An increase in women’s political mobilization has accompanied the global trend toward democratization, but women’s movements have taken diverse paths in different regions of the world.
About the Author
Jane S. Jaquette is Bertha Harton Orr Professor in the liberal arts and professor of politics at Occidental College. Her most recent book, coedited with Sharon L. Wolchik, is Women and Democracy: Latin America and Central and Eastern Europe (1998).
Why are authoritarian regimes championing gender equality? Modern dictators want to appear progressive, liberal, and democratic, while distracting from their worst abuses.
A country’s level of female political representation cannot be explained solely in terms of socioeconomic factors and political institutions. The evidence shows that political culture also matters.
Though the proportion of women in political office remains lower in Africa than in most other regions, African women exhibited new political energy and made unprecedented progress during the past…
