scholarly journals "Where the Shoe Pinches”: Impediments to Successful Execution of Gender Quota Thresholds in Kenya

2019 ◽  
Vol 6 (9) ◽  
pp. 367-378
Author(s):  
HELLEN KILELO

The promulgation of the 2010 Kenyan Constitution inspired me to carry out a research with the objective of identifying the impediments to the successful implementation of gender quotas. This study was carried out in the year 2018 after the second set of County Governments had settled in office. Specifically, I adopted a multiple case study design because I examined perspectives on the implementation of the gender quota threshold in two cases i.e. two Counties. Purposive sampling was used to arrive at the participants. Data for this research was generated using interviews, Focus Group Discussions, and document analysis and the data collected was analyzed thematically. The interviews were conducted with County Public Officers, MCAs and other stakeholders purposively selected in the two Counties and key stakeholders in Nairobi. The main findings to this study were as follows: recruitment mechanisms are riddled with male patronage and bias; there are structural barriers and exclusionary practices that deter successful implementation of gender quotas; there is limited funding for Gender Departments and Gender Committees in the Counties and there are social perceptions that hinder the effectiveness of the gender quota threshold. In conclusion, gender quotas require a perceptual shift. The following recommendations are given in this study: there is need to have incentives that will help promote gender quota thresholds, the need to have a sectoral approach to gender and a strategy for balancing between quantity and quality.

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Eva-Maria Euchner ◽  
Elena Frech

Abstract Although the scholarship on legislative behaviour widely agrees that electoral rules determine parliamentary activities, surprisingly little is known on the impact of gender quotas. We contribute to this research gap by developing an innovative interdisciplinary framework and by exploring it based on a unique dataset on varying gender quota designs throughout EU countries and parties running for the 7th term of the European Parliament (2009–2014). Based on the scholarship on gender diversity in management teams and the research on gendered processes in political parties, we argue that especially mandated gender quotas stimulate processes of social categorisation, intergroup biasing and competition due to a normative mis-fit between conceptions of gender equality and gender quotas, which in turn influences coordination and communication and hence, parliamentary activity more generally. Combining negative-binomial regression models and expert interviews, we indeed find that mandated gender quotas promote ‘individual’ parliamentary activities (e.g. speeches) and tend to impede ‘collaborative’ parliamentary activities (e.g. reports).


2018 ◽  
Vol 11 (4) ◽  
pp. 41-62
Author(s):  
Huda Al-Tamimi

Parliamentary gender quotas have become increasingly prevalent since the 1990s, yet in-depth research illuminating their effects on women’s political agency remains scarce. Iraq’s political evolution offers a unique perspective on feminist, democratization, and gender quota scholarship as related to Middle Eastern women in politics since the US and allied invasion of Iraq in 2003. Throughout Iraq’s modern history, Iraqi women’s ability to pursue legitimate political agency has fluctuated with changes in the country’s political climate. The 2003 invasion set in motion sweeping reforms to the judicial, legislative, and executive governing powers. Women’s potential role in the emerging polity was enhanced by enactment of an electoral gender quota stipulating no less than twenty-five percent of seats in the Iraq parliament to be filled by women. This article presents research that sought to elucidate the impact of that quota on women’s political mobilization since 2003. Data collected included televised interviews, reports, and media articles that were qualitatively analyzed using a critical literary theory approach. Analysis was aided by NVivo qualitative analysis software. The findings indicate that although the gender quota has nominally increased descriptive representation, it has proven insufficient to support women’s substantive and symbolic representation. Issues of women’s socioeconomic position, lack of cooperation among female members of parliament, and ongoing security threats must be addressed for women to achieve full political legitimacy.


1970 ◽  
pp. 18-27
Author(s):  
Valentine M. Moghadam

The argument for gender quotas – made by women’s rights activists across the globe has come about in response to women’s continued collective marginalization from political power. According to data from the Inter-Parliamentary Union (2005), the global average for women’s parliamentary representation is 18 percent, with high rates in the Nordic countries, Rwanda, and Argentina, and low rates in the Arab region and Iran.In the vast majority of countries, political power – legislative, juridicial, and executive rests in the hands of men. In recent decades, therefore, the worldwide growth of a population of educated, employed, mobile, and politically aware women, combined with the diffusion of the UN-sponsored global women’s rights agenda, has increased calls for women’s political participation and representation. One of the mechanisms to realize this objective is the gender quota. Feminist groups around the world favor the implementation of the gender quota – which may come in the form of a constitutional quota, an electoral quota, or a political party quota – but it remains both controversial and elusive, especially in the Middle East.


2015 ◽  
Vol 20 (1) ◽  
pp. 153 ◽  
Author(s):  
Janine Hills

A significant development in the area of gender quota legislation is driven by South Africa’s latest National Policy Framework for Women Empowerment and Gender Equality (WEGE) legislation. This legislation expands on the values and principles that need to be integrated into policies, practices and programs of the private sector and government to ensure gender equality and quotas. The legislation strives for 50 per cent female representation on the executive bodies of all organisations. Another unique feature of diversity in South Africa is achieved through the Black Economic Empowerment (BEE) Program. South Africa’s BEE Scorecard Policies and Empowerment Strategies are unique, affecting quota decisions and behaviour.


2019 ◽  
Vol 4 (5) ◽  
pp. 971-976
Author(s):  
Imran Musaji ◽  
Trisha Self ◽  
Karissa Marble-Flint ◽  
Ashwini Kanade

Purpose The purpose of this article was to propose the use of a translational model as a tool for identifying limitations of current interprofessional education (IPE) research. Translational models allow researchers to clearly define next-step research needed to translate IPE to interprofessional practice (IPP). Method Key principles, goals, and limitations of current IPE research are reviewed. A popular IPE evaluation model is examined through the lens of implementation research. The authors propose a new translational model that more clearly illustrates translational gaps that can be used to direct future research. Next steps for translating IPE to IPP are discussed. Conclusion Comprehensive reviews of the literature show that the implementation strategies adopted to date have fostered improved buy-in from key stakeholders, as evidenced by improved attitudes and perceptions toward interprofessional collaboration/practice. However, there is little evidence regarding successful implementation outcomes, such as changed clinician behaviors, changed organizational practices, or improved patient outcomes. The authors propose the use of an IPE to IPP translational model to facilitate clear identification of research gaps and to better identify future research targets.


Author(s):  
Melanie M. Hughes

Around the world, countries are increasingly using quotas to enhance the diversity of political representatives. This chapter considers the histories and policy designs of ethnic and gender quotas that regulate national legislatures. Most countries with quotas target only one type of under-represented group—for example, women or ethnic minorities. Even in countries with both gender and ethnic quotas (called ‘tandem quotas’), the policies typically evolved separately and work differently. Women and ethnic minorities are treated as distinct groups, ignoring the political position of ethnic minority women. However, a handful of countries have ‘nested quotas’ that specifically regulate the political inclusion of ethnic minority women. The second half the chapter focuses explicitly on nested quotas. It lays out how nested quotas work, where and how they have been adopted, and the prospect for their spread to new countries in the future. The chapter concludes with reflections on the promises and pitfalls of nested quotas as a vehicle for multicultural feminism.


2021 ◽  
Vol 40 (1) ◽  
pp. 73-92
Author(s):  
Muhammad Mahsun ◽  
Misbah Zulfa Elizabeth ◽  
Solkhah Mufrikhah

This article analyses the factors leading to the success of women candidates in the 2019 elections in Central Java. Recent scholarship on women’s representation in Indonesia has highlighted the role that dynastic ties and relationships with local political elites play in getting women elected in an environment increasingly dominated by money politics and clientelism. Our case study of women candidates in Central Java belonging to the elite of the Nahdlatul Ulama (NU)-affiliated women’s religious organisations Muslimat and Fatayat shows that strong women candidates with grassroots support can nonetheless win office. Using the concepts of social capital and gender issue ownership, and clientelism, we argue that women candidates can gain a strategic advantage when they “run as women.” By harnessing women’s networks and focusing on gender issues to target women voters, they are able to overcome cultural, institutional, and structural barriers to achieve electoral success even though they lack resources and political connections.


2018 ◽  
Vol 26 (5) ◽  
pp. 675-688 ◽  
Author(s):  
Andrea S Aldrich

Political parties often monopolize the flow of politicians into elected office making it important to understand when, and under what conditions, parties are more or less likely to promote gender equality in representation. This article argues that party choices to nominate women in elections are conditional on the centralization of candidate selection within the party. Gender quotas and characteristics of the electoral environment have differential effects on candidate lists across party types. Leveraging data at the party level, I test when it is electorally feasible and organizationally possible for parties to nominate women for office. I find that candidate selection procedures condition the effects of party strategy and characteristics of the electoral environment on the percentage of women on electoral lists. The results provide insight into how strategic party choices, attenuated by electoral considerations and organization, impact the diversity of representation in political institutions.


2020 ◽  
Vol 38 (29) ◽  
pp. 3439-3448 ◽  
Author(s):  
Manali I. Patel ◽  
Ana Maria Lopez ◽  
William Blackstock ◽  
Katherine Reeder-Hayes ◽  
E. Allyn Moushey ◽  
...  

ASCO strives, through research, education, and promotion of the highest quality of patient care, to create a world where cancer is prevented and every survivor is healthy. In this pursuit, cancer health equity remains the guiding institutional principle that applies to all its activities across the cancer care continuum. In 2009, ASCO committed to addressing differences in cancer outcomes in its original policy statement on cancer disparities. Over the past decade, despite novel diagnostics and therapeutics, together with changes in the cancer care delivery system such as passage of the Affordable Care Act, cancer disparities persist. Our understanding of the populations experiencing disparate outcomes has likewise expanded to include the intersections of race/ethnicity, geography, sexual orientation and gender identity, sociodemographic factors, and others. This updated statement is intended to guide ASCO’s future activities and strategies to achieve its mission of conquering cancer for all populations. ASCO acknowledges that much work remains to be done, by all cancer stakeholders at the systems level, to overcome historical momentum and existing social structures responsible for disparate cancer outcomes. This updated statement affirms ASCO’s commitment to moving beyond descriptions of differences in cancer outcomes toward achievement of cancer health equity, with a focus on improving equitable access to care, improving clinical research, addressing structural barriers, and increasing awareness that results in measurable and timely action toward achieving cancer health equity for all.


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