Gender Equality, Legislative Recruitment Process and Selection of other Political Executives in Modern Politics: Empirical Evidence from Cameroon
Keywords:
Gender equality, legislative recruitment, selection, political executivesAbstract
With the return to multi-party politics in the early 1990’s, the issue of the representation of women and their participation in the political process has become increasingly relevant in Cameroon. It has attracted increasing interest from social scientists due to the fact that a key test of modernization is supposed to be the position of women in relation to the rhetoric that constructing an image of strong protective masculinity for political leaders, or holder of important decisions making positions. Advocacy for affirmative action mechanisms that can increase representation of women, such as the quotas system, is becoming an integral part of the debate regarding the modernization of the political system built on the principle of gender equality. This paper assesses how closely do political elites mirror the characteristics of the population they represent in connection to the extent political structures are gendered when it comes to the legislative recruitment process and selection of other public and political executives in Cameroon. The paper argues that the ultimate goal of gender equality is to ensure that democracy and its institutions are truly inclusive, and able to solve today’s problem of women’s political rights through dialogue, consensus, compromise and equal participation. The paper finds that the selection of both women and men in the legislative recruitment process, or selection of public office holder, is a sine qua non condition for a peaceful and successful inclusive democracy. It finally finds that, a shift from the current voluntary quotas system to a compulsory one will reduce obstacles inherent in some customs, traditions and party politics that impede women representation.
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