Skip to main content
SpringerLink
Log in

Empowering Young Women? Gender and Youth Quotas in Tunisia

  • Chapter
  • First Online:
Double-Edged Politics on Women’s Rights in the MENA Region

Part of the book series: Gender and Politics ((GAP))

Abstract

In the context of an ongoing democratization process, Tunisia has adopted several electoral quotas for national elections: A gender parity quota in 2011 and a youth quota for citizens under 35 years of age in 2014. This chapter takes a closer look on the implementation and the intersectional effects of those tandem quotas. It focuses on the following questions: How are the quotas designed and implemented? How did they affect the shares of gender and age groups in the Tunisian parliament? How do they condition youth and women’s substantive and symbolic representation? The findings suggest that both quotas have the potential to alter political recruitment and representation in Tunisian politics. They led to an over-proportional share of young women MPs, as young female candidates could fulfil both quotas at a time. The comparative analysis of MPs’ socio-economic background, their activity in parliament, and their presence in leadership positions shows however that young women remain excluded from inner-party and parliamentarian power.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this chapter

Log in via an institution
Chapter
USD 29.95
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Available as PDF
  • Read on any device
  • Instant download
  • Own it forever
eBook
USD 79.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Available as EPUB and PDF
  • Read on any device
  • Instant download
  • Own it forever
Softcover Book
USD 99.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Compact, lightweight edition
  • Dispatched in 3 to 5 business days
  • Free shipping worldwide - see info
Hardcover Book
USD 129.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Durable hardcover edition
  • Dispatched in 3 to 5 business days
  • Free shipping worldwide - see info

Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout

Purchases are for personal use only

Institutional subscriptions

References

  • Anderson, M. J., & Swiss, L. (2014). Peace accords and the adoption of electoral quotas for women in the developing world, 1990–2006. Politics & Gender,10(1), 33–61.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Baldez, L. (2003). Women’s movements and democratic transition in Chile, Brazil, East Germany, and Poland. Comparative Politics,35(3), 253–272.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Bauer, G., & Burnet, J. E. (2013). Gender quotas, democracy, and women’s representation in Africa: Some insights from democratic Botswana and autocratic Rwanda. Women’s Studies International Forum,41(2), 103–112.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Beissinger, M. R., Jamal, A. A., & Mazur, K. (2015). Explaining divergent revolutionary coalitions: Regime strategies and the structuring of participation in the Tunisian and Egyptian revolutions. Comparative Politics,48(1), 1–24.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Belschner, J. (2018). The adoption of youth quotas after the Arab uprisings. Politics, Groups, and Identities. https://doi.org/10.1080/21565503.2018.1528163.

  • Bird, K. (2016). Intersections of exclusion: The institutional dynamics of combined gender and ethnic quota systems. Politics, Groups, and Identities,4(2), 284–306.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Bush, S. S. (2011). International politics and the spread of quotas for women in legislatures. International Organization,65(1), 103–137.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Celis, K., Childs, S., Kantola, J., & Krook, M. L. (2008). Rethinking women’s substantive representation. Representation,44(2), 99–110.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Celis, K., Erzeel, S., & Mügge, L. (2015). Intersectional puzzles: Understanding inclusion and equality in political recruitment. Politics & Gender,11(4), 765–770.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Celis, K., Erzeel, S., Mügge, L., & Damstra, A. (2014). Quotas and intersectionality: Ethnicity and gender in candidate selection. International Political Science Review,35(1), 41–54.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Charrad, M. M., & Zarrugh, A. (2014). Equal or complementary? Women in the new Tunisian Constitution after the Arab Spring. The Journal of North African Studies,19(2), 230–243.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Childs, S., & Hughes, M. (2018). “Which men?” How an intersectional perspective on men and masculinities helps explain women’s political underrepresentation. Politics & Gender,14(2), 282–287.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Childs, S., & Krook, M. L. (2008). Critical mass theory and women’s political representation. Political Studies,56(3), 725–736.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Clayton, A., Josefsson, C., & Wang, V. (2017). Quotas and women’s substantive representation: Evidence from a content analysis of Ugandan plenary debates. Politics & Gender,13(2), 276–304.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Collins, N. (2011). Voices of a revolution: Conversations with Tunisia’s youth (1st ed.). Washington, DC: National Democratic Institute. http://iknowpolitics.org/sites/default/files/conversations-with-tunisia-youth-apr-2011.pdf. Accessed 18 March 2019.

  • Dahlerup, D. (2006). The story of the theory of critical mass. Politics & Gender,2(4), 492–502.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Darhour, H., & Dahlerup, D. (2013). Sustainable representation of women through gender quotas: A decade’s experience in Morocco. Women’s Studies International Forum,41(2), 132–142.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Fallon, K. M., Swiss, L., & Viterna, J. (2012). Resolving the democracy paradox: Democratization and women’s legislative representation in developing nations, 1975 to 2009. American Sociological Review,77(3), 380–408.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Fraga, L., Martinez-Ebers, V., Lopez, L., & Ramírez, R. (2005). Strategic intersectionality: Gender, ethnicity, and political incorporation (1st ed.). Berkeley: Institute of Governmental Studies. http://citeseerx.ist.psu.edu/viewdoc/download?doi=10.1.1.571.5343&rep=rep1&type=pdf. Accessed 18 March 2019.

  • Franceschet, S., & Piscopo, J. M. (2012). Gender and political backgrounds in Argentina. In S. Franceschet, M. L. Krook, & J. M. Piscopo (Eds.), The impact of gender quotas (1st ed., pp. 43–56). Oxford: Oxford University Press.

    Chapter  Google Scholar 

  • Gana, N. (2013). The making of the Tunisian revolution: Contexts, architects, prospects. Edinburgh: Edinburgh University Press.

    Book  Google Scholar 

  • González, M., & Desrues, T. (2018). Youth representation under authoritarianism: the process of quota adoption in Morocco. Unpublished paper presented at the Workshop on Youth, Inequality and Regime Response in the Global South, University of Bergen, Bergen.

    Google Scholar 

  • Gray, D. H. (2012). Tunisia after the uprising: Islamist and secular quests for women’s rights. Mediterranean Politics,17(3), 285–302.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Grey, S. (2006). Numbers and beyond: The relevance of critical mass in gender research. Politics & Gender,2(4), 492–502.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Harris, A. (2016). Young people, politics and citizenship. In A. Furlong (Ed.), Handbook of youth and young adulthood (2nd ed., pp. 301–306). London and New York: Routledge.

    Google Scholar 

  • Hawkesworth, M. (2003). Congressional enactments of race-gender: Toward a theory of raced-gendered institutions. American Political Science Review,97(4), 529–550.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Hoffman, M., & Jamal, A. (2012). The youth and the Arab Spring: Cohort differences and similarities. Middle East Law and Governance,4(1), 168–188.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Horn, D. M. (2010). Women, civil society and the geopolitics of democratization. New York: Routledge.

    Book  Google Scholar 

  • Htun, M. (2016). Inclusion without representation in Latin America: Gender quotas and ethnic reservations. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Hughes, M. M. (2009). Armed conflict, international linkages, and women’s parliamentary representation in developing nations. Social Problems,56(1), 174–204.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Hughes, M. M. (2011). Intersectionality, quotas, and minority women’s political representation worldwide. American Political Science Review,105(3), 604–620.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Hughes, M. M., & Tripp, A. M. (2015). Civil war and trajectories of change in women’s political representation in Africa, 1985–2010. Social Forces,93(4), 1513–1540.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Inglehart, R., Norris, P., & Welzel, C. (2002). Gender equality and democracy. Comparative Sociology,1(3), 321–345.

    Google Scholar 

  • Inter-Parliamentary Union. (2016). Youth participation in national parliaments 2016 (1st ed.). Geneva: Inter-Parliamentary Union. https://www.ipu.org/resources/publications/reports/2016–07/youth-participation-in-national-parliaments. Accessed 18 March 2019.

  • Jaquette, J. S., & Wolchik, S. L. (1998). Women and democracy: Latin America and Central and Eastern Europe. Baltimore: Johns Hopkins University Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Jensenius, F. R. (2016). Competing inequalities? On the intersection of gender and ethnicity in candidate nominations in Indian elections. Government and Opposition,51(3), 440–463.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Krook, M. L., & O’Brien, D. Z. (2010). The politics of group representation: Quotas for women and minorities worldwide. Comparative Politics,42(3), 253–272.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Lépinard, É. (2013). For women only? Gender quotas and intersectionality in France. Politics & Gender,9(3), 276–298.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Lieckefett, M. (2012). La Haute Instance et les élections en Tunisie: du consensus au “pacte politique”? Confluences Méditerranée,82(3), 133–144.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Murray, R. (2014). Quotas for men: Reframing gender quotas as a means of improving representation for all. American Political Science Review,108(3), 520–532.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • République Tunisienne. (2011). Décret-loi n° 2011-35. http://constitutionnet.org/vl/item/2-decret-loi-ndeg-2011-35-du-10-mai-2011-relatif-lelection-de-lassemblee-nationale. Accessed 22 March 2019.

  • République Tunisienne. (2014a). Constitution de la République Tunisienne. http://www.legislation.tn/sites/default/files/news/constitution-b-a-t.pdf. Accessed 22 March 2019.

  • République Tunisienne. (2014b). Loi électorale de la Tunisie. http://www.isie.tn/wp-content/uploads/2018/01/Loi-Organique-n%C2%B02014-16.pdf. Accessed 22 March 2019.

  • République Tunisienne. (2017). Loi électorale de la Tunisie. http://www.legislation.tn/sites/default/files/fraction-journal-officiel/2017/2017F/014/Tf201771.pdf. Accessed 22 March 2018.

  • UNDP. (2013). Enhancing youth political participation throughout the electoral cycle: A good practice guide (1st ed.). New York: United Nations Development Programme. http://www.undp.org/content/dam/undp/library/Democratic%20Governance/Electoral%20Systems%20and%20Processes/ENG_UN-Youth_Guide-LR.pdf. Accessed 22 March 2019.

  • Zemni, S. (2015). The extraordinary politics of the Tunisian revolution: The process of constitution making. Mediterranean Politics,20(1), 1–17.

    Article  Google Scholar 

Download references

Acknowledgements

This work was supported by the Norwegian Research Council under grant number 250669/F10.

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. University of Bergen, Bergen, Norway

    Jana Belschner

Authors
  1. Jana Belschner
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. Faculty of Languages, Arts and Human Sciences, Ibn Zohr University, Ait Melloul, Morocco

    Hanane Darhour

  2. Department of Political Science, Stockholm University, Stockholm, Sweden

    Drude Dahlerup

  3. ISE, Roskilde University, Roskilde University, Denmark

    Drude Dahlerup

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

Copyright information

© 2020 The Author(s)

About this chapter

Check for updates. Verify currency and authenticity via CrossMark

Cite this chapter

Belschner, J. (2020). Empowering Young Women? Gender and Youth Quotas in Tunisia . In: Darhour, H., Dahlerup, D. (eds) Double-Edged Politics on Women’s Rights in the MENA Region. Gender and Politics. Palgrave Macmillan, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-27735-2_10

Download citation

Publish with us

Policies and ethics

Search

Navigation