Case 317 - Gender Quotas in Afghanistan: Solution or Problem

Piatti-Crocker, Adriana and Daniel R. Kempton

After the 2001 international intervention in Afghanistan to oust the radical Islamist Taliban regime and establish a new government, Sima Samar and several other women were elected as members of a loya jirga, national convention. Because women in Afghanistan have been traditionally denied political and civil rights, the female delegates pressed the new National Assembly to set gender quotas to secure the participation of women in the country’s legislative branch. This two-part case study asks whether such quotas strengthen the consolidation of open and responsive democracies, or are more likely to provoke a violent backlash. It is designed to be used in general introductory courses in comparative politics or international relations, but would also fit classes dealing with the role of women or Middle Eastern politics.