Africa: Why Cabinet, Rather Than Parliament, Is the Centre of Power for African Women

analysis

How do we know whether women are achieving equitable levels of political representation? For many years, scholars have focused on women's representation in legislatures. But in many African states power is in fact concentrated in the executive branch.

In most African countries heads of state and cabinet ministers enjoy significant discretion over resource distribution and policy agendas. This means that it's important to pay close attention to who holds executive posts when trying to work out the role of women in a particular country.

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