What Enhances and Limits Women s Substantive Representation? -a study of a South African township

Abstract

This thesis' aim was to find what limits and enhances women s substantive representation in a South African township: Township X. Black South African women are socially and economically more marginalised than black South African men. The African National Congress (ANC) has been aware of this problem since before the end of apartheid. In paper, this is a problem that is recognised, and it is also an issue taken into account by several policies aiming to address this problem. Women have been represented in politics for a long time, but despite this, there has not been a significant change to women s socioeconomic situation. Because of this, I argue that there is a need to study substantive representation which is, acting in the interest of the represented in a manner responsive to them (Pitkin 1967:209). Seven points derived from Olle Törnquist s book from 2013 Assessing Dynamics of Democratisation: Transformative Politics, New Institutions, and the Case of Indonesia were used as a guiding framework to choose the different themes that were more closely looked into. These points were also used in the final analysis.