African Women’s Economic and Policy Influence

ABSTRACT

While a growing number of women are becoming cabinet ministers in African governments, there is considerable cross-national variation in the extent to which women exercise influence across policy domains. We argue that this variation is the result of enduring cross-national differences in women’s economic rights. Where women are legally subject to male authority in accessing economic resources, they are less able to build the political capital needed to negotiate over leadership positions in largely clientelistic political systems. Using an original dataset on the allocation of ministerial portfolios in 34 African countries, we show that women ministers have less diversified policy portfolios and are less likely to be appointed to high prestige portfolios where women have unequal marriage property rights or are unable to serve as head of household. Our results are robust to controlling for relevant factors such as female labor force participation, legislative quotas, and customary law.

SPEAKER BIO

Leonardo R. Arriola is Associate Professor of Political Science at the University of California, Berkeley. His research focuses on the political economy of democracy and political violence in developing countries. He is author of Multiethnic Coalitions in Africa: Business Financing of Opposition Election Campaigns (Cambridge University Press), which received the 2013 best book award from the African Politics Conference Group and an honorable mention for the 2014 Luebbert best book award from the Comparative Politics Section of the American Political Science Association. His research has appeared in journals such as the American Journal of Political Science, Comparative Political Studies, Comparative Politics, and World Politics. He has conducted fieldwork in Cameroon, Ethiopia, Kenya, Madagascar, and Senegal. He has a PhD in political science from Stanford University.