Abstract: In response to the February 20 movement, the Moroccan government passed electoral laws that institutionalized and expanded gender quotas at the national and local levels, enabling women to win an unprecedented number of seats in the 2015 and 2016 elections. Delana’s Fulbright research examines how reserved seats in the House of Representatives and communal councils have affected women’s substantive representation (i.e., the representation of their policy preferences and priorities). She has worked with Professor Hanane Darhour at Université Ibn Zohr and the National Democratic Institute to investigate whether gender quotas can empower women as visible citizens whose interests are included in their communities’ legislative agendas.
Biography: Delana Sobhani received her BS in International Political Economy from Georgetown University in 2018. After working as a data analyst for two years, Delana pursued a Fulbright grant to study the nuanced impacts of gender quotas. She has worked with the Ibn Zohr University in Agadir and the National Democratic Institute in Rabat to examine the effects of reserved seats in Moroccan legislatures on women’s representation.
Bibliography
- Castillejo, Clare and Helen Tilley. “The Road to Reform: Women’s Political Voice in Morocco.” https://odi.org/en/publications/the-road-to-reform-womens-political-voice-in-morocco/
- Hanane, Darhour and Drude Dahlerup. “Sustainable representation of women through gender quotas: A decade’s experience in Morocco.” https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0277539513000769
- Hanane, Darhour and Krit Salahddine. “Empowered or not? Moroccan women MP’s strategies to empowerment.” https://www.academia.edu/27482046/Empowered_or_Not_Moroccan_Women_MPs_Strategies_to_Empowerment
- Jossour. “Évaluation des mécanismes de promotion de la représentation politique des femmes au Maroc.” https://www.fes.org.ma/common/pdf/publications_pdf/etu_joussour_2018.pdf
- NDI. “Citizens Express Their Priorities: Moroccan Citizens’ Views and Preferences Ahead of the 2016 Parliamentary Elections.” https://www.ndi.org/sites/default/files/%20Morocco%20Focus%20Group%20Report%20%28English%29.pdf
