Gender and Institutional Change in the Middle East and North Africa

Session Submission Type: Full Paper Panel

Session Description

Gender dynamics in the Middle East and North Africa are typically either viewed through the lens of patriarchal norms and conservative religious values on the one hand or specific institutional interventions, such as electoral gender quotas, on the other. There is, however, growing attention to the important ways that internal party dynamics and individual-level values regarding gender interact with the institutional landscape in countries across the Middle East. This includes, for instance, how political actors, particularly political party elites and autocratic leaders, respond to increased female political representation and how political leaders think about and develop policies that affect women’s social status, such as family law and government initiatives that alter household bargaining.

The papers on this panel address several related questions: How do political elites and political dynasties respond to or mitigate the effect of conservative gender norms or political institutions, such as electoral quotas? How do political leaders think about the gendered aspects of policy-making once in office? Do parties’ strategies differ across different levels of governance? Each paper in this panel explores how gender and norms interact with political institutions, drawing on original research from across the Middle East. Using interviews, administrative, and electoral data, the papers in this panel contribute to a growing cross-national literature relationship between political institutions, elites, and individual-level norms and behavior.

Sub Unit

• DIVISION 57: Middle East and North Africa Politics

Cosponsor

• DIVISION 31: Women and Politics Research

Individual Presentations

• The Supply and Success of Female Candidates in Turkish Local Politics - Marwa Shalaby, University of Wisconsin-Madison; Melissa J. Marschall, Rice University

• Gender Quotas and Party Strategy in Tunisia’s 2018 Municipal Elections - Alexandra Domike Blackman, Stanford University; Julia Clark, University of California, San Diego; Aytuğ Şaşmaz, Harvard University

• It’s in the Blood: The Effect of Dynastic Rule on the Substance of Gender Quotas - Gail Buttorff, University of Houston; Bozena Christina Welborne, Smith College

• Authoritarianism and the Family - Carolyn Barnett, Princeton University

Chair

• Alexandra Domike Blackman Stanford University

Discussants

• Mark Tessler University of Michigan

• Lindsay J. Benstead Portland State University