THE GENDER GAP IN AFRICAN PARTY SYSTEMS by Leslie Ann Fadiga-Stewart, B.A., M.A. A DISSERTATION IN POLITICAL SCIENCE Submitted to the Graduate Faculty of Texas Tech University in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree of DOCTOR OF PHILOSOPHY Approved Dennis Patterson Chairperson of the Committee John Barkdull Glen Biglasier Ambassador Tibor Nagy, Jr. Accepted John Borrelli Dean of the Graduate School August, 2007 Copyright 2007, Leslie Ann Fadiga-Stewart Texas Tech University, Leslie Fadiga-Stewart, August 2007 ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS It was a joy working with my advisor, Dr. Dennis Patterson. He provided valuable guidance and assistance and made this whole process easier because he was so supportive, understanding, and generous with his time. He saw my research project as an opportunity to learn something new and his positive attitude, infinite patience, and constant support are gifts I will share with my own students. I would also like to thank the members of my dissertation committee for their patience, feedback, and encouragement. I had the opportunity to work with Dr. Barkdull during my first year as his teaching assistant and valued the fact that he was fair, open-minded, and pushed students to think critically. I only had a chance to know Dr. Glen Biglasier for a short time, but appreciated his enthusiasm, kindness, and his suggestions along the way. It was also wonderful to have Ambassador Nagy on my committee and he provided invaluable insights from his experience from living and working in Africa. I want to offer many thanks to Dr. Susan Banducci for her support while she was at Texas Tech and Dr. Ed Steinhart for generously sharing his time and his love of Africa over several cups of coffee. I cannot say enough kind words about the faculty and staff associated with the Teaching, Learning, and Technology Center (TLTC) that I worked with when I was a fellow in the TEACH program. Dr. Debra Laverie, Suzanne Tapp, Dr. Marjean Purinton, Dr. Andrea McCourt, Dr. Alan Reifman, and my co-mentors, Dr. Charlotte Dunham and Dr. Ginny Felstehausen always had a warm smile and words of encouragement. I also want to acknowledge how much I appreciated the financial ii Texas Tech University, Leslie Fadiga-Stewart, August 2007 support I received such as the summer dissertation research award from the Graduate School as well as my assistantship from the Political Science department. It is also great that the Afrobarometer Network has made the Afrobarometer survey series available and many will learn more about Africa and African people thanks to their efforts. Lastly, I would like to thank the support of friends and family both near and far. I will miss the conversations I shared with Gamal Gasim, a common interest in gender and politics with Nathan Mitchell, and an easy smile from Jangsup Choi and I wish all of them the best in the future. I would like to thank my family and friends in Colorado, in particular, Selaam Bueyne, Rebekah, Anne, and Sarah Wells, who are like rays of sunshine and made my world brighter. Although they were miles away, I have missed Yaay, Papa, Babacar, the rest of the Fadiga and Diaw families, Saiba Fainke, and Abdoulaye Niang and I really appreciated their encouragement and support while I was in Senegal. Nothing has meant more to me than the love and encouragement I received from my husband, Mohamadou. I am proud of everything he has done for me and feel truly blessed because he has been so supportive from the very beginning. A very special thank you to our son, Mamadou, and our daughter, Binta, for making sure I had a good dose of laughter and plenty of hugs each day. I am so excited about everything that is ahead for both of them. May our children follow our lead and may all of our hard work together as a family continue to bring many blessings in the future. iii Texas Tech University, Leslie Fadiga-Stewart, August 2007 TABLE OF CONTENTS ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS ii ABSTRACT vi LIST OF TABLES viii LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS x CHAPTER I. INTRODUCTION 1 The Gender Gap in Party Identification 3 The Gender Gap in Partisan Support 7 II. THE GENDER GAP IN COMPARATIVE PERSPECTIVE 16 Party Politics in Africa 16 The Gender Gap 22 Conclusion 49 III. DATA AND METHODS 54 Variables and Operationalization 55 Outline of the Dissertation 60 IV. WHEN MEN AND WOMEN SUPPORT DIFFERENT PARTIES: THE INCONSISTENT CONTRASTIVE PATTERN 63 Introduction 63 Botswana 64 Mali 72 iv Texas Tech University, Leslie Fadiga-Stewart, August 2007 V. WHEN WOMEN PROVIDE LESS SUPPORT ACROSS ALL PARTIES: THE INCONSISTENT SINGULAR PATTERN 94 Introduction 94 Nigeria 95 Tanzania 106 VI. THE GENDER GAP PATTERNS IN COUNTRIES OF LOST DOMINANCE 126 Introduction 126 Kenya 127 Senegal 142 VII. THE GENDER GAP IN AFRICAN PARTY SYSTEMS 168 Introduction 168 Summary and Discussion 168 Implications 177 Future Research 179 REFERENCES 181 v Texas Tech University, Leslie Fadiga-Stewart, August 2007 ABSTRACT Over the last couple of decades, an extensive body of literature has emerged on the political gender gap, which explores attitudinal and behavioral differences between men and women. While this literature has concentrated primarily on advanced industrialized countries in Western Europe and the United States, it is unclear how emerging democracies such as African countries are different in terms of the gender gap and which factors explain differences between men and women in Sub-Saharan Africa. This study extends the current literature by exploring the gender gap in the African context. Specifically, it is interested in two aspects of the political gender gap in Africa. First, it seeks to uncover if men and women are different in terms of party identification and second, to determine if there are gender differences in partisan support, that is, whether men and women have preferences for different political parties. Using survey data from the Afrobarometer series, this study maps the gender gap in party identification across sixteen different African countries. A multivariate analysis was also conducted to test competing explanations related to partisan support in six different African countries: Botswana, Kenya, Mali, Nigeria, Senegal, and Tanzania. The results show there was a gender gap in party identification but the size of the gender gap varied depending on whether countries had a high, average, or low level of party identification. In addition, the results established that a gender gap in partisan support was evident in six African countries defined by the difference in political support for ruling parties and opposition parties. These countries manifested two different gender vi Texas Tech University, Leslie Fadiga-Stewart, August 2007 gap patterns: an inconsistent contrastive gender gap and an inconsistent singular gender gap. Examining the gender gap in an often-neglected comparative context will add to our understanding of this political phenomenon in new democracies and highlights the future research opportunities in other geographical regions on the gender gap and other related topics. vii Texas Tech University, Leslie Fadiga-Stewart, August 2007 LIST OF TABLES 1.1 Gender Gap in Party Identification 11 1.2 Partisan Gender Gap among High Party Identifiers 12 1.3 Partisan Gender Gap among Average Party Identifiers 13 1.4 Partisan Gender Gap among Low Party Identifiers 15 3.1 Gender Gap Pattern I 61 3.2 Gender Gap Pattern II 62 4.1 Support Characteristics of Botswana’s Political Parties 85 4.2 Inconsistent Contrastive Gender Gap Pattern in Botswana 86 4.3 The Gender Gap and Party Support in Botswana 87 4.4 Explaining Partisanship in Botswana 88 4.5 Support Characteristics of Mali’s Political Parties 89 4.6 Inconsistent Contrastive Gender Gap Pattern in Mali 90 4.7 The Gender Gap and Party Support in Mali 91 4.8 Explaining Partisanship for Malian Men 92 4.9 Explaining Partisanship for Malian Women 93 5.1 Support Characteristics of Nigeria’s Political Parties 117 5.2 Inconsistent Singular Gender Gap Pattern in Nigeria 118 5.3 The Gender Gap and Party Support in Nigeria 119 5.4 Explaining Partisanship for Nigerian Men 120 5.5 Support Characteristics of Tanzania’s Political Parties 121 viii Texas Tech University, Leslie Fadiga-Stewart, August 2007 5.6 Inconsistent Singular Gender Gap Pattern in Tanzania 122 5.7 The Gender Gap and Party Support in Tanzania 123 5.8 Explaining Partisanship for Tanzanian Men 124 5.9 Explaining Partisanship for Tanzanian Women 125 6.1 Support Characteristics of Kenya’s Political Parties 158 6.2 Weak Inconsistent Singular Gender Gap Pattern in Kenya 159 6.3 The Gender Gap and Party Support in Kenya 160 6.4 Explaining Partisanship for Kenyan Men 161 6.5 Explaining Partisanship for Kenyan Women 162 6.6 Support Characteristics of Senegal’s Political Parties 163 6.7 Weak Inconsistent Contrastive Gender Gap Pattern in Senegal 164 6.8 The Gender Gap and Party Support in Senegal 165 6.9 Explaining Partisanship for Senegalese Men 166 6.10 Explaining Partisanship for Senegalese Women 167 ix Texas Tech University, Leslie Fadiga-Stewart, August 2007 LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS AD Alliance for Democracy (Nigeria) ADEMA Alliance pour la D émocratie au Mali ADN Action for Développement National (Senegal) ADP Alliance pour la Démocratie et Progrès (Mali) AFORD Alliance for Democracy (Malawi) AFP Alliance des Forces de Progrès (Senegal) AJ/PADS And Jëf /Parti Africain pour la Démocratie et le Socialisme (Senegal) ANC African National Congress (South Africa) ANPP All Nigeria People’s Party APP All People’s Party (Nigeria) ASP Afro-Shirazi Party (Tanzania/Zanzibar)