Submitted | Between Legal Empowerment and Lived Authority: Women's Political Representation, Household Power, and the Public–Private Paradox in Namibia

Erica Thomas, University of Namibia

Tafadzwa Maramura, University of Namibia

Enoch Kwame Tham-Agyekum, KNUST

Research article submitted to Frontiers in Political Science – Comparative Governance

Abstract: Despite unprecedented gains in women's political representation across the Global South, greater inclusion often fails to translate into substantive decision-making authority in households. This article investigates this disjuncture through a comparative mixed-methods study of 69 women in Namibia's Ohangwena (rural) and Windhoek East (urban) constituencies, complemented by key informant interviews. The study reveals three paradoxical findings challenging dominant empowerment frameworks. First, women in both constituencies express equal satisfaction with men and women representing women's issues (median=4), complicating assumptions about descriptive representation. Second, sharp rural-urban divergences persist despite similar legal frameworks: Windhoek East women report strong rights-empowerment alignment (median 5) and reject household responsibilities as barriers (median=5), while Ohangwena women express indecisiveness about rights (median=3) and identify household responsibilities as significant impediments (median=2), differences persisting despite Ohangwena women's higher tertiary education rates (82.1% vs 73.0%). Third, qualitative testimony reveals that even politically empowered women navigate a 'double mandate', the expectation to conform to traditional household roles while performing representational labour. The findings demonstrate that legal reforms and quotas, while necessary, are insufficient without addressing household-level gender norms and domestic labour expectations.

Keywords: Women’s political representation; Household power; Legal empowerment; Public–private paradox; Gender and Governance