic. Furthermore, Cammisa and Reingold (2004) have shown that women’s political participation results in tangible gains for democratic governance such as greater responsiveness to citizens’ needs. As reiterated by representatives of world governments at the Fourth World Conference on Women in Beijing in 1995, “women’s equal participation in decision-making is not only a demand for justice or democracy, but can also be seen as a necessary condition for women’s. 政治大 making, the goals of equality, 立 development and peace cannot be achieved,” (UNDAW, 2007,. interests to be taken into account. Without the perspective of women at all levels of decision -. ‧ 國. 學. p.7). The significance of women’s political participation and representation was further indicated in the agreed conclusions of the fiftieth session of the Commission on the Status of Women;. ‧. “without the active participation of women and incorporation of women’s perspectives at levels. sit. y. Nat. of decision making, the goals of equality, development and peace cannot be achieve, and that. io. al. er. women’s equal participation is a necessary condition for women’s and girls’ interests to be. v. n. accounted and is needed to strengthen democracy and promotes its functioning” (UN Women, 2006, paragraph 1).. Ch. engchi. i n U. Nonetheless, women continue to be under-represented in key decision making bodies in most countries in Africa. This is evident in countries like The Gambia where women have traditionally been under-represented in the country’s political discourse at decision making level. Therefore, as argued by Nabaneh (2014), revamping the governance framework to include women in the decision making process, especially in matters of local development, is essential.. 16.

(18) Although the African continent has fared marginally on women’s political participation as fourteen countries have met or exceeded the 30% benchmark for women representation in decision making1 and the regional average of women’s parliamentary representation has doubled within a decade, political participation continues to be a ‘men’s club’ in the continent. While countries in the South and East Africa such as Rwanda, Seychelles and South Africa have been progressing on women’s parliamentary representation, countries in the West like The Gambia, Benin, Nigeria and Congo have less than 10% women parliamentarians. Currently, there are only. 治政大Republic Catherine Samba-Panda of the conflict ridden Central African 立. three female Presidents in the continent, Ellen Johnson Sirleaf of Liberia, Interim President, 2. and the recent addition,. Ameenah Gurib-Fakim of Mauritius who was appointed to the presidency by the Mauritius. ‧ 國. 學. parliament upon former president Kailash Purryag’s resignation on the 29th May, 2015 (The. ‧. News, 2015). At ministerial level, Cape Verde, Rwanda, South Africa, Tanzania, Burundi, Kenya, Uganda, Malawi and Madagascar lead the continent as they exceed the 30% benchmark. y. Nat. n. i n U. RESEARCH JUSTIFICATION AND CASE SELECTION. Ch. engchi. er. io. al. sit. while others continue to perform poorly.. v. Realizing that no country can develop without the inclusion of its women in the decision making and development process, it is motivating to research a topic related to gender equality and 1. Women in national parliaments, Inter - Parliamentary Union (2015) Central African Republic has a history of civil unrest over the last decade. Violence broke out again in 2013 following a coup of former President François Bozizé leading to his fled of the country. Following the end of Bozize’s rule, conflict had intensified between Christians and Muslims leaving the office of Presidency in the hands of Interim President Djotodia who resigned and Alexandre - Ferdinand Nguendet took over. However, on 20th January, Interim President Catherine Samba - Panda was elected by the National Transitional Council to take charge of the country which is seemingly becoming another failed state of the continent. See the CIA FactBook 2014 for further details. For detailed account of the conflict, see (International Crisis Group, 2013) 2. 17.

(19) politics. Since the enjoyment of human rights by all citizens without discrimination is one of the yardsticks in measuring a country’s democratic institutions, thus women’s full enjoyment of their right to political participation and representation is essential. The justification of this research is conceived as a result of African women’s limited enjoyment of their fundamental human rights, particularly the right to political participation and representation. Although Rwanda’s women parliamentary representation reached 63.8% in 2013, The Gambia on the other hand has continued to poorly perform on gender-equality in politics. It is interesting. 政治大 political participation and representation 立 in respective countries. As a result, this thesis will focus to undertake research in these two countries because of the different phenomenon of women’s. ‧ 國. 學. on Rwanda and The Gambia as case studies in order to analyze the progress and challenges of women’s political participation and representation in Africa.. ‧. Why Rwanda and The Gambia?. y. Nat. io. sit. Emanating from a destructive genocide in 1994, Rwanda has progressed over the years on. n. al. er. women’s political participation and representation. Women’s political representation currently. Ch. i n U. v. stands at 63.8% in the Chamber of Deputies and 38.5% in the Senate (IPU, 2015). Evidence has. engchi. shown that Rwanda’s women’s political participation and representation began in 1965 when the first female parliamentarians were elected, but female representation in parliament had been less than 20% until the country was plunged into genocide in 1994 (Powley 2005). Rwanda’s significant women’s representation took off after the genocide when a new constitution came into being that set aside 30% representation for women in all decision making bodies. According to scholars such as Bauer and Britton (2006), women’s progressive political empowerment is due to the legal and institutional reforms initiated by the government after the genocide. Since Rwanda is the shining example of women’s political participation and representation in Africa, it 18.

(20) would be interesting to examine the interventions and mechanisms that resulted in the country’s political gender parity. Moreover, even though both countries are developing African countries with entrenched socio–cultural values, though not unique to them, Rwanda has enjoyed a higher-level economic development than The Gambia as the UNDP Human Development Report 2014 ranks it 151 while The Gambia ranks 172 out of 187 countries (UNDP, 2014). As scholars have hypothesized that a country’s economic development impacts on women’s political participation and representation, one could argue that Rwanda is expected to show higher women. 治政 in Rwanda’s political landscape should be attributed to the 大 Rwandan leadership’s political will 立. participation in politics than The Gambia. However, I argue that the progress of gender equality. that ensued in the post-genocide period.. ‧ 國. 學. Gambian women have long been active in politics in the country. However, their political. ‧. engagement has always been at the surface level as they play the role of being cheerleaders,. sit. y. Nat. serving as ‘Yai-compins’ (literally means heads of ad hoc groups created for mobilization of. io. er. partisan political support) mobilizing at grassroots level to canvass votes for male candidates. In. al. v i n C demographic U (Chant and Touray, 2012). In addition,hthe e n g c h i statistics has shown that 51% of the n. addition, women have been highly voting in the country’s elections as reflected in their turnout. country’s population are women (Gambia Bureau of Statistics, 2013). Furthermore, women have also contributed to the economic development of the country, as they have constituted 84% of the male rate of the country’s labor force mostly in the informal sector (Chant and Touray, 2012). Astoundingly, women have been traditionally sidelined in the decision making process of The Gambia as they are grossly under-represented in key decision making institutions such as the parliament and local government councils.. 19.

(21) Despite gaining the right to equally participate in politics as men in 1961 (IPU, 1995), women’s participatory role has traditionally been voting for male candidates and not women representing themselves. The Gambia is the only country in Africa with a female and the longest serving Vice-President who also doubles as Minister for Women’s Affairs since 1996 to date, yet women’s parliamentary representation is less than 10%. Though rather slow and un-static, but women’s representation is greater at cabinet than elective positions as the current cabinet comprised of five female ministers (including the Vice-President) out of nineteen (19) ministers.. 治政大 and Petroleum (Government. They occupy ministerial portfolios such as Basic and Secondary Education, Foreign Affairs, Attorney General and Justice,. 立. of The Gambia, 2015).. Representation at the National Assembly is still at ebb as women parliamentarians constitute. ‧ 國. 學. only 9.4% (IPU, 2015). In spite of the significant role women play in the economy particularly in. ‧. agriculture and the contributions of rural women, the under-representation is more extreme at local government level as there are only 18 women councilors out of 137 councilors (Nabaneh,. y. Nat. er. io. sit. 2014), one female Governor out of the seven administrative areas (happens for the first time in 2014) and only 7 women Alkalolus (Village heads) out of 1, 807 (Chant and Touray, 2012).. al. n. v i n C Paradoxically, the under-representationhofewomen in The n g c h i UGambia’s political landscape occurs amid the existence of several international instruments that the country is a party to; legislations and policies that guarantee equality, non-discrimination and promote women’s effective political participation and representation. The Gambia committed herself to the International Convention on Political Rights of Women, Convention on the Elimination of All forms of Discrimination against Women (CEDAW), African Charter on Human and People’s Rights, the African Protocol to the African Charter on Human and People’s Rights on the Rights of Women in Africa, Beijing Declaration and Platform for Action, AU Solemn Declaration and ECOWAS Protocol on Good 20.

(22) Governance and Democracy and signed and ratified all these legal instruments. In addition, the constitution of The Gambia guarantees equal participation of both men and women in the political affairs of the country without any discrimination.3 According to the Women’s Act 2010 of The Gambia, temporary special measures aimed at ensuring de facto equality between men and women should be adopted.4 Yet, women’s political representation in the country’s legislature has never reached 15% since they gained the right to political participation. This is because of the limited political will to gender equality to fully. 政治大 representation. In spite of the立 different phenomenon of women’s political representation,. implement the laws and policies promoting women’s rights including political participation and. ‧ 國. 學. Rwanda and the Gambia share the following similarities that one would have expected a similar outcome of women’s political engagement.. ‧. Historical Experience. y. Nat. sit. Rwanda and The Gambia are both former colonies of Western powers. Rwanda gained. n. al. er. io. independence from Belgium in 1960 while The Gambia was granted independence by Britain in. i n U. v. 1965. In both countries, women were granted the right to political participation to vote and. Ch. engchi. contest for elective office almost at the same period, 1960 and 1961 in The Gambia and Rwanda respectively (IPU, 1995). Scholars such as Inglehart and Norris (2003) and Henderson and Jeydel (2003) argued that a country’s length of democracy influence women’s political participation as countries with long standing democracies tend to have higher women’s political participation. Both Rwanda and The Gambia have a recent history of self-rule and limited strong political institutions for the promotion of democracy. In addition, demographic statistics showed. 3 4. See section 26, Constitution of The Gambia (1997) See section 15 of the Women’s Act of The Gambia (2010) 21.

(23) that both countries have high women population; 51% in The Gambia and 51.8% in Rwanda (Gambia Bureau of Statistics, 2013; Institute of Statistic of Rwanda, 2012). With high women population in both countries, the possibility of the similar situation of women’s political representation could have been predicted if women were to elect themseleves. Moreover, both Rwanda and The Gambia are developing African countries with low levels of economic development and high women poverty. As scholars have argued that a country’s economic development that may impact on women’s political participation and representation.. 政治大 the two countries. However, major 立attributions to the progressive women’s political participation. Therefore one would have pictured a similar phenomenon of women’s political participation in. ‧ 國. 學. and representation in Rwanda lies on the legal guarantee of quota for women. However, I argue that the leadership’s political will resulted to the progress of women’s participation and. ‧. representation in politics.. sit. y. Nat. Regime Type. n. al. er. io. Rwanda has a history of political violence even before it gained self-determination. The first. i n U. v. political violence began in 1959 through the ‘Hutu Revolution’ challenging Tutsi domination in. Ch. engchi. the Belgian administration and the tensions continued till 1961 (Government of Rwanda, 2008; Bertelsmann Stiftung, 2012). The violence left about 100,000 Tutsis exiled to neighboring countries as the Hutu majority dominated the country’s leadership when Rwanda gained independence in 1962 (Bertelsmann Stiftung, 2012). President Gregoire Kayibanda led government established a one party state in Rwanda until it was overthrown in 1973 in a military coup d’état by Major General Juvenal Habyarimana (Government of Rwanda, 2008). However, Habyarimana also ruled Rwanda with an iron fist, suppressing rights and preventing the exiled Tutsi population from entering Rwanda (Bertelsmann Stiftung, 2012). This led to majority of the 22.

(24) exiled Tutsis in Uganda to form a guerrilla movement dubbed Rwandan Patriotic Front and attacked the country in 1990, leading to a civil war that continued for three years (Mamdani, 2003; Government of Rwanda, 2008; Bertelsmann Stiftung 2012). The violence climaxed into genocide that claimed about 800,000 lives in 1994. Following the end of genocide, a transition government by the Rwandan Patriotic Front came into being until 2003, when a new constitution established multi-party democracy in Rwanda and elections held. Since 2003, the RPF has been in power under President Paul Kagame whose. 治政 Rights Initiative, 2009; Reyntjens, 2010). Opposition parties大 exist but have limited control in the 立 government has been considered authoritarian and intolerant to dissent (Commonwealth Human. government as RPF dominate both Senate and Chamber of Deputies and local councils.. ‧ 國. 學. According to Bertelsmann Stiftung (2012) the long standing opposition party, Democratic. ‧. Republican Movement (MDR) was dissolved in 2003 and new parties such as Democratic Green Party of Rwanda and the Social Party Imberakuri (PSI) were banned from participating in. er. io. sit. y. Nat. elections.. Furthermore, aspiring candidate Victoire Ingabire was arrested in 2010 in the bid up to the. n. al. Ch. i n U. v. elections upon her return from the Netherlands, owing to allegations of her having links with the. engchi. rebel groups in Democratic Republic of Congo (Bertelsmann Stiftung 2012). Rwanda has been ranked ‘not free’ according to the 2014 Freedom House global rankings of freedom in the world (Freedom House, 2014). The Gambia on the other hand, immediately established a multi-party democracy following independence and participation of political parties in the country’s political landscape existed. The country was a shining example as longest multiparty democracy in a continent where authoritarian regimes were pervasive (Edie, 2000). Although, The Gambia has multi-party. 23.

(25) democracy, the ruling party (People’s Progressive Party) has been the dominant party throughout the 29 years of existence of the first republic as the opposition parties were weak (Edie, 2000). According to Edie (2000), there was no change in the electoral system as the opposition has little say in the PPP-controlled government and civil society was weak with no strong independent media, thus making criticisms of government difficult. Nonetheless, the country was considered as one of the most stable in the region with no history of political violence except the aborted coup d’état in 1981.. 政治大 the Lieutenant Yahya Jammeh 立 that toppled the government of President Jawara, and placed the. However, the political history of The Gambia changed with the July 1994 bloodless coup led by. ‧ 國. 學. country in military rule for two years from 1994 to 1996 (Edie, 2000). Following the end of transition in 1996, The Gambia held elections where the coup military leader turned-civilian,. ‧. Yahya Jammeh, contested under the ticket of Armed Forces Provisional Ruling Council. sit. y. Nat. (AFPRC) and won. However, scholars such as Edie (2000) regarded the elections as neither free. io. al. er. nor fair as the transition government led by Yahya Jammeh organized the process of elections,. v. n. appointed members of the Provisional Independent Electoral Council who had no autonomy.. Ch. engchi. i n U. A new constitution was adopted in 1997 which restored multi-party democracy in The Gambia and elections held every five years. The Armed Forces Provisional Ruling Council (AFPRC) was immediately changed and given a new name Alliance for Patriotic Reorientation and Construction (APRC) and registered as a political party after President Jammeh was elected President in 1996 and became Chairman of the party. Since then he has been winning the presidential elections in the country and his party dominates both the parliament and local government councils. However, observers like ECOWAS regarded the recent election of 2011 not democratic as the conditions preceding elections are intimating and not conducive for the 24.

(26) conduct of free, fair and transparent elections (BBC, 2011). The Commonwealth sent in an observer mission, who stated in its Observer Team report that the election was marred by “abuse of incumbency,” and observers criticized the shortened campaign period of eleven days (US Department of State, 2012). According to the report of the U.S State Department on Human Rights in The Gambia, government’s intimidation of voters and ruling party’s control of the media made Gambian citizens unable to exercise their constitutional rights of peaceful change of their government in the 2011 election (US Department of State, 2012).. 政治大 and Human Rights Watch as authoritarian 立 and The Gambia has always been rated by Freedom. The APRC regime has often been criticize by rights organizations such as Amnesty International. ‧ 國. 學. House as ‘not free’ since 2007. Human rights violations are pervasive and the government is intolerant to dissent and opposition is weakened with limited access to the public media. 5 Over. ‧. the years, there has been crack down on the opposition members. A prominent Opposition leader. sit. y. Nat. of the People’s Democratic Organization for Independence and Socialism (PDOIS), Mr Halifa. io. er. Sallah was arrested and imprisoned in Mile 2 prison for treason charges in the beginning of 2009. al. v i n C h (Amnesty International, exposed in the Gambian independent media 2010). He was subsequently engchi U n. because of a “witch craft hunt” campaign perpetuated by the government he investigated and. released in March after spending weeks in prison and his charges were later dropped by the government (Amnesty International, 2010). Currently, three members of the opposition United Democratic Party, including its National Treasurer, Mr Amadou Sanneh are serving five years jail term of sedition which they were convicted of in December 2013 (The Point Newspaper, 2013). For scholars like Edie (2000). 5. See annual Human Rights country reports on The Gambia by Amnesty International, Human Rights Watch and U.S Department of States 25.

(27) throughout the history of The Gambia, since independence there has been one - party domination which sustained the incumbent through the use of state resources, suppression of opposition, rigging elections and changing of constitution (Edie, 2000 p.192). Thus, one can conclude that both Rwanda and The Gambia have similar history of authoritarian regime which scholars argued is unfavorable to women’s political participation. However, authoritarian Rwanda has demonstrated political will to women’s political equality as reflected in the adoption of a gender-sensitive constitution and high female political representation.. 政治大. Traditional Values on Women’s Political Rights. 立. Rwanda and The Gambia like most African countries have entrenched socio–cultural values such. ‧ 國. 學. as patriarchy that consider women as subordinates to men. In patriarchal societies, women’s role is limited to the private sphere and they are ascribed traditional gender roles of home maintainers. ‧. and caregivers whose ‘proper’ place is not in the public space. Africa has long had a. y. Nat. sit. male-dominant political culture, from its norms, parliamentary settings to societal perception of. n. al. er. io. women’s capability to lead in political life. As argued by Bauer and Britton (2006), political. i n U. v. participation in Africa is constrained by socio-cultural barriers. The gender-role ideology. Ch. engchi. ascribing women’s ‘proper’ place to be in the homes rather that public sphere limits their political participation. Both Rwanda and The Gambia are not immune to this political culture and as reflected in the limited role women had in governance in both countries in the post–independence period. Thus, one would have expected the similar outcome of women’s political representation in both countries to continue. However, women’s role in the Rwandan society changed after the genocide as they constituted 70% of the population in the immediate aftermath of the genocide. Consequently, women. 26.

(28) assumed the traditional ‘male’ role of household heads, financial providers and played a vital role in the economy and rebuilding of Rwanda. Contrary to the traditional pattern of post-conflict situation, women continued with such roles and became incorporated in the transitional government leading to the current high political representation in Rwanda. How Rwanda was able to break the cycle of male-dominated political terrain and emerged as a global leader in women’s parliamentary representation in post-genocide period would be interesting to investigate. The Gambia, on the other hand, continues to poorly perform on women’s political. 政治大 Legal Framework promoting Women’s 立 Political Representation engagement as the male-dominated political culture still persists.. ‧ 國. 學. Rwanda has constitutional quotas for women guaranteeing them 30% representation in all decision-making bodies. Both The Gambia and Rwanda have committed themselves to the. ‧. International Convention on Political Rights of Women, Convention on the Elimination of All. sit. y. Nat. forms of Discrimination against Women (CEDAW), African Charter on Human and People’s. io. er. Rights, the African Protocol to the African Charter on Human and People’s Rights on the Rights. al. v i n In addition, the constitution of TheCGambia equal participation of both men and h e nguarantees gchi U n. of Women in Africa, Beijing Declaration and Platform for Action, and AU Solemn Declaration.. women in the political affairs of the country without any discrimination6 and Gambia also signed the ECOWAS Protocol on Good Governance and Democracy. The Women’s Act 2010 of The Gambia called for temporary special measures aimed at ensuring de facto equality between men and women to be adopted.7 There also exists a national gender policy for the advancement of women in The Gambia which recognizes the significance of women’s political participation and representation, thereby calling for mechanisms to be in place to address women’s poor 6 7. See section 26, Constitution of The Gambia (1997) See section 15 of the Women’s Act (2010) 27.

(29) representation in politics. Despite the de jure guarantee for political equality in The Gambia, de facto equality still remains elusive as women’s full enjoyment of their political rights continues to be hindered. Accordingly, it is important to investigate why women are under-represented in The Gambia’s political landscape, yet there are legal mechanisms aimed at ensuring their representation as the case in Rwanda. Hence, it seems appropriate to examine whether The Gambia should learn the lessons of Rwanda and demonstrate strong political will to increase women’s political representation as. 政治大. the already existing gender–friendly laws are not fully enforced.. 立. Therefore, considering the above similarities and gender parity in the Rwandan parliament as the. ‧ 國. 學. most progressive in women’s political representation in Africa and The Gambia’s women under-representation, both countries are important cases to study. This research will help in. ‧. understanding the major factors that make different progress of gender equality in Rwanda and. y. Nat. sit. The Gambia. Additionally, this thesis could serve as an interesting contribution to the existing. n. al. er. io. literature on Rwanda and The Gambia’s women’s political status in particular, and Africa in. i n U. v. general considering the methodological approach and analysis to be employed. RESEARCH DESIGN. Ch. engchi. Research Question In regard to the elaboration mentioned above, this thesis aimed to answer the question: What are the key factors that make different progress of political gender equality in Rwanda and The Gambia?. 28.

(30) Research Statements In order to answer the above question, this thesis strives to prove the following research statements: (1) Different levels of political will of national leadership in Rwanda and The Gambia is the key determining factor that has led to differentiated progress of gender equality in politics in the respective countries; (2) Women’s participation in, and contribution to, the actions of the Rwandan Patriotic. 政治大. Front (RPF) during the genocide; the RPF’s exposure to gender equality while exiled in. 立. Uganda and the strategy of RPF using gender equality to repress political opposition and. ‧ 國. 學. thwart criticisms of ethnic discrimination jointly accounted for Rwandan political. politics;. ‧. leadership’s high political will for realizing gender equality in post-genocide Rwandan. sit. y. Nat. io. er. (3) It is the international instruments promoting women’s participation and representation that affect the level of women’s political participation and level of women’s representation. n. al. Ch. in public decision-making processes.. engchi. i n U. v. Research Methodology a.) Literature Review This thesis intends to analyze the successes and challenges of women’s political participation and representation in Africa with a special focus on Rwanda and The Gambia. In order to critically analyze and explain the major factors for the different outcome of women’s political participation and representation in Rwanda and The Gambia, this thesis will apply a literature. 29.

(31) review through a qualitative approach. In this method, secondary sources through the existing scholarly literature and studies on women’s participation and representation in national politics in both countries will be reviewed. However, certain quantitative data - such as women’s parliamentary and cabinet representation, number of women in local governance, female literacy rate, poverty rate and women empowerment indicators relating to Rwanda and The Gambia will be used. These data will assist in aligning qualitative findings with some quantitative realities. These data will be retrieved from the Inter - Parliamentary Union, United Nations. 政治大. Development Program, World Bank, UN Women, World Economic Forum and other data sources.. 立. ‧ 國. 學. b.) Case Studies. The research will also apply case studies approach and Rwanda and The Gambia will be used as. ‧. cases. Case studies approach as explained by George and Bennett, is “the detailed examination of. sit. y. Nat. an aspect of a historical episode to develop or test historical explanations that may be. io. er. generalizable to other events,” (George and Bennett, 2004 p.5). Since Rwanda is the leading. al. v i n Ch lagged behind as women have been traditionally over several decades, it is e n g cunder-represented hi U n. country on women’s participation and representation in decision making and The Gambia still. imperative to examine the factors that influence the varied phenomenon in both countries. c.) Document Review In addition, document review, using national constitutions, policies and international legal instruments relating to women’s political rights will be studied. Document analysis method is meant to provide comprehensive understanding of legal and policy frameworks that guarantee and promote women’s participation and representation in decision making. Furthermore, it will assist in identifying the inadequacies in the laws and policies in The Gambia. Also, through 30.

(32) document review, the country’s full and effective enforcement of the instruments and laws it signed and ratified and how it ensured, or otherwise, women’s political participation and representation will be done. DEFINITION OF KEY TERMS Political Participation Political participation as defined Conway (2001) refers to citizens’ activities aim at influencing. 治政 as citied in Verba and Nie, 1972:2) it is the activities by 大 private citizens mainly to influence 立 government either through selection of personnel or choices made by such personnel. However,. government structures and policies, and selection of decision makers. According to Teorell (2006. ‧ 國. 學. a broader definition of the term has been given by Conge (1998) as he defined it as “any action. ‧. (or inaction) of an individual or a collectivity of individuals which intentionally or unintentionally opposes or supports, changes or maintains some feature(s) of a government or. y. Nat. er. io. sit. community” (Conge, 1998 p. 246). As explained by Cho and Rudolph (2008) political participation provides mechanisms for citizens to communicate information about their interest,. n. al. Ch. i n U. v. preferences, and needs and generate pressure to respond. For this thesis, political participation is. engchi. a process in which citizens engage either directly or indirectly in political decision making activities. In a nutshell, participation exists when citizens take action for themselves or for others in legitimate formal political institutions or decision-making organs where interests and views are articulated. Although Rwanda would have been expected to be intolerant to divergent political participation including that of women because of the perceived authoritarian government, however, women actively participate in Rwandan politics. Through their high representation in parliament, women have led the enactment of gender-friendly laws and important agreements 31.

(33) signed that will impact on women’s needs, thus taking part in the governance process. Also, women appointed ministers are engaged in the policy making process and ensure that policies formulated are gendered and these has led to some progress in terms of development of the country as there is increase in female literacy rate, access to health care for women, increase female participation in labor leading to lowering of the gender inequality gap. Political Representation Political representation is defined by Sewar as “representation of interests, ideas, values,. 政治大. perspectives, collectively mediated experiences, and corporeal experiences” (Sawer, 2000. 立. p.362). For Rehfeld (2005) political representation arises and is maintained through a set of. ‧ 國. 學. procedural standards of authorization and accountability often through free and fair elections. Political representation involves actions and activities such as candidate selection, election. ‧. campaigning and voting leading for an individual or a group elected into public politcal office or. Nat. sit er. io. Political Will. y. decision making institution and that individual represent oneself or a group’s interest.. al. n. v i n In the context of this research, political C hwill is defined as aUdetermination that generates certain engchi. political actions by political actors who are involved in both political benefits and costs. Political will involves intent to undertake an action that may or may not lead to a desired outcome. Political will is a necessary factor for the offering of commitment. The source of political will may stem from personal beliefs, values, ideologies, or experiences. However, political actors’ perceived incentives, costs and risks influence the level of actors’ political will to commit to gender equality.. 32.

(34) Temporary Special Measures ‘Temporary special measures’ is a term used in the CEDAW under article 4 (1) in which state parties are obliged to adopt measures for increased women’s participation and representation in decision making and governance institution. The term ‘special measures’ in its corrective, compensatory, and promotional sense is often equated with the terms ‘affirmative action’, ‘positive action’, ‘positive measures’, ‘reverse discrimination’ and ‘positive discrimination.’8 Forms of temporary special measures include quotas for women which are adopted by many countries including Rwanda.. 立. Gender Quotas. 政治大. ‧ 國. 學. Quotas for women as defined by Dahlerup (2005) are a percentage set aside for women in either. ‧. candidate list, parliamentary assembly, a committee or government. “Quota refers to a numerical reservation for women independent of the competitors’ respective qualification” (Thabane 2006. y. Nat. io. sit. p.3). According to Dahlerup (2005) quotas are meant to increase women’s representation in. n. al. er. political decision making institutions. There are different types of quotas such as reserved seats,. Ch. constitutional quotas, and voluntary political party quotas.. engchi. i n U. v. Reserved Seats Reserved seats are specific number of seats set aside for women among representatives in parliament either by the constitution or legislation (Dahlerup, 2005). According to Ballington and Matland (2004) reserved seats exist where a certain number of seats are designated for women coming from either regions or political parties as their overall share of the national vote.. 8. General recommendation No.25, on article 4, paragraph 1 of the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Women, on temporary special measures paragraph 17 33.

(35) Voluntary Quotas Voluntary quotas are adopted by political parties committed to gender equity where a minimum percentage of candidates, usually 20% to 30%, to be nominated by the party will be women. This is implemented by parties irrespective of a constitutional requirement or national law for women to be included in decision making, though some parties have it in their constitutions and party rules. This type of quota is adopted in some African countries such as South Africa and Senegal. STRUCTURE OF RESEARCH. 治政 The structure of the thesis will be divided into six chapters. 大The first chapter introduces the 立 background of the research, justifies research and case selection, and lays out the research ‧ 國. 學. questions and statements. Also, the research methodology and structure, research limitations,. ‧. definitions of the working terms on women’s political rights will be discussed in this chapter. The second chapter will be review and critique of the existing literature on women’s political. y. Nat. io. sit. participation and representation. The theoretical explanations for women’s political. n. al. er. empowerment in Rwanda and factors influencing the under-representation in The Gambia are the focus of this chapter.. Ch. engchi. i n U. v. In the third chapter, the status of women’s political participation and representation in Rwanda will be discussed along with the factors that contributed to its progress in advancing women’s political rights. The legal and policy framework, institutional and organizational factors, and ideational factors as key determinants of the enhanced women’s political rights are the main focus of analysis in this chapter. In addition, the genocide and its influence on women’s rights will be discussed. The chapter will end with a brief analysis of the key determinant of progress in women’s political status. The fourth chapter concentrates on women’s political participation and representation in The 34.

(36) Gambia. It will examine the factors influencing women’s political under-representation in the country’s political landscape. In addition, an in-depth analysis of The Gambia’s legal and policy framework on women’s participation in decision making will be done. The chapter will end with a brief analysis of key determinants to under-representation and measures to bridge the gap between de jure and de facto equality in The Gambia. Chapter five will be comparison and analysis of the overall research question focusing on factors influencing the different outcome of women’s political participation and representation in both. 治政 In the final chapter, a conclusion will be done and possible 大 lessons to be learnt identified. Also, 立 countries.. recommendations for future work suggested on women’s political participation and. ‧ 國. 學. representation in The Gambia and other African countries.. ‧. RESEARCH LIMITATIONS. Nat. sit. y. The title of this thesis is on Africa because of the exceedingly women’s under-representation in. n. al. er. io. decision making. However, not all African countries are studied owing to time, space and. i n U. v. resource constraints, thus some generalization will be made as regards to the challenges. Ch. engchi. impeding women’s political rights in Africa. Also, this research adopts a secondary source methodology; relying on studies, empirical articles by scholars, and country reports and documents and some of the information may not be able to be verified. In addition, conducting a research on this topic would have been more intriguing if the perspectives of potential women interested in politics and organizations promoting women’s political rights could be sought. However, due to time, resource constraints and unfavorable political environment for conduct of a research on human rights in African countries, I am not able to conduct interviews or surveys for this research. Nonetheless, legal and policy documents 35.

(37) will be used as primary sources in the analysis. The aforementioned have outlined the background of this research, identified research questions and statements, define the key terms essential for this thesis. Also, the structure and limitations of this research have been explained. A justification for case selection and methodology of research has been provided. I will now turn to review the existing literature related to women’s political under-representation and progress for gender equality in Rwanda and The Gambia.. 立. 政治大. ‧. ‧ 國. 學. n. er. io. sit. y. Nat. al. Ch. engchi. 36. i n U. v.

(38) CHAPTER 2. REVIEW OF LITERATURE ON WOMEN’S POLITICAL PARTICIPATION AND REPRESENTATION INTRODUCTION In this chapter, a review of the existing literature on women’s political under-representation will be done. However, it is fitting that in discussing the factors that under-pin progress to women’s. 政治大 were granted the right to political 立participation and representation since 1953 in the first ever. political representation, a brief synopsis of the status of women in politics is highlighted. Women. ‧ 國. 學. convention on women’s rights in politics - the United Nations Convention on the Political Rights of Women (UN, 1953). This global document gave all women of the world the right to. ‧. participate in the political life of their countries without limitations based on their gender identity. sit. y. Nat. (UN, 1953). In addition, the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination. n. al. er. io. Against Women (CEDAW) reinforces women’s right to political participation as it aims to. v. bridge the existing gap between men and women and ensure no discrimination against women. Ch. engchi. i n U. based on their gender. Other international conventions, declarations and policies such as the Beijing Declaration and Platform for Action adopted at the Fourth World Conference on Women in 1995, the Protocol to the African Charter on Human and People’s Rights on the Rights of Women in Africa (Maputo protocol, 2003), the ECOWAS protocol on Democracy and Good Governance and the Millennium Development Goals (MDG 3: Promoting Gender Equality and Empower Women) all guarantee women’s right to political participation and called on governments to put up measures for the enjoyment of this right by women. However, amid the de jure guarantee of women’s rights to political participation and representation, women are still 37.

(39) struggling to enjoy equal participation and representation in politics. I will now turn to provide a brief account of women’s political status and representation. STATE OF WOMEN’S POLITICAL STATUS It is generally known that a society is built and sustained by varied roles performed by men and women under different situations. However, this reality is usually overshadowed when the roles and positions of one gender are undermined by the other, thus resulting in domination and inequality which hinder progress as effects are usually seen in the political life of such countries.. 政治大. Numerous studies have been conducted on the phenomenon of gender disparity in living. 立. patterns. Several scholars such as Cammisa and Reingold (2004), Bauer and Britton (2006),. ‧ 國. 學. Steady (2011), Osborn (2012), and Markham (2013) have written on the impact of women’s political participation and representation.. ‧. Women’s political participation and representation have an impact in changing socio–cultural. y. Nat. io. sit. norms and stereotypes that perceived women as inferior to men, thus unable to hold high public. n. al. er. office. According to Bauer and Britton (2006) the election of women in national parliaments. Ch. i n U. v. changed the long standing societal perception of women as subordinates to men. This societal. engchi. change has been reflected in some African countries with high women representation in parliament as gender-friendly laws prohibiting discrimination and stereotypes against women were enacted. As argued by Yoon (2011), increased women representation in the Tanzanian parliament led to the existence of women causes, increase women’s participation in parliamentary affairs and debates, better articulation of women’s issues, enactment of gender friendly laws and changes in societal perception about women in politics. Scholars such as Bauer and Britton (2006) argued that for gender equality to be achieved. 38.

(40) women’s political participation is necessary as women’s issues and interest will be addressed if women represent themselves. They indicated that examples have shown women in parliaments representing women’s interest and needs such as the case of Sweden. However, for such to take place Bauer and Britton (2006) argued that a critical mass is needed and elimination of factors causing imbalances and societal inequality is crucial. Scholars such as Cammisa and Reingold (2004), Steady (2011), Osborn (2012), and Markham (2013) have shown that women’s access to political office have significant impact on a country’s socio-economic progress and consolidation. 政治大 Nonetheless, the global women’s 立political representation continues to be at low pace. Bauer and of democracy.. ‧ 國. 學. Britton (2006) support this argument as they stated that the political under-representation of women makes society to lose the valuable contribution of 50% of the population and having. ‧. non-representative policies since women have different needs and priorities from those of men.. sit. y. Nat. In addition, the principles of democratic governance include responsiveness to citizens’ needs. io. al. er. and popular participation. However, Cammisa and Reingold (2004) argued that enhanced. v. n. women’s political participation results in tangible gains for democratic governance such as. Ch. greater responsiveness to citizens’ needs.. engchi. i n U. As reiterated by representatives of various governments at the Fourth World Conference on Women in Beijing in 1995, “women’s equal participation in decision-making is not only a demand for justice or democracy, but can also be seen as a necessary condition for women’s interests to be taken into account. Without the perspective of women at all levels of decision-making, the goals of equality, development and peace cannot be achieved,” (UNDAW, 2007, p.7). Bauer and Britton (2006) argued that women’s political representation can lead to institutional changes as gender ministries, commissions and departments were created to promote 39.

(41) women’s rights and monitoring of government women’s rights commitments in South Africa, Rwanda and Namibia. Moreover, women’s strategic needs were also addressed through the enacting of gender-friendly legislations, such as land rights, gender-based violence, child care, education, equal pay, health and family acts. These legislations were adopted due to the high women representation in parliament in those countries (Bauer and Britton, 2006). In spite of the existence of global, regional and sub-regional conventions and policies promoting. 政治大. and guaranteeing equal political participation and representation for both genders discussed. 立. earlier, women’s representation in political institutions still remains low. According to the Inter -. ‧ 國. 學. Parliamentary Union, the overall women representation in the world’s parliaments is 22.1% for both upper and lower houses combined (IPU, 2015). Thus, women are under-represented. ‧. palpably in the political sphere as this figure is below the United Nations recommended. y. Nat. sit. benchmark of 30% of parliamentary seats to be given to women in all national parliaments in the. n. al. er. io. world. However, the difference varied across geographical locations, religious affiliations,. i n U. v. political systems, and even economic groupings, thus affecting the global indicator of women’s. Ch. engchi. full participation and representation in politics.. However, some countries in the Nordic have been progressing over the years as women constitute 41.5% in their parliaments (IPU, 2015). The Americas and Africa have also seen some improvements over the years in the representation of the critical mass of their population as women constitute 26.5% and 22.6% in single or lower house parliaments respectively (IPU, 2015). According to the Inter-Parliamentary Union dataset, women representation in Europe (excluding Nordic countries) stood at 23.6% in lower houses.. 40.

(42) Despite the steady progress on women’s parliamentary representation in some regions, Asia has a stunted progress as women only constitute 19.0% of parliamentarian in the region (IPU, 2015). On the other hand, regions such as Arab States and the Pacific are still struggling to improve women’s political status as only 18.1% women are represented in parliaments in the Arab states, while the Pacific occupies the bottom in regional ranking with 13.1% women parliamentary representation (IPU, 2015). According to Bauer and Britton (2006), in spite of socio-cultural issues affecting African. 政治大 Africa, Mozambique, Namibia and 立Uganda have made strides in women’s political participation. countries such as patriarchy and pervasive gender inequality, countries such as Rwanda, South. ‧ 國. 學. Although there is some regional progress in Africa on women’s parliamentary representation, however there are only eleven countries in Africa where a woman is Presiding Officer of. ‧. parliament or head of one of its houses (IPU, 2015). These are Botswana (National Assembly),. sit. y. Nat. Equatorial Guinea (Senado), Gabon (Senate), Mauritius (National Assembly), Mozambique. io. er. (Assembleia da Republica), Rwanda (Chamber of Deputies), South Africa (National Assembly. al. v i n C h (IPU, 2015). While of Tanzania (Bunge) and Zimbabwe (Senate) e n g c h i U regionally, there is progress on n. and National Council of Provinces), Swaziland (Senate), Uganda (Parliament), United Republic. women’s political engagement, at national level countries like The Gambia still lagged behind in attaining this gender commitment of equal political participation and representation by all citizens. However, one could argue that the women’s political under-representation cannot be attributed to single cause. Thus, as a point of departure it is imperative to analyze the theoretical framework explaining the reasons for poor women’s political representation.. 41.

(43) EXISTING THEORIES EXPLAINING WOMEN’S UNDER-REPRESENTATION The literature on theoretical framework for women’s political under-representation could be categorized into four broad variables. Several scholars have argued that modernization theory, political and institutional factors, cultural impediments and women’s movements’ mobilization and campaign for women’s rights influence women’s engagement in political sphere. Modernization Theory To examine the factors influencing women’s political participation and representation, some. 治政 studies have focused on the modernization theory. According 大 to Inglehart and Norris (2003) 立 modernization theorists argue that industrialization can increase women’s access to paid work, ‧ 國. 學. representation in management and boards, educational status and thereby increase their political. ‧. representation.. sit. y. Nat. i. Level of Economic Development. n. al. er. io. Industrialization leads to improvement in socio-economic conditions such as high educational. i n U. v. level, economic growth and enhanced standard of living which are argued by some scholars. Ch. engchi. highly influence women’s political participation and representation. Inglehart and Norris (2003) stated that women’s occupational and socio-economic development influence their political representation in some countries. However, they expounded that women’s access to professional, administrative and managerial occupations determine their political careers (Inglehart and Norris, 2003). Schwindt-Bayer (2005) stated that women’s participation in labour force and high economic development determine their representation in parliaments. As women are traditionally home carers and maintainers, any economic fluctuations directly. 42.