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The Underrepresentation of Women in Politics: The Case of Ghana's Legislature

Umar, Sulemana LU (2024) MIDM19 20241
Department of Human Geography
LUMID International Master programme in applied International Development and Management
Abstract
The underrepresentation of women in national legislatures is a major setback to consolidating democracy in most countries across the world. Yet, only a handful of countries have vigorously implemented Affirmative Action measures to address the problem. Although most countries, including Ghana, have ratified the Convention on the Elimination of All forms of Discrimination Against Women (CEDAW), and further consented to the concerted global agenda of achieving goal 5 of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), national legislatures in most countries continue to be male-dominated. Focusing on the case of Ghana, this thesis explains why women are underrepresented in Ghana’s legislature through the lens of the demand and supply framework. Data... (More)
The underrepresentation of women in national legislatures is a major setback to consolidating democracy in most countries across the world. Yet, only a handful of countries have vigorously implemented Affirmative Action measures to address the problem. Although most countries, including Ghana, have ratified the Convention on the Elimination of All forms of Discrimination Against Women (CEDAW), and further consented to the concerted global agenda of achieving goal 5 of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), national legislatures in most countries continue to be male-dominated. Focusing on the case of Ghana, this thesis explains why women are underrepresented in Ghana’s legislature through the lens of the demand and supply framework. Data obtained from quantitative approach supplemented by few qualitative interviews, indicate that several factors; financing political campaigns and discrimination against women politicians, by political party gatekeepers which is exacerbated by sociocultural norms ingrained within the Ghanaian social fabric inter alia, are major barriers to women’s political participation in Ghana and hence their underrepresentation in the legislature. (Less)
Please use this url to cite or link to this publication:
author
Umar, Sulemana LU
supervisor
organization
course
MIDM19 20241
year
type
H2 - Master's Degree (Two Years)
subject
keywords
Women, Political Participation, Underrepresentation, Legislature, Ghana
language
English
id
9160190
date added to LUP
2024-07-24 11:44:12
date last changed
2024-07-24 11:44:12
@misc{9160190,
  abstract     = {{The underrepresentation of women in national legislatures is a major setback to consolidating democracy in most countries across the world. Yet, only a handful of countries have vigorously implemented Affirmative Action measures to address the problem. Although most countries, including Ghana, have ratified the Convention on the Elimination of All forms of Discrimination Against Women (CEDAW), and further consented to the concerted global agenda of achieving goal 5 of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), national legislatures in most countries continue to be male-dominated. Focusing on the case of Ghana, this thesis explains why women are underrepresented in Ghana’s legislature through the lens of the demand and supply framework. Data obtained from quantitative approach supplemented by few qualitative interviews, indicate that several factors; financing political campaigns and discrimination against women politicians, by political party gatekeepers which is exacerbated by sociocultural norms ingrained within the Ghanaian social fabric inter alia, are major barriers to women’s political participation in Ghana and hence their underrepresentation in the legislature.}},
  author       = {{Umar, Sulemana}},
  language     = {{eng}},
  note         = {{Student Paper}},
  title        = {{The Underrepresentation of Women in Politics: The Case of Ghana's Legislature}},
  year         = {{2024}},
}