Report Issuewrite a 2 page long essay(at lease 4 paragraph ) as you visited a museum and relate it to the ebook added it must be double space page and please add picture use first person in your writi
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Instructions:
What is a political participation? What are the perspectives on women’s political participation found in Amawi (2007) and Lambert (2011). Do these authors suggest that there is an overall improvement in women’s political representation and participation? What do the readings sugguest would work best in improving women’s political participation? What are the strengths and weaknesses of the readings in terms of research and methodology?
Stick to the readings- no outside sources. Use in text citation with your own words. No quotations - paraphrase, 6 pages.
The question is designed for you to be able to answer it in an essay format.
for example, introduction by defining the terms
body of the essay should be discussing/summarizing/paraphrasing the arguement. and conclusion should be your opinion of the arguement, why or why not, shouldn’t be just a critique, if you agree, present the benefits with it. (depending on the question) -
(make sure to have a clear writing structure because there were writing weaknesses such as coherence, grammar, and clarity.
Female Political Participation in MENA
The human society has evolved from living primitively over time to achieve the current level of relative sophistication. Humanity has come a long way from such backward eras as human trade and slavery. However, in spite of the gains, the modern communities remain divided along such lines as race and gender, to the disadvantage of some. In the case of the latter, women are still fighting for equality. In many different parts of the world, such a simple right as political participation is still inaccessible to the female gender. In this view, political participation is measured by the ability to vote and right to vie for and hold political office ( Lamber 90; Amawi 40). Therefore, it may be inferred as taking part in any activity that bears an impact on the political landscape of a society, including having a say in who holds office and vying to hold such office. As with all the other struggles for rights, it takes time and effort to achieve gender equality across the board. The Middle East and North Africa (MENA) region provides an ideal ground to examine this struggle in the modern times. Specifically, the focus herein is on political involvement as a front for the fight for women’s empowerment. In this way, based on the current academic literature, women still suffer constrained political participation, but recent changes in the MENA region indicate that with the right strategies, equality is attainable.
To begin with, Jennifer Lambert draws a picture of restrained but hopeful and growing women’s political participation in the context of the Qatar. She posits that the woman of MENA made considerable gains in the last decade of the twentieth century and the first one of the twenty first century. For instance, as of 1997, Qatari women could not hold political office, but this changed during 1999 elections, when the emir announced that they not only can vote but also have the freedom to vie to positions in the Central Municipal Council (Lambert 89). Indeed, 45% of all eligible women registered as voters and turned out in large numbers to cast their votes for the first time in the history of the state (Lambert 91). However, Lambert also points out that only a negligible 6 women vied, out of 227 candidates (91). Nonetheless, it was a landmark victory for the female gender that had hitherto been voiceless and only subjected to the male decisions. Therefore, these changes in the 1999 elections were a pioneering moment portending better things for female political participation in Qatar.
It is worth to note that since the election, more women have made strides forward in the political arena. For instance, the second wife of the emir has grown into the de facto first lady role. She has been actively taking part in politics in such ways as leading the all-female march in the capital for charitable causes, speaking publicly, even going abroad to present the country and give interviews (Lambert 92). Additionally, women have held ministerial positions (Lambert 93). However, women’s political participation still has a long way to go to match the one of the males. For instance, despite vying in elections in 1999, none of the 12 candidates won. The appointees to the political posts were also very few, indicating that the society was still highly male dominated (Lambert 93). In this way, there is still a need to pursue avenues that may facilitate increased female participation in the political arena.
Amawi, in her discussion of female participation in Jordanian politics, points to a grimmer picture that in Qatar, the women’s involvement still faces multiple impediments at a systemic level. In the decade leading up to the famous election, only a cumulative 9 women had taken part in the parliamentary elections of the nation. However, there were 17 candidates up for election in 1997 (Amawi 40). A notable positive distinction was that the female candidates were as qualified as their male counterparts with regard to their academic and professional experience (Amawi 40). Apart from that, they also engaged in similar campaign approaches, distinguishing themselves by their understating of the issues that society faced (Amawi 40). However, none of these women won. Therefore, the election results indicated that there was minimal impactful gain realized to the struggle for women’s political participation. Thus, it prompts investigation into the potential sources underlying the slow rate of advancement of this cause.
Apart from that, the women of Jordan face considerable obstacles in their attempts to increase their role in the political arena, simply by virtue of their gender. The electoral environment was disrupted by the new Electoral Law. It had changed from the more balanced approach that allowed multiple votes per person to instill some regional balance to a “one person, one vote” approach (Amawi 42). It exacerbated the already incredible challenge of tribal based politics. It means that all candidates only stood a significant chance of victory if they had the backing of given tribes. Tribes were organized in a pyramid form, such that the head dictated the political direction of the entire tribe. Given the Electoral Law, one now had to secure the allegiance of the bigger tribes, as it was only way to win the popular vote. In this way, the smaller and more liberal tribes that could have supported women were now inconsequential to the results (Amawi 45). Thus, there were greater sociopolitical impediments.
Jordan is a largely patriarchal society, which not only reflects socially but also in the legal structure. For one, the nation has been exclusively patriarchal, whereby women have limited to no authority; the people had so little faith in female ability to argue that they could not possibly improve any situations in the state (Amawi 48). It stemmed from their socialization within the culture, as most women in the MENA region undergo. Traditionally, decision-making process was the sole responsibility of men, with women relegated to a subordinate role, without the ability to go out in public on their own (Amawi 48). Moreover, the gender discrimination is anchored in the law, which permits gendered citizenships. It means that while men enjoy some rights fully, women hold an almost secondary citizenship status with limited rights. For instance, while men are entitled to both pension and salaries, a woman must choose between one of the two. Similarly, the other rights granted to women in Jordan require intermediaries to actualize (Amawi 52). In this way, there is little hope for improvement of the female position, as long as the bigotry is constitutionally enshrined. Any potential solutions must address these shortcomings.
The readings propose solutions based on the assessment of the challenges in the societies they observed. Amawi suggests that women who are more exposed by way of being out alone are more open minded and participate more actively and widely in society (50). It is in line with the observation by Lambert that women are lacking political consciousness (95). Increasing the mobility of women may better expose them to the world. It might also create avenues for them to learn to be more politically aware. For instance, they may learn of the power of women from seeing examples from elsewhere, hence bolstering their motivation for political participation. Securing legal equality status is also fundamental in states where the law supports patriarchy. According to Amawi, doing so might help create level grounds for participation and also enhance the perception of women by others and themselves (56). However, not all solutions are straightforward. For instance, many women in the MENA nations are in situations similar to the Jordanian one, where tribal affiliations are instrumental to any electoral victory. Overcoming the same requires either invention of ways to circumvent the tribal influence or getting the support of the tribes. In this respect, Amawi observed that some of the tribes are even more powerful than the state (47). Therefore, circumventing them may be virtually impossible. In this way, women must develop means to secure the support of the tribes. One way of achieving this goal is by demonstrating their leadership capability. As seen in Qatar, the increased visibility of female leaders has earned them the respect, even from their families, despite the prevailing patriarchy (Lambert 93). Therefore, women should fight for such opportunities, especially in Jordan.
The readings share some distinct strengths. For one, they both encompass sound analysis of the situations in their respective nations. For instance, both Amawi and Lambert cite statistics in their research of the elections they are addressing. The numbers accurately capture the level of women’s participation in the election, hence providing grounds to opine on their level of political participation. Apart from that, they both cite preceding literature quite extensively to support their claims. Cumulatively, these characteristics accord the articles credibility and support the validity of any conclusions thereof. It is also of note that both studies explore the challenges underlying the imbalance of political participation in their subject nations, enabling the framing of solutions. Therefore, the readings both add value to the body of knowledge on the subject at hand.
Some weaknesses are also evident in the readings used herein. For one, none of them points out to the potential areas of interest to researchers in the same field. It would guide the advancement of knowledge at hand and prevent repetition of areas that they have already addressed. It is also notable that some of the data, especially the inside information on the involvement of the Qatari government in controlling the media’s narrative on women’s participation, is accredited to journalists that spoke confidentially (Lambert 93). So long as sources are not identifiable, the veracity of their claims comes into question. Clearly, none of the weaknesses has fatal consequences. In this way, the articles are still valuable to research.
All in all, evidently, society in the MENA region is still facing some challenges with regard to the political participation. For example, there is a deficiency in the same as indicated by the deficiency of women’s representation in the elective and overall leadership positions. Until such equality is attained, the females might remain at a disadvantage in addressing issues exclusively pertinent to them. The factors that underpin the inequality are not limited to the political. Patriarchal social systems, tribal centered politics, unfavorable laws, as well as family setups all play their role. However, these challenges are surmountable. Using such strategies as capitalizing on leadership position quotas to prove their leadership prowess as well as lobbying for equal status in front of the law might help overcome the issues at hand. Therefore, it is clear that the women’s political participation movement has developed considerably to date. However, it still has a considerable distance to go, and the right strategies can allow women to achieve their desired status.
Works Cited
Amawi, Abla. “Against All Odds Women Candidates in Jordan’s 1997 Elections.” In Moghadam, Valentine, From Patriarchy to Empowerment: Women's Participation, Movements, and Rights in the Middle East, North Africa, and South Asia, Syracuse University Press, 2007.
Lambert, Jennifer. "Political Reform in Qatar: Participation, Legitimacy and Security." Middle East Policy, vol. 18, no. 1, 2011.
