Women’s Participation in Elective Politics and Development in Nigeria

Abstract

This study examined the application and utility of J.S. Mill’s principle of Liberty and Equality as a vehicle for promoting women’s participation in elective politics and development in Nigeria. It contends that though gender exclusion was historically engendered by long period of discriminatory practices against women, J.S. Mill’s principle holds the prospect of mitigating the unfair representation of women in elective politics that will herald accelerated development in Nigeria. Four research objectives and assumptions were formulated to guide the study. The liberal feminist theory as postulated by J.S. Mill was adopted. According to this theory, the principle which regulates the existing social relations between the sexes is wrong and needs to be replaced with a fair and perfect equality. Both the primary and secondary methods were used as method of data collection while content analysis was employed to analyse the data. The findings showed that though the majority of female respondents demonstrated active interest in politics, they were constrained by some of prevailing socio-cultural and religious factors, gender stereotypes, lack of financial capacity, unfavourable political environment and restrictive party structures and processes among others. Also, the bulk of male respondents confirmed these structural biases and barriers to women’s political participation. In view of the finding, some relevant recommendations were offered, which include the implementation of deliberate policies and legislations that target women quotas and affirmative action. Again, voter education must capture the global quest for gender parity and place it in local context among others.

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