Women Political Empowerment and Coup d'etat in Africa, 1980–2020

Abstract

Despite the renewed interest in coup d'etats, especially in Africa, studies on the subject are sparse. This article examines the effect of women's political empowerment on coup d'etats in Africa. The Logit-Probit model is used on a panel of 39 countries over the period 1980–2020. The results show that the political empowerment of women significantly reduces the chances of the occurrence of coup d'etats. The results remain robust to additional control variables. The established negative nexus is driven by the Eastern African region, compared to the Northern African region, where the relationship is not significant, and two other regions (i.e., Central and Western Africa) where an opposite nexus is apparent. Moreover, the findings remain robust to the disaggregation of the index of women's political empowerment as well as to the employment of different typologies of coups d'état. Good governance is significant in mediating the role of female political empowerment in reducing the chances of coup d'etats. Policy implications are discussed, especially as they pertain to accounting for and better valuing the rights of women as well as their increased participation in political life to improve their contribution to reducing coups d'état.