GLD Policy Roundtable: Gender and Local Politics in the Global South
About
The past decade has witnessed a significant increase in women's presence in local politics. According to the newly published United Nations (UN) Women in Local Government data set, women constitute 36 percent of local deliberative bodies worldwide compared to merely 25 percent in national parliaments. Much of this increase is the result of gender quotas: the Gender Quotas Database (International IDEA 2022) shows that as of 2021, 75 countries had some form of gender quota on the local level. Yet, extant work on gender politics tends to focus on the national level.
What challenges remain for women's participation in local politics? Why does women's participation matter in local political processes? And how can women's presence and influence in subnational decision-making bodies be promoted? These questions and more were discussed during GLD's roundtable on gender and local politics, with regional and country experts working on India, the Middle East, and Africa.
Panelists
Safia Farole, Assistant Professor in the Department of Politics and Global Affairs at Portland State University
Marwa Shalaby, Assistant Professor in the Department of Political Science and Gender and Women's Studies at the University of Wisconsin-Madison
Anjali Thomas, Associate Professor in the Sam Nunn School of International Affairs at Georgia Institute of Technology
Moderator
Allison Sambo, Director of Evaluation & Analytics, Global Fund for Women
Referenced Work
Barnett, Carolyn; Shalaby, Marwa. (2021). "Success Beyond Gender Quotas: Gender, Local Politics, and Clientelism in Morocco" Governance and Local Development Institute Working Paper Series, No. 48, University of Gothenburg. Available At: https://gld.gu.se/en/publications/gld-working-papers/wp48-success-beyond-gender-quotas-gender-local-politics-and-clientelism-in-morocco/
Farole, S. A., & Sari-Genc, E. (2023). The Experience Premium and Women’s Nomination to Local Elections in South Africa’s African National Congress Party. Party Politics, 0(0). https://doi.org/10.1177/13540688231190499
Thomas, Anjali; Hankla, Charles; Banerjee, Sayan; and Banerjee, Arindam. (2024). "Do Local Gender Quotas Improve the Electability of Women at Higher Tiers? Evidence from a Survey Experiment in North India," Governance and Local Development Institute Working Paper Series, No. 67, University of Gothenburg. Available At: https://gld.gu.se/en/publications/gld-working-papers/wp67-do-local-gender-quotas-improve-the-electability-of-women-at-higher-tiers-evidence-from-a-survey-experiment-in-north-india/
Thomas, A., Banerjee, S., Hankla, C. and Banerjee, A. (2024), “Ethnonationalist Gender Norms: How Parties Shape Voter Attitudes toward Female Candidates in India.” American Journal of Political Science. https://doi.org/10.1111/ajps.12788
Time and Date
1600 CEST, 4 April 2024