Gender Balance and the Meanings of Women in Governance in Post-Genocide Rwanda

Abstract

Across Africa many countries have taken initiatives to increase the participation and representation of women in governance. Yet it is unclear what meaning these initiatives have in authoritarian single-party states like Rwanda. Since seizing power in 1994 the Rwandan Patriotic Front has taken many steps to increase the participation of women in politics such as creating a Ministry of Gender organizing womens councils at all levels of government and instituting an electoral system with reserved seats for women in the national parliament. This article explores the dramatic increase in womens participation in public life and representation in governance and the increasing authoritarianism of the Rwandan state under the guise of democratization. The increased political participation of women in Rwanda represents a paradox in the short term: as their participation has increased womens ability to influence policy making has decreased. In the long term however increased female representation in government could prepare the path for their meaningful participation in a genuine democracy because of a transformation in political subjectivity. (authors)