Getting Out The Vote: Women'S Democratic Political Mobilization In Ghana

2003 ◽  
Vol 8 (3) ◽  
pp. 273-296
Author(s):  
Kathleen Fallon

Although the mobilization of women in Latin America prior to and during the transition to democracy has been well-studied, the mobilization of women in sub-Saharan Africa during this transition has received little attention. Yet, the study of women's mobilization within an emerging democratic state of sub-Saharan Africa would provide insight into how women may renegotiate their position in relation to transforming political structures, and how they may work to redefine their own rights. This article analyzes the case of Ghana to examine the mobilization ofwomen in sub-Saharan Africa. Specifically, multivariate analyses of a survey of 621 women and in-depth interviews with thirty-three members of women's organizations are used to explore whether women's organizations are attempting to mobilize women to participate in the formal political process during the transition to democracy, and, if so, whether their efforts are successful. The results indicate that women's organizations view the electoral process as a means to mobilize women, that they have attempted to mobilize women to participate in elections, and that their mobilization efforts influenced the political behavior of women. Implications of these findings for our understanding of women's mobilization in sub-Saharan Africa in comparison to those in Latin America are discussed.

Author(s):  
Brian Stanley

This book charts the transformation of one of the world's great religions during an age marked by world wars, genocide, nationalism, decolonization, and powerful ideological currents, many of them hostile to Christianity. The book traces how Christianity evolved from a religion defined by the culture and politics of Europe to the expanding polycentric and multicultural faith it is today—one whose growing popular support is strongest in sub-Saharan Africa, Latin America, China, and other parts of Asia. The book sheds critical light on themes of central importance for understanding the global contours of modern Christianity, illustrating each one with contrasting case studies, usually taken from different parts of the world. Unlike other books on world Christianity, this one is not a regional survey or chronological narrative, nor does it focus on theology or ecclesiastical institutions. The book provides a history of Christianity as a popular faith experienced and lived by its adherents, telling a compelling and multifaceted story of Christendom's fortunes in Europe, North America, and across the rest of the globe. It demonstrates how Christianity has had less to fear from the onslaughts of secularism than from the readiness of Christians themselves to accommodate their faith to ideologies that privilege racial identity or radical individualism.


Author(s):  
Paul Chaisty ◽  
Nic Cheeseman ◽  
Timothy J. Power

This chapter introduces the three regions—sub-Saharan Africa, Latin America, and the Former Soviet Union—and the nine countries—Armenia, Benin, Brazil, Chile, Ecuador, Kenya, Malawi, Russia, and Ukraine—that provide the empirical material for the book. It introduces the two criteria used for case selection: 1) democratic competitiveness; 2) de jure and de facto constitutional provisions that empower presidents to be coalitional formateurs. It also introduces a variable that measures the salience of cross-party cooperation: the Index of Coalitional Necessity. Finally, it sketches the political landscape that has shaped the dynamics of coalitional presidentialism within each region, and it draws attention to important contextual differences between the nine country cases.


2021 ◽  
Vol 5 (Supplement_1) ◽  
pp. 420-421
Author(s):  
Andrew Banda ◽  
Norah Keating ◽  
Jaco Hoffman ◽  
Jose Parodi ◽  
Nereide Curreri

Abstract In their recent volume, Critical Rural Gerontology, Skinner et al (2021) challenge us to set aside unidimensional notions of rural communities as bypassed vs very supportive; and to identify the elements of rurality that empower or exclude older people and how these differ across cultures and settings. Covid-19 has highlighted the need for safe and inclusive communities. Given that LMIC will be home to the majority of older adults (Gonzales et al. 2015), we undertook a scoping review of features of rural communities that influence wellbeing of older people in countries across Latin America and Sub-Saharan Africa. The review included literature in English, French, Spanish and Portuguese, using search engines MEDLINE, CINAHL Complete, PsycInfo, SocINDEX, SciELO, AJOL (Africa Journals Online), LILACS, Redalyc, LatinIndex and Clacso. Findings illustrate diversity in how community features including remoteness, infrastructure and belonging influence material, social and subjective wellbeing of older residents.


2021 ◽  
pp. 47-76
Author(s):  
Christopher M. Davidson

To facilitate a comprehensive and up-to-date understanding of the concept of sultanism, this chapter provides a detailed theoretical and empirical literature review. Firstly, it considers the oriental origins of the concept, as applied by Max Weber and others to the Ottoman Empire and a number of South Asian examples. Secondly, it traces the emergence of ‘contemporary sultanism’, as applied by scholars to Latin American regimes from the mid-twentieth century and onwards. Thirdly, it explores the more recent concept of neo-sultanism and the development of a distinct international empirical category of autocratic-authoritarianism which includes: various Latin America regimes; some of the former communist republics of central Asia and Eastern Europe; and a number of regimes in sub-Saharan Africa and parts of Southeast Asia. Finally, it assesses the need to address the scholarly deficit in applying contemporary sultanism or neo-sultanism to the Middle East, and suggests that the present-day Saudi And UAE regimes may be strong examples.


Author(s):  
Christian Welzel ◽  
Ronald F. Inglehart

Democratization introduces the theoretical and practical dimensions of democratization. Focusing on the ‘global wave of democratization’ that has advanced since the early 1970s, this text examines the major perspectives, approaches, and insights that have informed research on democratization. The book is divided into four parts based on four aspects of democratization. Part One deals with theoretical and historical perspectives; Part Two focuses on causes and dimensions of democratization; Part Three looks at actors and institutions; and Part Four is concerned with regions of democratization such as Southern Europe, Latin America, the Middle East and North Africa, Sub-Saharan Africa, and East Asia. Topics include the distinction between democratic and undemocratic states, the role of democratization in foreign policy, and the contributions of social movements, protest, and transnational advocacy networks to democratic transition. Key themes covered in this thoroughly revised and updated second edition include: theories of democratization; critical prerequisites and driving social forces of the transition to democracy; pivotal actors and institutions involved in democratization; conditions for democratic survival and the analysis of failed democratization; demonstrations of how these factors have played a role in the different regions in which the global wave of democratization transplaced authoritarian and communist systems; and possible futures of democratization worldwide.


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