Abstract: This paper presents empirical evidence regarding the trends of gender and political participation during the 2001-2011 period in Zambia. Focusing on voting as one aspect of political participation, and taking age, education and place of residence as explanatory variables, we use data from the Afrobarometer survey to see how voting participation varied with regard to gender in Zambia during this period. Despite Zambia’s higher levels of political participation among African countries, our analysis shows that when compared to their male counterparts, women still have disproportionally lower levels of political participation than men, regardless of factors such as educational achievements, age and place of residence. The research findings contribute to the gender and political participation literature by evidencing that the gender gap continues to be an avoidable inequality in voting participation in Zambia.
In contrast to their male counterparts, voting participation of women increased in absolute terms within this period in Zambia. However, our analysis shows that the difference in voting patterns is more pronounced between women in the different social groups than men. The study further suggests that, in spite of the international drive for full equality in political participation, and as a result of the centuries old traditional cultural constraints in Zambia, and the African society at large, women have been subjected to a social attitude boosted by some of the discriminatory chauvinisms of colonialism towards women, has been created that still operates in Zambian culture and leads to the exclusion of women from active participation in political life.
Keywords: Africa, Elections, Gender, Voting participation, Zambia.
Title: Gender and Voting Participation in Africa: The Case of Zambia
Author: Jack Chola Bwalya, Prasanth Sukumar
International Journal of Social Science and Humanities Research
ISSN 2348-3164 (online), ISSN 2348-3156 (Print)
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