Investigating the Relationship Between Women’s Political Representation and Gender-Responsive Policy Outcomes in Nigerian States

Whether women's descriptive representation in legislatures translates into substantive policy outcomes for women is a debated question in gender and politics scholarship, with limited empirical testing in the African context. This study investigates the relationship between female legislative representation and gender-responsive policy outcomes across Nigeria's 36 states and the FCT, using panel data from 2015 to 2023. A quantitative panel data design was employed, with state-level data on female legislative representation, education gender parity indices, maternal mortality ratios, domestic violence legislation adoption, and women's social protection coverage compiled from official sources. Fixed-effects regression and instrumental variable analysis were applied. Findings reveal a significant positive relationship between female legislative representation and three of four gender-responsive policy outcome indicators, with the relationship strongest for education parity and social protection coverage. States with at least 15% female representation show measurably better gender-responsive budgeting practices. However, the effect is found to be moderated by political party affiliation and state gender office capacity, suggesting that representation alone is insufficient. This study makes an original empirical contribution by providing the first multi-state Nigerian panel analysis of the representation-policy outcomes relationship. Keywords: women's representation, gender-responsive policy, Nigerian states, political representation, policy outcomes