Powerful Movements Powerful Women: Understanding the Relationship between Women's Movements and Female Legislative Representation Open Access

Abstract

Abstract
Powerful Movement Powerful Women: Understanding the Relationship between
Women's Movements and Female Legislative Representation
By: Daisy-Cynthia N. Adi

Since the early 1990s there has been a remarkable push for an increase in the number of
female representatives in national legislatures worldwide. The push for increased female
representation is predicated upon the theory of critical mass representation, which
contends that the interests of women will not be addressed until women represent a
critical minority of 30 percent in a country's legislature. To date, the majority of the
existing scholarship on women's legislative participation is largely confined to western
industrialized nations. However, scholars are increasingly choosing to conduct research on
women's legislative participation in non-industrialized countries. In general, most studies on
female legislative participation focuses on the electoral system of a country and/or the
presence or absence of a quota system. However, this ignores the agency of the women in
these countries that contest elections or participate in the women's movement. For that
reason, this research has focused on women's legislative participation in African legislatures
and has attempted to link the activism of women in the women's movement to the increased
participation of women in African legislatures. This was done through an in-depth analysis
of the strength of the women's movement in South Africa, Botswana and Zambia between
the late 1980s and 2009. My research findings suggest that there is a positive relationship
between the strength of a women's movement and the percentage of female legislative
representation within a country.

Table of Contents

CONTENTS

1.0 INTRODUCTION...............................................................................................................................1
2.0 LITERATURE REVIEW........................................................................................................................4
2.1 INTERNATIONAL NORMS & IDEAS .....................................................................................................4
2.2 WOMEN AND CRITICAL MASS REPRESENTATION.................................................................................6
2.3 THE ADOPTION OF QUOTAS ..............................................................................................................9
2.4 ELECTORAL SYSTEMS .....................................................................................................................12
2.5 POLITICAL PARTIES .......................................................................................................................14
2.6 BEYOND QUOTAS: THE ROLE OF WOMEN'S MOVEMENTS ....................................................................17
3.0 HYPOTHESIS...................................................................................................................................25
4.0 RESEARCH DESIGN ........................................................................................................................27
5.0 FINDINGS ......................................................................................................................................31
5.1 SOUTH AFRICA: WOMEN IN CHARGE ................................................................................................32
5.2 BOTSWANA: STUCK IN THE MUD.......................................................................................................43
5.3 ZAMBIA: SEIZING THE HOUR ...........................................................................................................56
5.4 UNDERSTANDING THE FINDINGS .....................................................................................................64
6.0 CONCLUSION..................................................................................................................................68
BIBLIOGRAPHY.....................................................................................................................................72
APPENDIX I ..........................................................................................................................................76

About this Honors Thesis

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• Permission granted by the author to include this thesis or dissertation in this repository. All rights reserved by the author. Please contact the author for information regarding the reproduction and use of this thesis or dissertation.

School	Emory College
Department	International Studies
Degree	BA
Submission	Honors Thesis
Language	English
Research Field	Political Science, General Women's Studies History, African
Keyword	Women Women's Movements Parliament Female Representation Quotas Southern Africa Africa
Committee Chair / Thesis Advisor	Gandhi, Jennifer, Emory University
Committee Members	Scully, Pamela F, Emory University Reingold, Beth, Emory University

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