Sociocultural values as determinants of women's political participation in Ghana

Abstract

Ghana is one of the first countries in Africa to have ratified several international human rights treaties and conventions for women's rights and gender issues. Despite Ghana's democratic credentials and status, the level of women's participation in governance is low. The main objective of this chapter is to examine how sociocultural values influence women's political participation in the North and South of Ghana. Three research questions guided the study: How do cultural values contribute to the discrepancies of women's representation in politics in the North and South of Ghana? How do special measures such as UN gender quotas influence women's participation in politics? How do attitudes of political parties’ appeal to women's political participation? The chapter employed qualitative methodology, with data obtained through interviews and secondary data sources. The author purposively selected nine female parliamentarians (both current and former), two political party officials from the two main political parties, and four voters from the two regions to obtain a clear picture of the problem. This study contributed to the literature on sociocultural determinants of women political representation, by revealing how the female parliamentarians are restricted or empowered by the cultural norms.