The cost of politics: how money acts as a barrier for women in politics in the Caribbean

Abstract

ABSTRACT This article explores the barriers to women’s political representation, focusing on financial challenges associated with political campaigns. It contributes to the emerging body of research on the gendered effects of money in politics, particularly in the Global South, by documenting the financial challenges faced by women political candidates in the Anglophone Caribbean. Data was collected through elite interviews with women politicians in Barbados, Jamaica and Trinidad and Tobago. The women were asked, among other things, to i) identify the barriers to women’s political representation and ii) recount their experiences while seeking to enter politics. Financial constraints emerged as a critical barrier to women’s political entry and participation. Although some women manage to enter the political arena and win elections, they nonetheless find the costs associated with politics burdensome and a barrier to increasing political representation for women. We conclude that, like their counterparts elsewhere, the financial demands of engaging in politics are exorbitant for women in politics in the Anglo-Caribbean due to their general exclusion from influential funding networks predominantly controlled by the “old boys’ club”; reliance on personal resources; balancing childcare and other gendered roles with demanding fundraising activities; and navigating the system of political patronage. This burden was incredibly challenging for “political neophytes” or women newcomers.