Affirmative Action as a Strategy for Promoting Women’s Participation in Politics in the Frafra Traditional Area of Ghana

Abstract

While the use of affirmative action to increase women’s political participation in societies where socio-cultural factors militate against women’s political interests, popular measures do not go beyond quota systems. This paper therefore examines the ideological, programmatic and socio-cultural impacts of affirmative action on women’s political participation in the Frafra traditional area of Ghana, using a qualitative research approach. Results indicated that ideologically, affirmative action is perceived as policies and strategies that aim at the protection of the interests of women’s interest in politics. Programmatically affirmative action programmes such as capacity building and mentoring of women for participation in political leadership were found to be based on existing policies. Socio-cultural factors were found to be a major impediment to affirmative action programmes for the promotion of women’s political participation. Hence, it was concluded that the use of affirmative action for the promotion of women’s political inclusion would remain ineffective unless the socio-cultural factors that undermine them are addressed.

Keywords: Affirmative Action, Women’s Political Inclusion, Frafra Traditional Area