Party Politics, Religion, and Women’s Leadership This page intentionally left blank Party Politics, Religion, and Women’s Leadership Lebanon in Comparative Perspective Fatima Sbaity Kassem ISBN 978-1-349-46210-0 ISBN 978-1-137-33321-6 (eBook) DOI 10.1057/9781137333216 PARTY POLITICS, RELIGION, AND WOMEN’S LEADERSHIP Copyright © Fatima Sbaity Kassem, 2013. Softcover reprint of the hardcover 1st edition 2013 978-1-137-33320-9 All rights reserved. First published in 2013 by PALGRAVE MACMILLAN® in the United States— a division of St. Martin’s Press LLC, 175 Fifth Avenue, New York, NY 10010. Where this book is distributed in the UK, Europe and the rest of the world, this is by Palgrave Macmillan, a division of Macmillan Publishers Limited, registered in England, company number 785998, of Houndmills, Basingstoke, Hampshire RG21 6XS. Palgrave Macmillan is the global academic imprint of the above companies and has companies and representatives throughout the world. Palgrave® and Macmillan® are registered trademarks in the United States, the United Kingdom, Europe and other countries. Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data is available from the Library of Congress. A catalogue record of the book is available from the British Library. Design by Newgen Knowledge Works (P) Ltd., Chennai, India. F irst edition: December 2013 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1 C O N T E N T S List of Graphs and Tables v ii Preface ix Acknowledgments x i Introduction 1 One Toward a Theory of Party Religiosity and Women’s Leadership 9 Two A Traveling Theory of Party Religiosity and Women’s Leadership 4 1 Three Why Lebanon? The Puzzle and Pool of Women in Party Politics 55 Four Party Religiosity, Political Culture, and the Civil War 75 Five Unpacking Party Institutionalization 113 Six F inding That Special Niche: Women for Parties 1 33 Seven Party Politics Explaining Women’s Leadership 167 Eight Can Women Break Through the Political Glass Ceiling? 203 Concluding Remarks 2 31 Epilogue The 2011 Arab Uprisings: Will a “Women Spring” Ever Dawn? 239 vi Contents Annex 1 Questionnaire(s) 2 45 Annex 2 Women in Parliament and Country-Level Indicators on Development, Political Regimes, and Electoral Systems in 80 Muslim-Majority and OECD Countries, 2010 2 49 Notes 2 53 Selected Bibliography 2 65 Index 275 G R A P H S A N D T A B L E S Graphs 6.1 Female Membership by Party Age 134 6.2 Female Membership by Party Religiosity 135 6.3 Female Membership by Party Democratic Practices 136 6.4 Female Membership by Party Pluralism 136 6.5 Female Membership by Party Religiosity, Democracy, and Pluralism 137 7.1 Female Leadership by Party Age 169 7.2 Female Leadership by Party Religiosity 169 7.3 Female Leadership by Party Democratic Practices 170 7.4 Female Leadership by Party Pluralism 171 7.5 Female Leadership by Party Religiosity, Democracy, and Pluralism 171 7.6 Female Party Leadership by Membership 188 Tables 1.1 World and Regional Averages: Women in Public versus Private Sector Leadership, 1995–2010 10 2.1 Cross-National: W omen in Parliament and Country-Level Indicators on Development, Political Regimes, and Electoral Systems 44 2.2 Cross-National: Models for Women’s Party Leadership and Parliamentary Nominations 52 3.1 Arab versus Lebanese Women’s Socioeconomic and Political Profi les, 2007–2010 58 viii Graphs and Tables 3.2 Lebanon: Female Candidacy for Parliament and Municipalities 62 4.1 Lebanon: Classifying, Labeling, and Coding 18 Relevant Parties 82 7.1 Lebanon: Models for Women’s Party Leadership and Nominations for Public Offi ce 195 8.1 Lebanon: Female Party Nominations for Municipalities in 2010 and for Parliament in 2009 205 C.1 Summary of Findings 236 P R E F A C E The 2011 Arab uprisings reignited global interest in the role that reli- gion, specifically Islam, plays in these countries’ transition to democ racy. Women stood side-by-side with men in freedom squares as despots were toppled. However, as Islamists gained electoral power, women conve- niently disappeared from the political scene. Why and how does the rise of Islamists and Salafists to power influence women’s legitimate right to share in leadership, decision-making, governance, and rebuilding democratic states? The theory of party religiosity and women’s leader- ship this book advances can explain the frustrations of women following the outcome of free and fair parliamentary elections in Egypt, Tunisia, Yemen, and Libya. It explains why Salafists pose a threat for the rollback of women’s rights in reforming and/or democratizing Arab countries. The epilogue to this book develops this argument. Gender inequality is a pervasive global phenomenon in the pub- lic sphere, and particularly in parliamentary representation. Previous scholarship sought explanations in country-level development, politi- cal regimes, and electoral systems or society-level political culture and dominant religions. This book moves beyond domestic-level analysis to institutional party-level explanations for women’s political leadership, especially female representation in parties’ decision-making bodies. Political parties are the main vehicles—rather forklifts—for women’s ascendance to leadership positions. This research focuses on interlink- ages of political parties, institutional religiosity, and women’s party leadership and nominations to public office. It offers a new theory of party religiosity to explain variations in women’s leadership across par- ties and countries. Party-level characteristics, especially religiosities and secularisms, influence women’s chances in leadership within parties’ inner struc- tures. The root of the problematic of women’s leadership lies in party