Why Quotas Are Needed to Improve Women's Access to Services in Clientelistic Regimes

Abstract

Using data from a survey of 200 Moroccan and Algerian parliamentarians, this article assesses the relationship between parliamentarian gender, quotas, and constituency service provision to females. The findings suggest that while electing women increases service provision to females, quotas are needed to create mandates in clientelistic, patriarchal settings, where serving women is a less effective electoral strategy than serving men. Deputies elected through quotas are more responsive to women than members of either sex elected without quotas. The article extends a theory of homosocial capital to explain gender gaps in parliamentarians' supply of and citizens' demand for services. By demonstrating a novel mandate effect and framing mandates in a positive light, the article extends the literature on gender, representation, and clientelism; urges scholars to examine service representation; and supports quotas to promote women's access to services, political participation, and electability.

Class, Ethnicity, and Cooperation Among Women: Evidence from a Public Goods Experiment in Lebanon

“…One possible explanation for our results is that sectarian differences are less relevant for women than for men because of the sectarian and gendered way in which competition over resources takes place in Lebanon. Research suggests that, in societies where resources are distributed along ethnic lines through clientelistic networks, women are more likely than men to be denied direct access to these benefits (Beall 2005;Benstead 2016;Wantchekon 2003). If ethnicity is the foundation of competition over resources for men, and has little impact on access to goods and services for women, then sectarian differences might undermine cooperation among men more than among women.…”

‘The newcomer effect’: Gender quotas, state reforms and service responsiveness in local councils

“…In such contexts, representatives expend significant effort on questioning the work of municipal officials and demanding transparency. They complain about the delivery of services, demand explanations or ask for additional information (Benstead, 2016(Benstead, , 2019. Conceptualising service responsiveness as a process allows us to capture nuances of conversation that are meaningful for the local context.…”

“…The focus on local representatives is important, particularly in contexts where citizens face significant barriers in accessing government departments, where formal procedures such as enquiries or applications for government programmes are long, costly and unfair, and where government officials are inaccessible. It is in these contexts that local representatives can play a critical role, act as intermediaries between citizens and officials, and break through the government bureaucracy (Benstead, 2016; Johannes, 1984; Norris, 1997).…”

Small Tribes, Big Gains: The Strategic Uses of Gender Quotas in the Middle East

“…39 Second, because tribes in Jordan typically seek representation to access patronage, female aspirants often face a difficult road as they have fewer patron-client ties. 40 Despite their patriarchal tendencies, Jordanian tribes have had much to gain from nominating female candidates after quotas were adopted. The quotas award seats to the women who win the most votes in their district but who do not win competitively.…”