Party Loyalty and Women’s Pathway to the Mayoralty in South Africa

• In Event: Women, Gender, and Democracy in Africa

Abstract

What explains women’s underrepresentation in prestigious sub-national political office? While there is a growing body of literature on women’s representation in legislative bodies, less is known about women as mayors. I argue that experience in local office serves as a springboard for advancement to the mayoralty, but that the pathways to this political office are gendered. Parties are more likely to appoint female mayors who are more loyal, while men benefit more from cultivating constituency connections. I test the hypothesis that compared to similarly qualified male candidates, women are more likely to become mayors if they have previously served in a local position that advances their party’s agenda. I study the case of mayoral appointments in South Africa’s African National Congress (ANC) party. As the dominant political party, the ANC has historically appointed the largest number of mayors. In South Africa, mayors are appointed by municipal council members. Councilors are elected through a two-tiered electoral system - half of the council members are elected by plurality in districts, and half are elected through closed-list PR electoral rules. I use a novel dataset on all mayors appointed within the ANC from 2000 to 2021. This dataset consists of the mayors’ demographic background, political trajectory, and contextual electoral data. I find that there is a gender gap in the political route that men and women take to becoming mayor. Women in the ANC are more likely to succeed in becoming mayor if they have previous experience serving as PR councilors at the local level, while experience as district councilors is more advantageous for the success of male mayors. This finding shows that women have to cultivate stronger party connections locally in order to obtain higher political office. I find weak support for rival explanations such as the role of party gatekeeping, the politicization of ethnicity, and a critical mass of women on the council. The results of this study sheds light on the role of parties as gatekeepers to women’s representation at the sub-national level.

Author

• Safia Abukar Farole, Portland State University