Ethnic Politics and Women's Empowerment in Africa: Ministerial Appointments to Executive Cabinets

Under what conditions do women participate in executive power in multiethnic societies? Previous research has examined how political institutions, socioeconomic factors, and cultural norms affect the appointment of women as cabinet ministers. However, no study has assessed the extent to which the politicization of ethnicity—a cleavage that shapes political life in many countries—affects women's cabinet appointments. Focusing on sub‐Saharan Africa, we argue that women are less likely to become cabinet ministers where incumbents use such appointments to build patronage‐based alliances with politicians who act as advocates for ethnic constituencies. Using an original dataset on the composition of cabinets in 34 African countries from 1980 to 2005, we show that women's share of cabinet appointments is significantly lower in countries where leaders must accommodate a larger number of politicized ethnic groups, but it rises with higher levels of democracy and greater representation of women in parliament.     

Theory and evidence of municipal borrowing in Chile

Although Chilean municipalities are not permitted to borrow, they do so through arrears and leasing contracts. A formal model of municipal indebtedness is estimated, based on a sample of 345 municipalities with yearly data from 2004 to 2007. Variables that are positively and significantly related to borrowing through arrears are: mayors closely tied to the ruling central government coalition; politically diverse municipal councils; years close to elections; and deeper municipal involvement in education. While leasing contracts appear to be insensitive to political factors, they are positively and significantly related to municipal staff managerial skills and municipal revenues per capita.