Democratizing democracy: Feminist perspectives

Abstract

Increasing numbers of women have gained entry into the arena of representative politics in recent times. Yet the extent to which shifts in the sex ratio within formal democratic spaces translates into political influence, and into gains in policies that redress gendered inequities and inequalities remains uncertain. At the same time, a plethora of new democratic spaces have been created -whether through the promotion of 'civil society organizations' or the institutionalization of participatory governance mechanisms -which hold the prospect of democratizing other political spaces beyond those of formal politics. This study examines factors that constrain and enable women's political effectiveness in these different democratic arenas. We suggest that 'engendering democracy' by adding women or multiplying democratic spaces is necessary but not sufficient to address historically and culturally embedded forms of disadvantage that have been the focus for feminist politics. We suggest that an important, but neglected, determinant of political effectiveness is women's political apprenticeshiptheir experiences in political parties, civil society associations and the informal arenas in which political skills are learned and constituencies built. Enhancing the democratizing potential of women's political participation calls, we argue, for democratizing democracy itself: building new pathways into politics, fostering political learning and creating new forms of articulation across and beyond existing democratic spaces.

Integrating gender into forestry research: A guide for CIFOR scientists and programme administrators

“…Some women may advance their own interests at the expense of improving conditions for other women, thus creating inequalities not based on gender, but on class, ethnicity, race or other social categories. Cornwall and Goetz (2005) found no link between increasing women's participation in politics and the pursuit of gender equality policies.…”

“…We slip into using a simple dichotomy of men versus women, where men and women are assumed to be easily identifiable groups that have competing and conflicting interests (Cornwall 2001). A number of issues complicate this simple dichotomy.…”

“…Gender not only defines individuals, but is an element of social relations (Cornwall 2001). Gender relations refer to the social constructs of how men and women interact.…”

An assessment of the Impact of Devolution on Women Empowerment in Nakuru County

“…The marginalization of women in the political arena is evident since and has witnessed limited presence of women in parliament, within political parties and in other institutions or organizations (WSP, 2008). However, some scholars feel that if the concern is to bring gender equality perspectives into politics and public policy, a focus on packing public space with female bodies is misplaced unless supported by efforts to bring gender issues into the many other spaces where political interests are formed (Cornwall & Goetz, 2005).…”

“…Admitted that women must learn to exploit their numerical strength in occupying political space, there is need to consider the quota system which has yielded much success in countries like Rwanda (Powley 2004;Huggins & Randell 2007) and Uganda (Cornwall & Goetz, 2005). One indicator of gender inequality in Kenya is the small number of women in decision making positions and other national governance structures.…”