Journal Article
For about two decades, Affirmative Action (AA) policies, particularly Quotas and/or
Special Seats have been substantial measures for increasing women’s political
representation and participation in developing countries and Tanzania in particular.
However, attitudes related obstructions influences AAs’ implementation in the country.
With this rationale, this study was conducted in Misungwi District to assess factors
influenced attitudes towards AAs’implementation. A key question in this study was: Do
sex, awareness/knowledge on Affirmative Actions (AAs) and duration in local leadership
positions influences respondent’s views towards AA’s implementation? Data were
collected using questionnaires, interviews and documentary reviews. The analysis was
done using Statistical Package for Social Science (SPSS) version 13. Findings revealed
that, more women had positive attitudes towards AA’s implementation as opposed to
men. Knowledge on reasons for Affirmative Action’s introduction was also positive. In
addition, respondent’s attitudes were positive for respondents stayed six years and above
in local leadership positions. Though it was a case study findings depicted a real picture
of most District Councils in Tanzania. The study concluded that negative views towards
AAs’ implementation exacerbated women’s under-representation as well as poor
participation in local politics. Finally, we recommend that the family, schools and
political parties should be entry points to eliminate negative attitudes towards AAs’
implementation in Misungwi District and the nation at large. Public gender awareness
campaigns, accompanied with empowerment programmes are also highly recommended
in this regard.