Why Is It That the Level of Women Politicians Is Much Higher in Trinidad and Tobago Than in Belize?
- ISBN-10
- 1658786661
- ISBN-13
- 9781658786669
- Pages
- 69
- Language
- English
- Published
- 2020-02-02
- Author
- Claudette Ramos Mckoy
Description
A number of countries in the Caribbean have very few women in politics; but Trinidad and Tobago happens to have a large proportion of women in political office in comparison to Belize. In my thesis, I study the reasons for this significant difference between Members of Parliament(MP) in both countries. Belize is a poorer country than Trinidad and Tobago, with much lower per capita income. Does that play a role in explaining the different levels of women's involvement in politics in the two countries? The two countries also have different histories in relation to women's suffrage, which came a decade later in Belize than in Trinidad and Tobago, and also in the degree of independence from the British Empire (Belize remains less independent). Is that a factor in describing the different levels of women's involvement in politics in the two countries? More generally, what factors are important in distinguishing the difference between bothcountries? Furthermore, I examine the labor participation rate of women in Belize and Trinidad and Tobago.This paper covers an often researched mystery, the low number of women representation in one Caribbean country compared to another, but from a different outlook.There have been many claims as to why this problem exists, relating to a number of reasons. However, I argue that this topic will provide better results by comparing the representation of MP's In Trinidad and Tobago compared to Belize. I deduce that due to Trinidad and Tobago's independence from the British Empire, they tend to be more self-governing in terms of the way their government is run, allowing more female representation from supportive organizations. I plan to research the political system and study the relation of elected women in both countries. The conversation of women in politics in the Caribbean is one that has been brought up often, I am concluding that this is the case, rather than reevaluating this question. I will compare the economic data in order to determine potential paths for women and attain more knowledge on the reasons for this occurrence. I argue that the number of women elected and MP's in Trinidad and Tobago is much higher than in Belize. I anticipate that the difference in the number of women representation will be larger in countries like Trinidad and Tobago where there is a greater command for gender impartiality, where the organizations like the Network of Non-Governmental Organization (NGO)
