Impact of Gatekeepers on Women’s Political Participation in Liberia

• In Event: Women's Political and Civic Participation

Abstract

Women’s political participation in Liberia, defined by the number of women elected to the legislature, has declined since 2011. This decline has also corresponded with fewer women on candidate listing. Although survey outcomes have shown that more voters want women to be given the same chance as men to be elected to public office in Liberia, political spaces have been unfriendly to women’s political ambition, with women lacking the political support within their party, resulting in women sometimes running as independent candidates. The lack of support for women’s candidature on political party tickets in Liberia is also reflected in the failure to implement the Memorandum of Understanding (MoU), which commits political parties to 30% of women on candidate listing during the 2023 general elections. Despite the MoU, only 15% of the National Election Commission (NEC) nominations were women. The paper adopts the gatekeeping theory to understand the limitations of women’s political participation in Liberia. Using qualitative data being collected via in-depth interviews with female candidates of the 2023 general elections, political parties, and development partners, the paper argues that gatekeepers (individuals/parties/patriarchal systems/traditions) negatively impact women's participation as their (gatekeeper) interest determines who is favored in the candidate listing. The paper also notes that the nomination of candidates through political party primary elections does somewhat mitigate the influence of political gatekeepers; gatekeepers retain substantial influence over who is nominated.

Authors

• Fortune Akosua Selorm Agbele, Freelancer

• Antonetta Lovejoy Hamandishe