Bauer, Gretchen, and Hannah E. Britton, eds. Women in African Parliaments.

• Author: Ong'oa, Isaac Monari
• Position: Book review

Bauer, Gretchen, and Hannah E. Britton, eds. Women in African Parliaments. Boulder, CO: Lynne Reinner Publishers, 2006. viii + 237 pages. Cloth, $49.95.

Most African democracies are young--less than fifty years old--yet some of them have achieved a high degree of female representation in national assemblies compared to other older and well-established democracies of the world. This is a paradox that needs to be explained, and that is exactly what the editors of this book try to do. This collection of essays focuses exclusively on the changes that have taken place in post-colonial Africa with regard to female representation in national assemblies, the experiences of women parliamentarians, their contribution to policy making, and the challenges they face.

While the case studies found here are written by various international scholars, they all follow the same format, including sections about the history of women in the particular country, current situation analyses, policies and programs in place, suggestions for further action, and expected future directions. This makes it easier for those who are working comparatively, but it also represents a somewhat sterile reading. Yet, in spite of the limitations imposed by the style, the content is far from boring or repetitive.

The authors of the various essays thoughtfully analyze the factors that have helped to increase female representation in parliaments in Africa, a region where interaction among patriarchy, division of labor according to gender, and the effects of colonialism on various African societies had worked in tandem to strip women of their socioeconomic and, consequently, their political power. Women were primarily expected to take care of the families and homes while men engaged in the public sphere of life, which includes politics. The adoption of the gender-based quota system, pressure from women's organizations on political parties, and the influence of the Global Women's Movement are all discussed here.

One can accept the editors explanation that Mozambique, Namibia, Rwanda, South Africa, and Uganda were selected because they represented the five continental African countries among the world's top twenty-five in terms of female representation in national assemblies (p. 2). The sixth country--Senegal--was selected to represent the situation in Muslim African countries. However, when the editors state that the selection of all six case studies was also supposed to represent African...