Getting good government for women : a literature review

Abstract

This review assesses what is known and not known about the interface of gender and governance. More specifically, the purpose of this review is to identify mechanisms that have been used to make the outcomes of public sector governance more responsive to women. The review focuses on the features of institutional design that underlie service delivery, and it assesses those that strengthen women's representation in political and governance processes or build the capacity and incentives of the public sector to provide quality services that are accessible to and fit the needs of women. After presenting an organizing conceptual framework, more than 150 papers on women and gender issues in national and local politics and the public administration are reviewed to assess commonly used strategies, instruments, and institutions for gender-sensitive governance as well as the frame conditions that predict success or failure. An array of mechanisms has been used to strengthen women's voice and to incentives attention to women, but the preponderance of the literature is focused on so-called demand-side strategies at the expense of supply-side mechanisms. Several general themes emerge from the review. First, initiatives generally fail when gender equity is not recognized to be a political project. Second, women's political empowerment cannot be divorced from their economic empowerment, and social and cultural transformation also lies at the root of governance transformation. Third, political, social, and institutional contexts will affect the shape and success of any single mechanism across multiple places. However, much remains to be learned about getting good government for women, and directions for future research are suggested.

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