...INTRODUCTION The role of women in politics and public affairs is one of the current governance issues because of the perceived and acknowledged potential and contribution of women to governance processes. Participating effectively and meaningfully in order to have an impact is a process of empowerment that enhances self-worth of individuals and groups at the political level. There is no disputing the fact the number of women is seeing a steady growth from local government level in particular especially in the number of contestants and actual elected women. At the national level, particularly in the legislature, the picture has not seen much significant change since 1996. This reflects strongly in the composition of the membership of standing committees and selected committees of parliament where real debate on legislative issues takes place. Certainly, this affects the contribution of women to the policy making process. At the political party level , although all the parties selected for the study which are the National Democratic Congress (NDC), the New Patriotic Party (NPP), the People’s National Convention (PNC), the Convention People’s Party (CPP) except for the Great Consolidated People’s Party (GCPP), make claims in their manifestoes to their commitment to gender issues in general and women’s concerns in particular, it is not very evident even in their party leadership structure and in their own internal organization. Some party leaders corroborated this by stating...
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...Name: Tutor: Course: Date: The Role of Women in Kuwaiti Politics Introduction Kuwait is a rapidly growing modernizing country where women enjoy a number of similar social and civil rights that men do enjoy. The country has gone through numerous economic, political, and social developments throughout the 20th century. Regardless of this, rulers in Kuwait continue to cherish that fact that Kuwait can be a developed nation with its traditionally organized formation. The people of Kuwait dream that “Kuwait can be simultaneously a "developed" country and a "traditional" tribally organized” (Tetreault 204, p. 203). Social formation run by an autocratic ruler Rulers such as Emir Mubarak consolidated the power of ruling Sabah family against merchant clans that dominated before. More, the ruler made sure that his autocratic reign could go beyond his descendants after his death. In the reign of Emir Abdullah al-Salim, policies, which strengthened social forces in Kuwait, were emphasized. In as much as women enjoy similar social and civil rights as men, they are deprived of several political rights that men enjoy. Whereas they are entitled to take part as voters as well as candidates in the administration of local cooperatives stores, they are offered with the chance to run for national legislature/vote for its members. In the month of May, 1999, the emir of Kuwait promulgated a decree that offered women with the right to vote and for public office in municipal and parliamentary...
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...WOMEN IN POLITICS AND PUBLIC LIFE IN GHANA By Beatrix Allah Mensah AUTHOR: Beatrix Allah-Mensah Department of Political Science University of Ghana, Legon ISBN: 9988-572-87-5 © Copyright Friedrich-Ebert-Foundation, Accra Published in 2005 Printed & designed by O´Mens Graphix, Accra, Tel.:021-238098 ACKNOWLEDGEMENT I wish to acknowledge the contribution of all those who made this project a success. First, I give glory to the Almighty God for bringing me this far in my academic and professional pursuit. Secondly, I express my thanks to all my lecturers in the Department of Political Science, University of Ghana, who have nurtured me onto this path of professional and academic life. Thirdly, I am grateful to all our key informant interviewees from all the institutions/ministries/political parties who gave us their time and valuable information used for this study. Fourthly, I wish to sincerely acknowledge the contribution of my research assistants, Alfred Appiah and Nimingah Beka, national service personnel of the Department of Political Science for their dedicated service during the data collection. Finally, I would like to express my thanks to the Friedrich Ebert Foundation (FES) for commissioning this study and giving me the opportunity to carry it out with financial and institutional support. I would like to state that, except for quotations or references which have been dully acknowledged, this is the result of a research I conducted personally. God Bless all...
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...that over the years, men have been dominating politics of most countries in the world. But it doesn’t mean they did splendid job in what they are suppose to do? Politics has never been an easy place for any man who supposedly can’t even handle political landscape at home. Family of course. Today, most countries in the world face problems of democracy, justice, equality, social problems arising from bad governance of those in corridor of power who are mostly men. Having failed to provide good governance, when come to think of it, there is nothing wrong if women who are noted to be caring, concern, and responsible are given more chances in government for possible change in the ‘status quo'. Should a woman involve in politics have always been subject of controversy over the years. But among other political posts today few women are already presidents of countries and senators, assembly members, and councilors . Cristina Fernández de Kirchner (Argentina), Dilma Rousseff (Brazil) and Joyce Banda (Malawi)- presidents of representative countries have proven that woman can own a place on the top of political settings. Woman have been viewed weak and are less interested or less knowledgeable about politics than men. Perhaps this is why women feel removed from the current political process. If women see that politics remains a men-only club then they are far less likely to participate and to put themselves forward. If they see a women leader in the political settings, it encourages...
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...in our discussions.) White women and “People of color” would not be allowed to vote, but the way it is worded would make it seem like it would include everyone. What groups did the Jeffersonian Republicans decide should get the vote? (When I say Republicans, I do NOT mean the Republicans of today—two very different groups.) Men would be the only ones to be able to vote. They decided to continue to exclude women, children and free blacks. If they allowed women then they would have to allow other groups to as well. In the beginning though it was only men who had owned a...
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...The private roots of public participation: Women’s engagement in democratic politics in Pakistan Dissertation – MA Gender and Development Marion R. Mueller, September 2004 Abstract This paper contributes to the discussion about the involvement of women as decision-makers in democratic political processes. It questions the conditions that are necessary to promote such involvement and that open up spaces for the translation of women’s representation into political influence. The context of the devolution of power process in Pakistan shows that it is not enough to only set up democratic institutions to achieve women’s political effectiveness. Instead there is need for significant support through the state, political parties and civil society. To personalise the political is necessary for successfully being able to achieve policy outcomes that reflect women’s interests. Table of contents Abbreviations & Foreign Words 4 List of Figures and Tables 5 Acknowledgements 6 1. Introduction 7 Choice of case study 8/ Methodology 9/ Dissertation structure 10 2. Locating women’s engagement in democratisation 11 3. Imagining the political: women and the nature of the state 16 The framework of the state 16/ Defining access: affirmative action policies in Pakistan 16/ Devolving power to the grassroots 18/ Personalising the political: the presence of women councillors 20 4. Institutionalising the political:...
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...Empowerment of Women: Comparative Study of South Asian Countries Amna Mahmood A South Asia is a home of variety of cultures, languages and religions. Here we can find a number of variations in customs, value systems and ways of life. But one thing is common among all the cultures and regions of South Asia that is gender discrimination. Women traditionally are considered subordinated to the male and this remained a prominent feature both in the rural and the urban areas. In urban areas a little improvement is due to enhanced level of education and economic independence in women. There is very less distinction of educated and uneducated as that of religion in this regard. The situation is improved with regard to political empowerment especially with the allocation of 33% seats in local government in South Asia but in most of the cases this change is not satisfactory. The real empowerment would be achieved only if it would be accompanied by the social and economic empowerment. For that purpose, society has to be changed at large. Such change cannot be materialized only through any coercive legislation or strong state action in the blink of an eye. But the fact remains there that in societies where all the changes start from top to bottom these measures along with a strong political will can stimulate a change to improve the situation gradually. This paper discusses the measures taken by different governments in South Asia to achieve the goal of political empowerment and participation of womenfolk...
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...and Elections in Texas (chapter 21), Public Opinion (chapter 6), and Political Participation and Voting (chapter 8) to be the most interesting and informative. Parties and Elections in Texas Political parties play a major role in Texas politics. Approximately 91 percent of Texas voters either identify with or lean toward the Republican or the Democratic Party. Despite all of the complaints about parties, they perform roles that are critical to the operation of our democratic system and to the overall coordination and functioning of our political system. The most important function of parties in Texas is to provide a label under which candidates may run and voter may identify. The party label becomes the standard used in casting a ballot for a candidate. Parties recruit candidates, assist in getting out the vote, and helps to organize the government once officials have been elected. The organization of political parties in Texas can be somewhat complex. Texas does not have a system of party registration for voters. Texas parties conduct primaries to select each party’s candidates for office. The precinct chair heads the precinct convention and serves on the county executive committee. The county executive committee is responsible for running the county’s primary elections and planning the county convention. Conventions are held at the precinct, county, and state levels. Participation in Texas elections has changed over time. Texas has had a...
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...permitted under U.S. or applicable copyright law. Introduction The Struggle for Women’s Political Participation in the Caribbean Cynthia Barrow-Giles At a time when the world seems to be moving towards more democratic forms of government, and when the issue of gender equality is receiving more attention than ever before, the participation of women in national-level politics, measured in percentage terms, is actually in decline.1 The historical political under-representation of women has led to a number of international and regional declarations with the expressed intent of improving women’s participation in politics. The Beijing Platform for Action of 1995, for instance, calls upon governments to take measures to ensure women’s equal access and full participation in the decision-making process. Similarly, at the Fourth Caribbean Ministerial Conference on Women, which was held in Kingstown, St Vincent and the Grenadines in 2004, governments agreed to undertake measures to strengthen the process towards the attainment of gender equality, social justice and development. Governments of the Caribbean Community thus agreed to focus on women, the economy and poverty, reproductive health and the strengthening of institutional mechanisms. The Millennium Declaration of 2001 also commits member states to the promotion of gender equality and empowerment of women by 2015. It is recognized that gender equality and women’s empowerment are central to the achievement...
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... CAN GET INVOLVED IN THE LAW MAKING PROCESS AND DEMOCRATIC VALUES OBJECTIVES * To state how one can convince everyone above the age of eighteen in Belvedere to participate in the law making process * To study factors affecting the full participation of the people living in belvedere. * To state how gender affects the law making process. * To state why public participation is important to democracy. * To suggest way in which implementation of the involvement of the community can be ensured and be democratic. METHODOLOGY The researcher engaged into mouth to mouth survey and researches from the internet plus books. By this the researcher asked people in the community in a systematic way were by she skipped every three houses before she could get into a question and answer situation. The researcher encountered people with an ignorant attitude who turned down such an interview and the major problem lies on the honesty of the person being interviewed as it is his or her own point of view. The researcher took into account most of the things which involved the survey from the articles of newspapers. FINDINGS Factors affecting the full participation of the people As adamant as people are most of them deliberately take being involved as a waste of time, or consumption of the wrong time at the wrong moment cause of the after effect of the post 2007-9 era. Most of the people lack knowledge or literacy of the meanings of the things...
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...The organization I chose volunteer for is the League of Women Voters of California. The league is an organization for both men and women that strives for participation in government. What sets them apart is their goal of encouraging people to make informed and educated decisions. The League of Women Voters is non-partisan and does not support any particular political part or candidate. When I contacted the local office I was told by Cheryl, the woman who oversaw my volunteering, that they needed a makeover for their brochure and flyer. This brochure was extremely outdated and needed a serious overhaul. In conjunction with a classmate, I redesigned the brochure to give it a more modern appearance making it more eye catching in hopes of creating more league memberships and provoking more donations. I would have to say this became my main goal of my volunteering experience. Although I was asked that the writing on the brochure went unchanged I wanted to do redesign the graphics and layout of the brochure to make is more interesting and readable. In a way I feel like the hard work I put into the brochure would strengthen and increase the growth of the league. The second piece I worked on with my classmate was the organizations flyer. The flyer was essentially of form that people could use to join the League of Women Voters or simply enclose a donation and at the same time give a little information about the group. In both the brochure and flyer color played an important...
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...Policy brief series: No. 3; 2008 July CLRA Policy Brief for Parliamentarians Women’s Reservation A Long Delayed and a Much Needed Step “Achieving the goal of equal participation of women and men in decision making will provide a balance that more accurately reflects the composition of society and is needed in order to strengthen democracy and promote its proper functioning… Without the active participation of women and the incorporation of women's perspectives at all levels of decision-making, the goals of equality, development and peace cannot be achieved.” - Fourth World Conference on Women, Beijing, 1995: Article 181 Introduction Women represent more than half of the world's population and just less than half of the global electorate. Nevertheless, women constitute a marginal proportion of representatives in the world's legislative bodies. In 2008, the average rate of female representation in national parliaments stands at a meagre 18 per cent. India has of yet managed notably limited success in rectifying these imbalances, with women currently holding only 8 per cent of parliamentary seats. Although India was one of the first democratic nations to grant women the vote, women are neither represented in the legislative spaces nor contributing towards the formation of national laws. After twelve years of the Women's Reservation Bill lying in limbo amid intermittent and embarrassingly hot-headed scenes in the House, it was finally introduced in the Rajya Sabha during...
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...PUBLIC POLICY AND GENDER POLITICS IN NIGERIA INTRODUCTION Despite the seemingly progressive actions by various regimes to redress women's conditions, the institutional environment dominated by men manifest contradictory gender politics. In Nigeria, as elsewhere, power relations are predicated on gender, which may be exercised in different domains (Pereira 2002:1). This chapter examines public policy and gender politics in governance, the social sector (widowhood practices) and education. PUBLIC POLICIES ON WOMEN'S RIGHTS Since the end of Second World War, there has been a widespread global concern for women's rights. Several international instruments have been adopted to attempt to resolve the problem of women's marginalization. The long list of international instruments include the 1948 Declaration on Human Rights, the 1976 Covenant on Human Rights, the 1979 Convention on the Elimination of all forms of Discrimination, and the 1985 Nairobi Forward-Looking Strategies. The Nigerian state has also responded to the international environment through adoption of public policies and programmes to redress the imbalance in gender differences in the social, economic and political spheres. In 2000, the Nigerian government adopted the National Policy on Women. The government considered the policy as its commitment to the development of all sectors of the society and to institutionalize processes which will pilot the Nigerian society towards social equity, justice and a much-improved...
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...AP Government McKinley CHAPTER 8 Political Participation I. A closer look at nonvoting A. Alleged problem: low turnout of voters in the U.S. compared to Europe 1. Data are misleading: tend to compare turnout of voting-age population; turnout of registered voters reveals problem is not so severe 2. Real problem is low voter registration rates a) Proposed solution: get-out-the-vote drives b) But this will not help those who are not registered 3. Apathy is not the only cause of non-registration a) Registration has costs in the U.S.; there are no costs in European countries where registration is automatic b) Motor-voter law of 1993 took effect in 1995, lowered costs and increased registration throughout the country B. Voting is not the only way of participating—by other measures, Americans may participate in politics more than Europeans. C. Important question: how do different kinds of participation affect the government? II. The rise of the American electorate (THEME A: POPULAR PARTICIPATION IN ELECTIONS) A. From state to federal control 1. Initially, states decided who could vote and for which offices 2. This led to wide variation in federal elections 3. Congress has since reduced state prerogatives through law and constitutional amendment. a) 1842 law: House members elected by district b) 15th Amendment (1870): seemed to give...
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...Charity Davis Women, Voting, Election, and Candidates The ratification of the nineteenth admendment and the passage of the voting rights act of 1965 gave women the right to vote but because the lack of education many blacks that lived on the plantation were told whom to vote for. For example African Americans were granted the right to vote. Even though this right was granted African Americans didn’t see the effect on the amendment unit. Once they moved up north they began to get involved in political and participate in primarily as voting or the formalized that resulted in formation of institution. In the voter turnout among men and women in the 1950s and 70s indicated that women were les likely to be politically active because of the way in which they had been raised as children. For example, if a father is the soul provider and the mother stay at home the girl may have the impression that is all she is suppose to do. This could have an impact on her participation in politics and the lack of ambition. According to Aristotle women have no place in politics; their life should be spent raising children, cooking, and cleaning and have no time for political affairs. People with a higher education are most likely to vote than those of no education or a lower level of education. According to Virginia Sapiro noted that women had a high level of education and who were mothers were more likely to participate in politics than other women (Harrison, pg 124). Example Hilary Clinton...
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