The introduction of gender quotas in so many Sub-Saharan African countries is one of the main reasons for recent increases in women’s political representation. A strong pressure by women’s organizations and by regional organizations like the African Union (AU) and the Southern African Development Community (SADC) are behind this very interesting new development.

Many African countries have introduced gender quotas in their constitution, like in Tanzania, Kenya, Somalia, Burundi, Rwanda and Uganda. The adoption of gender quotas in post-conflict countries has often taken place as part of a total reconstruction of the political system through a new constitution. But some countries have introduced gender quotas through their electoral law or party law only, like in Angola, Mauritania and Niger. When it comes to implementation, there might not be such a big difference between constitutional quotas or quotas mandated in a law, even if constitutional quotas are usually more difficult to remove again.

The chosen type of gender quotas is important here. If the gender quota provisions are constructed as reserved seats - setting aside a certain number of seats for only women to compete for, as for instance in Rwanda and Uganda – such quotas are usually embedded in the constitution itself. Why? Because reserved seat quotas intervene with the way members of political assemblies are elected, how districts are constructed etc. There are, however, exceptions to this rule, as in the case of Morocco, where the thirty, nationally elected seats reserved for women, came as the result of a decision among the political parties. See the global web site on gender quotas, www.quotaproject.org and the book Dahlerup (ed). “Women, Quotas and Politics”, Routledge 2006.

So far I have only mentioned what we in quota research label “legislated quotas” (by constitution or law). In the southern part of Africa, another type of gender quotas is more common: what we call “voluntary party quotas”. In the ladder case it is the political parties themselves which introduce gender quotas, for instance no less than 30 or 40 % women among the party’s candidates for public elections. Outstanding examples are South Africa, Namibia and Mozambique, who all have a very high representation of women in politics. Leftist political parties have often been the first to introduce voluntary party quotas, but at best a contagion effect may lead to other political parties following suit. No legal sanctions for non-compliance are possible when quotas are voluntary, and not legislated. In the journal “International Feminist Journal of Politics”, vol. 10, no.3, 2008, Gretchen Bauer makes an interesting comparison between the effects of legislated quotas versus voluntary party quotas in countries in Sub-Saharan Africa.

Drude Dahlerup
Professor at the University of Stockholm, Sweden