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NOVAFRICA Seminar: Who gets to speak? Gender, party effects and parliamentary floor access in Ghana and South Africa

On Wednesday, March 1st, at 3pm (Lisbon time), on Room B 133 the NOVAFRICA Center welcomes Edalina Rodrigues Sanches and António Dias from Instituto de Ciências Sociais – Universidade de Lisboa to present their work on “Who gets to speak? Gender, party effects and parliamentary floor access in Ghana and South Africa”.

Author:
Edalina Rodrigues Sanches
António Dias

Abstract:
A recent overview of parliamentary debates around the world has found that the gender gap when it comes to MPs’ access to parliamentary floor is quite prevalent but not ubiquitous. What can explain this variation? We try to explain this by drawing on original datasets of parliamentary speeches in Ghana (2005-2020) and South Africa (1999-2020). These are established democracies with very distinct political systems, quota regulations, and share of women representation in parliament. Mixing supply and demand-side explanations, we test three sets of effects: first the direct effect of gender on floor access; second the extent to which this effect is moderated by experience and socialization in parliament (i.e. given the leadership position in parliament and the level of seniority); and third,  if political parties play a role in fostering gender differences. By analysing two diverse cases and their trajectories through time, this study allows us to leverage our explanations on the individual and contextual level factors that determine access to the floor. This paper offers contributions to the research agenda that investigates gender imbalances in the legislative agenda, by combining both supply and demand-side explanations.

Find more about this seminar here.