The political gender gap in Africa: Similar attitudes, different behaviors
1 March 2006
Carolyn Logan, Michael Bratton
Afrobarometer
Differences in political values, attitudes and behaviors between women and men have long been the subject of scrutiny in Western societies. Gender differences in family, work, and community roles and experiences have been seen as key factors contributing to an observed “gender gap” in these societies.
Traditionally, the “gender gap” has been characterized as a tendency toward greater conservatism among women than men in ideology, electoral preferences, and political attitudes. Recent analysis, however, challenges the notion, or at least the endurance, of this “traditional gender gap.” This research suggests that existing models of partisan loyalty and policy preference based on gender, in which women are assumed to be held back by discriminatory traditions, may not apply well in non-Western developing nations, including those in Africa. Our own analysis draws on public opinion data gathered in Round 2 of the Afrobarometer (2002-2003) to explore differences in values, attitudes, and behaviors between men and women in 15 African countries. We find that African women differ relatively little from men with regard to their preferences for political and economic regimes and in performance evaluations. Where they do differ, it is not because women stake out a fundamentally different position from men, but rather, usually because women are more ambivalent; they consistently offer more “don’t know” or other null or neutral responses. We see a real, qualitative difference between men and women on only one issue: women seem to be less convinced of the need for multiparty competition within a democracy, expressing greater concerns about the potential divisiveness of party competition, and a greater tolerance for one-party systems.
Keywords: political gender gap
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