Skip to main content
SpringerLink
Log in

Women’s empowerment and democratization: The effects of electoral systems, participation, and experience in Africa

  • Articles
  • Published:
Studies in Comparative International Development Aims and scope Submit manuscript

Abstract

This article investigates three hypotheses suggested in the literature on women’s political empowerment, operationalized here as increased legislative representation. These hypotheses are that (1) electoral systems manipulate women’s political empowernment; (2) increased popular participation empowers women in particular; and (3) accumulated experience gained over several electoral cycles facilitates increased political empowerment of women. In Africa, as well as in other parts of the world, majoritarian systems discriminate against women, while the effect of large parties in proportional representation systems is more ambiguous, and popular participation and repetitive electoral cycles are increasing women’s legislative representation. This article demonstrates the value of studying gender relations under democratization, even with a narrow institutionalist focus using an elitist perspective. Finally, it shows that institutions can travel over diverse contexts with constant effects.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this article

Log in via an institution

Price excludes VAT (USA)
Tax calculation will be finalised during checkout.

Instant access to the full article PDF.

Institutional subscriptions

Similar content being viewed by others

References

  • Ake, Claude. 2000.The Feasibility Of Democracy In Africa. Dakar: Codresia.

    Google Scholar 

  • Aryee, Joseph. 2002. “The 2000 General Elections and Presidential Run-off in Ghana: An Overview”.Democratization 9, 2: 148–174.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • —. 1999.The 1996 General Elections and Democratic Consolidation in Ghana. Accra: Department of Political Science, University of Ghana, Legon.

    Google Scholar 

  • Baker, Bruce. 1998. “The Class Of 1990: How Have The Autocratic Leaders Of Sub-Saharan Africa Fared Under Democratisation?”Third World Quarterly 19, 1: 115–127.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Barkan, Joel D. 1995. “Elections in Agrarian Societies”.Journal of Democracy 6: 106–116.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • — 2000. “Protracted Transitions Among Africa’s New Democracies”.Democratization 7, 3: 227–243.

    Google Scholar 

  • Bates, Robert H. 1981.Markets and States in Tropical Africa. Berkeley and Los Angeles: University of California Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Blume, M. E. 1974. “Unbiased Estimators Of Long Run Expected Rates Of Return”.Journal of the American Statistical Association 69, 347.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Boahen, Adu. 1995. “A Note on the Ghanaian Elections”.African Affairs 94: 277–280.

    Google Scholar 

  • Bogdanor, Vernon and David Butler. 1983.Democracy and Elections. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Bollen, Kenneth. 1990. “Political Democracy: Conceptual and Measurement Traps”.Studies in Comparative International Development 25, 1: 7–25.

    Google Scholar 

  • Bratton, Michael. 1998. “Second Elections in Africa”.Journal of Democracy 9, 3: 51–66.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Bratton, Michael and Daniel N. Posner. 1999. “A First Look at Second Elections in Africa”. In R. Joseph (ed.),State, Conflict, and Democracy in Africa. Boulder CO: Lynne Rienner.

    Google Scholar 

  • Bratton, Michael and Nicholas van de Walle 1997.Democratic Experiments in Africa: Regime Transitions in a Comparative Perspective. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Bunce, Valerie 2000. “Comparative Democratization”.Comparative Political Studies 33, 6–7: 703–735.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Carothers, Thomas. 2002. “The End of the Transition Paradigm”.Journal of Democracy 13, 1: 5–20.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Castles, Francis. 1981. “Female Legislative Representation and The Electoral System”.Politics 1: 21–26.

    Google Scholar 

  • Cohen, Frank S. 1997. “Proportional versus Majoritarian Ethnic Conflict Management in Democracies”.Comparative Political Studies. 30, 5: 607–630.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Collier, David and Steven Levitsky. 1997. “Democracy with Adjectives: Conceptual Innovation in Comparative Research”.World Politics 49: 430–451.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Cooper, D. 1993. “The Citizen’s Charter and Radical Democracy: Empowerment and Exclusion within Citizenship Discourse”.Social and Legal Studies 2, 2.

    Google Scholar 

  • Coppedge, Michael and Wolfgang H. Reinicke. 1990. “Measurin Polyarchy”.Studies in Comparative Intemational Development 25, 1: 51–73.

    Google Scholar 

  • Dahl, Robert. 1971.Polyarchy: Participation and Opposition. New Haven: Yale University Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Darcy, R., Susan Welch, and Janet Clark. 1994.Women, Elections and Representation. 2nd edit. Lincoln: University of Nebraska Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Datton, Kenneth, John S. Greenies, and Kenneth J. Stewart. 1998. “Incorporating A Geometric Mean Formula Into The CPI”,Monthly Labor Review (October) 3–7.

    Google Scholar 

  • Diamond, Larry. 2002. “Elections Without Democracy: Thinking About Hybrid Regimes”.Journal of Democracy 13, 2: 21–35.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Dietz, M. 1992. “Context is All: Feminism and Theories of Citizenship”.Community. London: Verso.

    Google Scholar 

  • Downs, Anthony. 1957.An Economic Theory of Democracy New York: HarperCollins.

    Google Scholar 

  • Dunleavy, Patrick and Helen Margetts. 1995. “Understanding the Dynamics of Electoral Reform.International Political Science Review 16 (January).

  • Duverger, Maurice. 1954.Les Partis Politiques. Paris: Colin.

    Google Scholar 

  • Foster, A. 1993. “Development and Women’s Political Leadership: The Missing Link in sub Saharan Africa”.Fletcher Forum of World Affairs 17, 2.

    Google Scholar 

  • Gasiororwski, Mark J. 1996. “An Overview of the Political Regime Change Dataset”.Comparative Political Studies, 29, 6: 469–484.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Gasiororwski, Mark J., and Timothy J. Power 1997. “Institutional Design and Democratic Consolidation in the Third World”.Comparative Political Studies 30, 3: 123–156.

    Google Scholar 

  • Geisler, G. 1995. “Troubled Sisterhood: Women and Politics in Southern Africa”.Agrican Affairs 94, 377: 545–578.

    Google Scholar 

  • Grofman, B., S. C. Lee, E. A. Winckler, and B. Woodall. 1999.Elections in Japan, Korea and Taiwan under the Single Non-Transferable Vote: The Comparative Study of an Embedded Institution. Ann Arbor: University of Michigan Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Gyimah-Boadi, Emmanuel. 1999. “Ghana: The Challenges of Consolidating Democracy”. In Joesph, Richard.State, Conflict and Democracy in Africa. Boulder CO: Lynne Rienner.

    Google Scholar 

  • Hanusheck, E. A. and J. E. Jackson. 1997.Statistical Methods for Social Scientists. San Diego: Academic Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • House-Midamba, B. 1996. “Gender, Democratization, and Associational Life in Kenya”.Africa Today 43, 3: 289–305.

    Google Scholar 

  • Idea. 2002. “Parity in Question: Women in the Political Process”.International Idea News (December): 3–4.

    Google Scholar 

  • Jeffries, Richard. 1998. “The Ghanaian Elections of 1996: Towards the Consolidation of Democracy?”African Affairs 97: 189–208.

    Google Scholar 

  • Jones, Mark P. 1998. “Gender Quotas, Electoral Laws and the Election of Women: Lessons from the Argentine Provinces”.Comparative Political Studies 31, 1: 3–21.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Joseph, Richard. 1987.Prebendalism and Democracy in Nigeria. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • King, Gary, Robert O. Keohane, and Sidney Verba. 1994.Designing Social Inquiry: Scientific Inference in Qualitative Research. Princeton NJ: Princeton University Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Laakso, Maarku and Rein Taagepera. 1979. “Effective Number of Parties: A Measure with Application to Western Europe”Comparative Political Studies 12: 3–27.

    Google Scholar 

  • Lemarchand, Rene. 1972. “Political Clientelism and Ethnicity in Tropical Africa: Competing Solidarities in Nation-Building”.American Political Science Review 66, 1: 68–90.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Lijphart, Arend. 1984.Democracies: Patterns of Majoritarian and Consensus Government in Twenty-One Countries. New Haven: Yale University Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • —. 1994. “Democracies: Forms, Performance and Constitutional Engineering”.European Journal of Political Research, 25, 1: 1–17.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • —. 1999.Patterns of Democracy: Government Forms and Performance in Thirty-Six Countries. New Haven: Yale University Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Lijphart, Arendt and Carlos H. Waisman. 1996. “Institutional Design and Democratization”. InInstitutional Design in New Democracies: Eastern Europe and Latin America, eds. Arendt Lijphart and Carlos H. Waismam. Boulder CO: Westview Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Lindberg, Staffan I., 2002. “Problems of Measuring Democracy: Illustrations from Africa”. In Hyden, Goran and Ole Elgstrom (eds.),Development and Democracy: What Have We Learned and How? London: Routledge.

    Google Scholar 

  • —, 2003. “It’s Our Time to ‘Chop’”: Do Elections in Africa Feed Neo-patrimonialism Rather Than Counter-Act It?”Democratization, 10, 2: 121–140.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • —, 2004. “The Democratic Quality of Multiparty Elections: Participation, Competition and Legitimacy in Africa”.Journal of Commonwealth and Comparative Studies 42, 1: 61–105.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Mair, Peter, ed. 1990.The West European Party System. Oxford: Oxford University Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • March, James G., and J. Olsen. 1989.Rediscovering Institutions. New York: Free Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Matland, Richard E., and Michelle M. Taylor. 1997. “Electoral System Effects on Women’s Representation: Theoretical Arguments and Evidence from Costa Rica”.Comparative Political Studies 30, 2: 186–210.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Medard, Jean-Francois. 1982. “The Underdeveloped State in Tropical Africa: Political Clientelism or Neo-Patrimonialism?” inPrivate Patronage and Public Power: Political Clientelism in the Modern State, ed. C. Clapham. London: Frances Pinter.

    Google Scholar 

  • Munck, Gerardo. 2001. “The Regime Question: Theory Building in Democracy Studies”.World Politics 54: 119–144.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Nohlen, Dieter. 1996. “Electoral Systems and Electoral Reform in Latin America”. InInstitutional Design in New Democracies: Eastern Europe and Latin America, eds. Arendt Lijphart and Carlos H. Waisman. Boulder CO: Westview Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Nordlinger, E. A. 1972.Conflict Regulation in Divided Societies. Cambridge MA: Center for International Affairs, Harvard University.

    Google Scholar 

  • Norris, Pippa. 1985. “Women’s Legislative Participation in Europe.”Western European Politics 8: 90–101.

    Google Scholar 

  • —. 1987.Politics and Sexual Equality. Boulder CO: Lynne Rienner

    Google Scholar 

  • Phillips, A. 1992. “Must Feminism Give Up on Liberal Democracy?”Political Studies (Special issue).

  • Popper, Karl. 1972.Conjectures and Refutations: The Growth of Scientific Knowledge. 4th edition, London: Routledge.

    Google Scholar 

  • Powell, Bingham G. 1982.Contemporary Democracies: Participation, Stability and Violence. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • —. 2000.Elections as Instruments of Democracy. London: Yale University Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Przeworski, A. and H. Teune. 1970.The Logic of Comparative Social Inquiry. New York: Wiley Interscience.

    Google Scholar 

  • Quaye, Mike. 1995. “The Ghanaian Elections of 1992: A Dissenting View.”African Affairs 94: 259–275.

    Google Scholar 

  • Rae, Douglas. 1971.The Political Consequences of Electoral Laws. New Haven: Yale University Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Rai, Shirin M. 1994. “Gender and Democratization: Or What Does Democracy Mean for Women in the Third World?”Democratization 1, 2: 209–228.

    Google Scholar 

  • Reynolds, Andrew, and Timothy D. Sisk. 1998. “Elections and Electoral Systems: Implications for Conflict Management.” InElections and Conflict Management in Africa, eds. Sisk, Timothy D. and Andrew Reynolds. Washington D.C.: United States Institute of Peace Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Rule, Wilma. 1994. “Parliaments of, by, and for the People: Except for Women?” InElectoral systems in comparative perspective: Their impact on women and minorities, eds. Rule, Wilma and Joseph F. Zimmerman. Westport, CT: Greenwood: 15–30.

    Google Scholar 

  • Sartori, Giovanni. 1968. “Political Development and Political Engineering.” InPublic Policy, Montgomery, J. D., and A. O. Hirschman. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • —. 1986. “The Influence of Electoral Systems: Faulty Laws or Faulty Method?” in Grofman, Bernard and Arendt Lijphart (eds)Electoral Laws and Their Political Consequences. New York: Agathon Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • —. 1997.Comparative Constitutional Engineering. 2nd edition, New York: New York University Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • —. 2001. “The Party Effects of Electoral Systems.” In Larry Diamond and Richard GuntherPolitical Parties and Democracy. Baltimore and London: Johns Hopkins University Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Schedler, Andreas. 2002a. “Elections Without Democracy: The Menu of Manipulation.”Journal of Democracy 13, 2: 36–50.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • —. 2002b. “The Nested Game of Democratization by Elections.”International Political Science Review 23, 1: 103–122.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Sinkkonen, S. and E. Haavio-Mannila. 1981. “The Impact Of Women’s Movement And Legislative Activity of Women MPs on Social Development.” InWomen, Power and the Political System, ed. Rendel, M. London: Croom Helm: 195–215.

    Google Scholar 

  • Smith, Daniel A. 2001. “The Structural Underpinnings of Ghana’s December 2000 Elections.” Occasional papers, Accra: Ghana Center for Democratic Development, CDD-Ghana.

    Google Scholar 

  • Solt, Fredrick. 2001. “Institutional Effects on Democratic Transitions: Neo-Patrimonial Regimes in Africa, 1989–1994.”Studies in Comparative International Development 36, 2: 82–91.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • St. Germain, Michelle. 1989. “The Representation Of Women And Minorities In The National Legislatures of Costa Rica and Nicaragua.” InElectroral Systems In Comparative Perspective: Their Impact on Women and Minorities, eds. Rule, Wilma and Joseph F. Zimmerman. Westport, CT: Greenwood: 211–221.

    Google Scholar 

  • Thomas, Sue. 1994.How Women Legislate. New York: Oxford University Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Tripp, Ali M. 2001. “Women’s Movements and Challenges to Neopatrimonial Rule: Preliminary Observations from Africa.”Development and Change 32: 33–54.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • van de Walle, Nicolas. 2002. “Elections Without Democracy: Africa’s Range of Regimes.”Journal of Democracy 13, 2: 66–80.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Wantchekron, Leonard. 2003. “Clientism and Voting Behavior: A Field Experiment in Benin.”World Politics 54: 399–422.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Waylen, Georgina. 1994. “Women and Democratization: Conceptualizing Gender Relations in Transition Politics.”World Politics 46 (April): 327–354.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Weaver, Kent R. 2002. “Electoral Rules and Governability.”Journal of Democracy 13, 2: 111–126.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Yoon, Mi Young. 2001. “Democratization and Women’s Legislative Representation in Sub Saharan Africa.”Democratization 8, 2: 169–190.

    Article  Google Scholar 

Download references

Authors
  1. Staffan I. Lindberg
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Additional information

Staffan I. Lindberg is a Ph.D. candidate at Lund University. He has published on state building, democratization, and clientilism. From 1999 to 2001, he worked as an international consultant to Parliament in Ghana. His dissertation is on elections and the stabilization of polyarchy in sub-Saharan Africa.

I would like to acknowledge the helpful comments from Goran Hyden, Andreas Schedler, Wynie Pankani, two anonymous reviewers, and the editors of the journal. The content, of course, is the author’s sole responsibility. This research has been made possible by Sida Grant No. SWE-1999-231.

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Cite this article

Lindberg, S.I. Women’s empowerment and democratization: The effects of electoral systems, participation, and experience in Africa. St Comp Int Dev 39, 28–53 (2004). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF02686314

Download citation

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF02686314

Keywords

Search

Navigation