Doctoral Dissertation Research: Broadening Participation of Underrepresented Groups in Civil Social Institutions

Emory University, Atlanta GA

Investigators

Abstract

It has been scientifically well-documented that civil social institutions are most effective and durable when they are fully inclusive of the broader populations that they represent. This project explores what factors contribute to and inhibit the participation of underrepresented groups in civil society by looking at specific experiments that governments have used to increase participation. While training a graduate student in anthropology in the methods of empirical, scientific data collection and analysis, the project would broadly disseminate its findings to organizations invested in discovering more effective methods for communicating science to the public. The findings of this research will be disseminated in such a way to aid researchers and policy-makers to improve policies and programming aimed at increasing the participation of underrepresented groups in civil society. The project also contributes to broadening the participation of individuals traditionally underrepresented in science. Miriam Kilimo, under the supervision of Dr. Peter Little of Emory University will explore what impact government programs to engineer women's participation in civil society have on social relations. To address the low numbers of women in politics, numerous countries have adopted gender quotas in political representation. The gender quotas include methods such as requiring political parties to field female candidates during elections or to nominate them directly into political office. Although much research has been conducted to investigate which gender quotas work best to increase the number of women in political office, we still do not fully understand how these women experience the gender quota system. This research will be carried out in Kenya, where a 2010 constitution introduced gender quotas to increase women's political representation. Kenya's gender quota directs that women should occupy at least one-third of the seats in the 47 county assemblies. The gender quota has been implemented in two election cycles since 2010. When few women won seats by election, political parties nominated hundreds of women to county assemblies to meet the gender quota. However, these women have been criticized as allies of political parties that are dominated by men. Through observational methods, interviews, and document and media analyses, the researcher will investigate the experiences of female members of county assembly in Murang'a and Kwale counties in Kenya. These two counties have different ethnic groups, religions, and political histories. The study will address how female members of county assemblies participate in the county assembly and in the community, and how they relate to male members of county assemblies. The research will also examine the ideas about female members of county assemblies that are circulated in the public. The findings from the research will provide insight into how gender quotas shape political systems and the experiences of women who occupy political office. This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.