Women, Gender, and Democracy in Africa

Session Submission Type: Full Paper Panel

Session Description

For decades, Africa has been the site of democratic experimentation, inclusion, stagnation, and disintegration, as evidenced by the ability of women to achieve political and economic equality. This panel examines the state of democracy and democratic institutions in Africa through the lens of gender and women. Drawing on a range of methods (statistical, survey, qualitative), kinds of data (parliamentary transcripts, interviews, court records) and spanning multiple countries (Kenya, Nigeria, South Africa, Uganda), the papers examine the conditions under which democratic institutions falter or thrive for women.

When do women in executive cabinets hold prestigious portfolios? Johnson, Phillips, and Arriola argue that in African countries where European colonial powers established coverture laws, making women the economic dependents of men, women are less likely to hold high-prestige ministerial portfolios. Do women Members of Parliament (MPs) speak and to what extent? Edgell examines whether women and men MPs participate in plenary debates at similar levels in Kenya and Uganda (they do), and whether women in reserved seats speak less than women in non-reserved seats and men (they don’t). When are women likely to be elected mayors? Turning to subnational level democratic institutions, Farole analyzes why women are underrepresented as mayors in South Africa using individual-level data on all ANC mayors from 2000-2021. Examining democracy from point of view of children, Okedele, Kang, and Greenlee analyze primary and junior secondary school textbooks in Nigeria to evaluate whether and how the portrayal of political leaders is gendered and assess whether textbook content correlates with children’s perceptions of who is a political leader. Finally, Aremu investigates the impact of land acquisition by large corporations on women smallholder farmers in Nigeria through interviews, land use records, and court documents, implicating the Oyo state government for favoring land speculators over women small-scale farmers.

Sub Unit

• Division 53: African Politics

Individual Presentations

• Reserved Seats and Parliamentary Debate Participation in Uganda and Kenya - Amanda B. Edgell, University of Alabama, Tuscaloosa

• Party Loyalty and Women’s Pathway to the Mayoralty in South Africa - Safia Abukar Farole, Portland State University

• Women’s Economics Rights and Political Advancement in Africa - Martha C. Johnson, Northeastern University; Melanie Lauren Phillips, University of California, Berkeley; Leonardo R. Arriola, University of California, Berkeley

• Learning about Leadership: Gendered Portrayals of Leaders in Nigerian Textbooks - Adebusola Omotola Okedele; Alice Kang, University of Nebraska-Lincoln; Jill S. Greenlee, Brandeis University

• Land Speculation and the Marginalization of Women Smallholder Farmers in Nigeria - Lateef Olalekan AREMU, The Nigerian Institute of International Affairs

Chair

• Alice Kang University of Nebraska-Lincoln

Discussants

• Amanda B. Edgell University of Alabama, Tuscaloosa

• Safia Abukar Farole Portland State University