Many countries in Africa score very low on gender equality measures; yet, they have some of the highest percentages of women in parliament. They have managed to achieve significant representation of women in government through fast track measures such as the implementation of gender quotas. In the context of fast track reform, this paper evaluates the effectiveness of such parliamentary gender quotas in general, and in particular of different types of quotas, for improving gender equality in African countries. Our empirical results suggest that although all mandated quota systems lead to an increase in the number of women in policy-making, the type of quota affects the de facto ability of women in parliament to influence legislative agendas and ultimately to improve the lives of women. Our findings have implications for the design of affirmative action measures targeting women’s participation in the political process.

中文翻译：

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议会性别配额是否会减少性别不平等？非洲国家的案例

许多非洲国家在性别平等措施方面得分很低；然而，她们在议会中的妇女比例是最高的。他们通过实施性别配额等快速措施，成功地实现了女性在政府中的重要代表权。在快速改革的背景下，本文评估了此类议会性别配额的总体有效性，特别是不同类型配额的有效性，以改善非洲国家的性别平等。我们的实证结果表明，尽管所有强制性配额制度都会导致参与决策的女性人数增加，但配额类型会影响女性在议会中影响立法议程并最终改善女性生活的实际能力。