What Works for Women’s Political Participation and Leadership
- The gender gap in political participation and leadership is a function of individual resources, social norms, and institutions.
- Capacity-building programs can be effective if designed to address coinciding constraints on women's political participation.
- Income-generating programs that fail to address gender norm change do not meaningfully change women’s political participation.
- Social capital among women appears to be one of the most critical resources for women in navigating political participation and leadership.
- Patriarchal cultural norms and patrilineage have been argued to be one of the most deeply rooted drivers of women’s subordination.
This evidence review presents existing research on why the gender gap in political participation and leadership persists and opportunities for USAID to undertake programming that addresses it. The research team surveyed over 220 articles and books, primarily from the last 20 years, using rigorous methodologies. The evidence indicates that the gender gap is a function of individual resources, social norms, and institutions, which interact to inhibit women’s political authority. The review focuses on evaluating the efficacy of external interventions in gaining traction on gender inequities in political participation and leadership, highlighting areas where progress has been made and identifying gaps in the evidence base.
How to cite
United States Agency for International Development (USAID), 2023, What Works for Women’s Political Participation and Leadership, accessed via HaitiDocs, https://www.haitidocs.org/doc/usaid-2023-what-works-women-s