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Gender Difference in Support for Democracy in Sub-Saharan Africa: Do social institutions matter?

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  • Maty Konte

Abstract

Little investigation has been made to explain why women are less likely than are men to support democracy in sub-Saharan Africa. This gender difference in politics has been found in numerous studies and may hinder the much needed legitimation of democracy in this region. This paper addresses the question of whether this observed gender gap is due to the omission of social institutions related to gender inequality, something that affects women's daily life and deprives them of autonomy at home.

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  • Maty Konte, 2014. "Gender Difference in Support for Democracy in Sub-Saharan Africa: Do social institutions matter?," WIDER Working Paper Series wp-2014-044, World Institute for Development Economic Research (UNU-WIDER).
    • Handle: RePEc:unu:wpaper:wp-2014-044
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    Cited by:

    1. Konte, Maty, 2016. "The effects of remittances on support for democracy in Africa: Are remittances a curse or a blessing?," Journal of Comparative Economics, Elsevier, vol. 44(4), pages 1002-1022.
    2. Boris Branisa & Carolina Cardona, 2015. "Social Institutions and Gender Inequality in Fragile States: Are they relevant for the Post-MDG Debate?," Development Research Working Paper Series 06/2015, Institute for Advanced Development Studies.
    3. Williams, Kevin, 2017. "Do remittances improve political institutions? Evidence from Sub-Saharan Africa," Economic Modelling, Elsevier, vol. 61(C), pages 65-75.
    4. Konte, Maty & Osei Kwadwo, Victor & Zinyemba, Tatenda, 2019. "Women's political and reproductive health empowerment in Africa: A literature review," MERIT Working Papers 2019-044, United Nations University - Maastricht Economic and Social Research Institute on Innovation and Technology (MERIT).
    5. Mawussé Komlagan Nézan Okey & Dossè Mawussi Djahini-Afawoubo, 2020. "Voting participation in Togo: the role of access to public services and confidence in public institutions," Journal of Social and Economic Development, Springer;Institute for Social and Economic Change, vol. 22(2), pages 379-400, December.

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    More about this item

    Keywords

    Democracy; Women;

    JEL classification:

    • J16 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Demographic Economics - - - Economics of Gender; Non-labor Discrimination
    • O38 - Economic Development, Innovation, Technological Change, and Growth - - Innovation; Research and Development; Technological Change; Intellectual Property Rights - - - Government Policy
    • O55 - Economic Development, Innovation, Technological Change, and Growth - - Economywide Country Studies - - - Africa

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