Hostname: page-component-848d4c4894-p2v8j Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-05-10T01:19:52.936Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

How African Autocracies Instrumentalize Women Leaders

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  16 March 2023

Aili Mari Tripp
Aili Mari Tripp*
Affiliation:
University of Wisconsin–Madison, USA
*
Email: atripp@wisc.edu
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Extract

Although democratic countries historically have had stronger outcomes in advancing gender equality than other regime types, many authoritarian regimes in Africa have proved rather adept at adopting women’s rights provisions, making extensive constitutional and legislative reforms, and promoting women as leaders. These outcomes are particularly evident when it comes to women’s political representation, where one finds little difference between authoritarian and democratic regimes in Africa. This essay explores how authoritarian regimes in Africa came to promote women leaders and how the instrumentalization of women leaders served to enhance the longevity of their rule.

Type
Critical Perspectives Article
Information
Politics & Gender , Volume 20 , Issue 1 , March 2024 , pp. 217 - 222
Copyright
© The Author(s), 2023. Published by Cambridge University Press on behalf of the Women, Gender, and Politics Research Section of the American Political Science Association

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

Berry, Marie E. 2019. War, Women, and Power: From Violence to Mobilization in Rwanda and Bosnia-Herzegovina. New York: Cambridge University Press.Google Scholar
Bjarnegård, Elin, and Zetterberg, Pär. 2016. “Gender Equality Reforms on an Uneven Playing Field: Candidate Selection and Quota Implementation in Electoral Authoritarian Tanzania.” Government and Opposition 51 (3): 464–86.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Bush, Sarah, Donno, Daniela, and Zetterberg, Pär. 2021. “Rewarding Women’s Rights in Dictatorships.” Working paper. https://s18798.pcdn.co/gripe/wp-content/uploads/sites/18249/2022/02/Bush-Donno-Zetterberg-5.10.2022.pdf (accessed October 26, 2022).Google Scholar
Donno, Daniela, and Kreft, Anne-Kathrin. 2019. “Authoritarian Institutions and Women’s Rights.” Comparative Political Studies 52 (5): 720–53.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Hassim, Shireen. 2009. “The Impact of Quotas for Women on Democratization.” In Political Representation, edited by Shapiro, Ian, Stokes, Susan C., Wood, Elisabeth Jean, and Kirschner, Alexander S.. New York: Cambridge University Press, 211–35.Google Scholar
Hughes, Melanie, and Tripp, Aili Mari. 2015. “Civil War and Trajectories of Change in Women’s Political Representation in Africa, 1985–2010.” Social Forces 93 (4): 1513–40.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Inter-Parliamentary Union. 2021. “Monthly Ranking of Women in National Parliaments.” https://data.ipu.org/women-ranking?month=10&year=2022 (accessed November 1, 2022).Google Scholar
Manuh, Tayiwaa, and Anyidoho, Nana Akua. 2015. “‘To Beijing and Back’: Reflections on the Influence of the Beijing Conference on Popular Notions of Women’s Empowerment in Ghana.” IDS Bulletin 46 (4): 19–27.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Pelke, Lars. 2021. “Party Institutionalization, Authoritarian Regime Types and Women’s Political Equality.” Contemporary Politics 27 (4): 461–86.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Sartori, Giovanni. 1976. Parties and Party Systems: A Framework for Analysis. New York: Cambridge University Press.Google Scholar
Tripp, Aili Mari. 2015. Women and Power in Postconflict Africa. New York: Cambridge University Press.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Tripp, Aili Mari. 2019. Seeking Legitimacy: Why Arab Autocrats Adopt Women’s Rights. New York: Cambridge University Press.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Tripp, Aili Mari. 2022. “Why Autocracies in Africa Promote Women as Leaders.” Presented at the European Conference on Politics and Gender, Ljubljana, Slovenia, July.Google Scholar
UN Women. 2021. “Women’s Representation in Local Government: A Global Analysis.” https://www.unwomen.org/sites/default/files/2022-01/Womens-representation-in-local-government-en.pdf (accessed November 1, 2022).Google Scholar
World Economic Forum. 2021. “Global Gender Gap Report 2021.” https://www.weforum.org/reports/global-gender-gap-report-2021/ (accessed November 1, 2022).Google Scholar