Gender, political inclusion, and democracy in Africa: Some empirical evidence

Abstract

The objective of this study is to examine the effect of political inclusion on democracy in Africa. The results of the analyses through ordinary least squares, system generalized method of moments, IV Tobit and instrumental variables two stage least squares show that gender political inclusion enhances democracy in Africa. This result is robust across alternative specifications of political inclusion and democracy. The results equally stood when controlled for colonization and internal conflicts. In terms of policy implications, policy makers in Africa should enhance their fight for political inclusion as one of the gateways to promoting democracy. In this respect, national laws could be put in place which impose gender quotas in political positions in every country. Equally, the African Union could sign a convention on these quotas for respective countries to ratify. Related Articles Bingham, Natasha. 2016. “Fighting for Our Cause: The Impact of Women's NGOs on Gender Policy Adoption in Four Former Soviet Republics.” Politics & Policy 44(2): 294–318. https://doi.org/10.1111/polp.12155. Hankivsky, Olena. 2013. “Gender Mainstreaming: A Five‐Country Examination.” Politics & Policy 41(5): 629–55. https://doi.org/10.1111/polp.12037. Herrick, Rebekah. 2008. “Gender Gap in Early Congressional Retirement.” Politics & Policy 32(3): 294–318. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1747-1346.2004.tb00189.x.

The effects of gender political inclusion and democracy on environmental performance: Evidence from the method of moments by quantile regression

“…As recently maintained by Asongu and Salahodjaev (2022), the principal argument on the linkage between political outcomes and gender inclusion is apparent because when females are involved in executive organs of power, less political instability is also apparent and hence, positive investment externalities (i.e., foreign and domestic investment prospects) which are obvious avenues for sustainable development prospects, especially in relation to environmental sustainability, are present. As argued by Nchofoung and others (2023), there is a tendency by the female gender to use more mechanisms of consensus as well as compromise in conflict resolution. Hence, the involvement of females in political circles can be expected to engender more effective and sustainable settlement of disputes (Krauss & Kroeber, 2021), which of course can be very worthwhile when environmental protection is at play.…”

“…Recognizing that no single indicator can adequately capture gender political inclusion or democracy, this study uses PCA to construct a gender political inclusion indicator (GINDEX) and a democracy index (DINDEX). Based on the work of Nchogoung and others (2023), the system of gender inclusion indicators for Africa is built around freedoms, participation, and empowerment: women's civil liberties, women's participation in civil society, women's political empowerment, and women's political participation. The variables on women's political empowerment are taken from the Varieties of Democracy (V‐DEM) database.…”

“…The egalitarian principle of democracy captures the material and immaterial inequalities that prevent the exercise of formal rights and freedoms and reduce the ability of citizens from all social groups to participate. We have drawn on the work of Nchogoung and others (2023) to construct the Democracy Index. This democracy index integrates aspects related to mandatory referendum, plebiscite, and the top‐down component of the direct popular vote (see Appendix Table A2).…”

“…The stance is consistent with Asongu and others (2022) who argue that environmental sustainability is linked to the socioeconomic inclusion of women, contingent on economic prosperity and foreign investment dynamics. With respect to Kengdo and others (2020) and Nchofoung and others (2023), governance is influenced by both industrial development and gender political involvement.…”

Note from the Editors

“…And finally, Nchofoung and others (2023) show empirically that gender political inclusion clearly enhances the quality of democracy in Africa—a finding the authors demonstrate is robust not only across alternative specifications of political inclusion and democracy but also when controlling for colonization and internal conflicts. Their arguments concerning the policy implications of the study suggest that gender quotas in every country in the region—whether imposed nationally or via signing a regional convention—would constitute an important aid toward more sustainable democracy promotion in Africa.…”