ABSTRACT
Across the globe women are represented to a lesser level than men in formal politics and political institutions. The underlying assumption being that women's lower representation and in sum their lesser political power translates into a deficit in any democratic system. Yet women have been involved in African politics in growing numbers at least since the states formal independence from colonialism. Nonetheless, their attempts to shape politics and political outcomes can most clearly be ascertained since the broader development of democratization processes and politicization of women's organizations in the 1990s. Transitions embody opportunities for as well as bring to light the constraints women and feminists face both globally and within their respective states. For instance, although women have benefitted from an improvement in civil and political rights, they have not proportionally enjoyed a similar increase in their socio-economic rights. Women have been integral to nationalist movements in African decolonization processes.
