Explaining Public Opinion towards Women’s Reserved Seats in Uganda

• In Event: Who Stands Between Women and Political Office in Sub-Saharan Africa

Abstract

How many legislative seats should be reserved for women? We analyse individual-level data in Uganda (n=6,123, 50 districts), where reserved seat (RS-)women hold 33% of legislative seats in subnational government, to understand why some citizens favor expansion of such reserved seats to 50/50, versus the status quo or elimination. We examine five families of theories, hypothesizing that citizens are more likely to favor a greater percentage of reserved seats who: (1) hold less traditional values about women’s leadership (and within women only, those who are leaders), (2) engage more with RS-women, (3) prioritize women’s service delivery issues, (4) perceive elections as performing well, and (5) see value in RS-women for female citizens’ representation. While much scholarship examines implementation and consequences of women’s reserved seats, this study illuminates an understudied area --- citizens’ public opinion regarding such institutional change.

Authors

• Kristin Grace Michelitch, Vanderbilt University

• Rashi Sabherwal, University of Pennsylvania