Electing women to new Arab assemblies: The roles of gender ideology, Islam, and tribalism in Oman

Abstract

As Arab monarchies increasingly adopt and empower consultative assemblies, women’s representation varies markedly across countries. What leads citizens in these new electoral systems to vote for women? This study investigates the determinants of support for women’s representation using the first electoral survey ever conducted in Oman, prior to the October 2015 Majlis al Shura elections. It considers cross-nationally recognized factors – gender ideology and religion – and tribalism, a factor heretofore largely unexplored. Confirming prior studies, citizens with traditional gender ideology are much less supportive of women’s representation. Developing a simultaneous equations model, we show that religiosity and tribalism shape gender ideology. Unlike in Western countries, education is unassociated with attitudes, and there is no generational shift towards equality; younger men are less supportive of women’s representation than are older men. Increasing women’s representation requires not only increasing citizen demand for female leaders, but also changing informal tribal and formal electoral institutions.

Application of Decision Making from Islamic Perspective by Decision Maker

“…It is the same as you are making decisions on your own. The main point of Shūrā is to consult others and it is better if the Shūrā consists of people from different backgrounds because you can have different kinds of ideas and opinions (Al-Subhi & Smith, 2019). When you are conducting Shūrā, you should be open-minded and listen to others" opinions.…”

“…The members of Shūrā or the person whom you want to consult with should be someone who is capable enough to help you. Hereby, you can achieve the best decision to the issues (Al- Subhi & Smith, 2019).…”

Does Enhancing Paid Maternity Leave Policy Help Promote Gender Equality? Evidence from 31 Low- and Middle-Income Countries

“…A study there found that female mayors were more likely than their male counterparts to be ousted before the end of their terms by municipal councils' no-confidence votes and that unfavorable regional attitudes toward working women represented a significant predictor of women’s shortened mayoral tenures [ 27 ]. In Oman, beliefs about women’s role in society, including women’s equality in the workplace, strongly determine support for women’s political representation [ 3 ]. Similarly, in their study of forty-six countries worldwide, Paxton and Kunovich found that countries with more egalitarian gender attitudes, including support for working women, have higher levels of women’s political representation and that gender ideologies are the strongest predictors of differences in women’s political representation across countries [ 43 ].…”