Democratic mobilisation through quotas: Experiences in India and Germany

Commonwealth and Comparative Politics

Volumn 43, Issue 2, 2005, Pages 222-244

  Geissel, Brigitte ^a   Hust, Evelin ^b  

^a WZB BERLIN SOCIAL SCIENCE CENTER   (Germany)

^b South Asia Institute   (India)

Author keywords

[No Author keywords available]

Indexed keywords

GENDER ROLE; POLITICS;

ASIA; CENTRAL EUROPE; EASTERN HEMISPHERE; EURASIA; EUROPE; GERMANY; INDIA; SOUTH ASIA; WORLD;

EID: 22144448602     PISSN: 14662043     EISSN: None     Source Type: Journal    
DOI: 10.1080/14662040500151101     Document Type: Article

References (91)

1. E. Biester, B. Holland-Cunz and B. Sauer (eds.), Demokratie oder Androkratie (Frankfurt/M. & New York: Campus, 1994).
2. B. Geissel and V. Penrose, 'Dynamiken der politischen Partizipation und Partizipations-forschung, Politische Partizipation von Frauen und Männern', http://www.fu-berlin.de/gpo/geissel_pefnrose.htm. (2003);
3. S. Verba et al., 'Knowing and Caring about Politics: Gender and Political Engagement', The Journal of Politics, 4 (1997), 1051-72.
4. A helpful global database on quotas for women is provided at http://www.quotaproject.org.
5. See, for example, European Political Science, 3/3 (2004) Symposium: Gender Quotas, 51-101.
6. J. Squires, 'Gender Quotas: Comparative and Contextual Analyses', European Political Science, 3/3 (2004), 51-9;
7. B. Geissel, Politikerinnen. Politisierung und Partizipation auf kommunaler Ebene (Opladen: Leske und Budrich, 1999).
8. See, for example, M. Krook, 'Gender Quotas as a Global Phenomenon: Actors and Strategies in Quota Adoption', European Political Science, 3/3 (2004), 59-97.
9. For the positive impact of quotas in terms of numbers, see K. Bunagan et al., 'The Quota System: Women's Boon or Bane?', Women Around the World: A Quarterly Publication of the Centre For Legislative Development, 1/3 (2000), www.cld.org.waws.htm;
10. C. Pintat, 'A Global Analysis: What Has Worked For Women in Politics and What Has Not', 1975-98, http://www.capwip.org/resources/ whatworked/pintat.html (accessed 12 Nov. 2001)
11. and the web pages of the International Institute for Democracy and Electoral Assistance (IDEA), Gender Section at http://www.idea.int/ gender/index.html (2001).
12. S. Carroll (ed.), The Impact of Women in Public Office (Bloomington: Indiana University Press, 2001);
13. L. Wängnerud, 'Testing the Politics of Presence: Women's Representation in the Swedish Riksdag', Scandinavian Political Studies, 23/1 (2000), 67-91;
14. see also several articles in European Political Science, 3/3 (2004).
15. E. Hust, Women's Political Representation and Empowerment in India. A Million Indiras Now? (New Delhi: Manohar Publishers, 2004).
16. Geissel, Politikerinnen. Politisierung und Partizipation.
17. Conference 'Women's Quotas in Urban Local Government: A Cross-national Comparison', India International Centre, New Delhi, India, Feb. 2003.
18. Census 2001, web address: www.nlm.nic.in/literacy01.htm
19. D. Herzog, 'Der moderne Berufspolitiker', Der Bürger im Staat, 1 (1990), 9-17.
20. The importance of the local level for the political involvement of women is widely accepted in the scientific community nowadays: C. Otsuro, 'Incorporating Gender Equality at Local Politics: A Case of Toyonaka', Political Science & Politics, 37/1 (2004), 58;
21. T. Ogai, 'Advance of Japanese Women in Politics: The General Local Election of 2003', Political Science & Politics, 37/1 (2004), 58;
22. M.M. Conway, 'Women's Political Participation at the State and Local Level in the United States', Political Science & Politics, 37/1 (2004), 60-61.
23. B. Claußen and R. Geißler (eds.), Die Politisierung des Menschen. Instanzen der politischen Sozialisation. Ein Handbuch (Opladen: Leske und Budrich, 1996).
24. E.g., S.M. Lipset, 'Some Social Requisites of Democracy: Economic Development and Political Legitimacy', American Political Science Review, 53 (1959), 69-105;
25. K.W. Deutsch, 'Social Mobilization and Political Development', American Political Science Review, 55 (1960), 493-514;
26. S. Verba et al., Participation and Political Equality: A Seven-nation Comparison (New York: Cambridge University Press, 1978);
27. S. Verba et al., Voice and Equality: Civic Voluntarism in American Politics (Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press, 1995).
28. O. Niedermayer, 'Innerparteiliche Demokratie', in O. Niedermayer and R. Stöss (eds.), Stand und Perspektiven der Parteienforschung in Deutschland (Opladen: Westdeutscher Verlag 1993), 230-51;
29. O. Niedermayer, 'Beweggründe des Engagements in politischen Parteien', in O.W. Gabriel, O. Niedermayer and R. Stöss (eds.), Parteiendemokratie in Deutschland (Bonn: Bundeszentrale für politische Bildung, 1997), 323-37;
30. O.W. Gabriel, 'Politische Partizipation und kommunale Politik. Strukturen, Bestimmungsfaktoren und Folgen kommunaler Partizipation', Aus Politik und Zeitgeschichte, B 29/88 (1988), 3-20;
31. O.W. Gabriel and O. Niedermayer, 'Entwicklung und Sozialstruktur der Parteimitgliedschaften', in Gabriel et al. (eds.), Parteiendemokratie in Deutschland, 277-300.
32. E. Wiesendahl, 'Parteien als Instanzen der politischen Sozialisation', in Claußen and Geißler (eds.), Die Politisierung des Menschen, 401-24.
33. B. Sauer, 'Was heisst und zu welchem Zwecke partizipieren wir? Kritische Anmerkungen zur Partizipationsforschung', in E. Biester, B. Holland-Cunz and B. Sauer (eds.), Demokratie oder Androkratie (Frankfurt/M. & New York: Campus, 1994), 99-130.
34. P. Norris and J. Lovenduski, Political Recruitment. Gender, Race and Class in the British Parliament (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1995);
35. B. Meyer, Frauen im Männerbund. Politikerinnen in Führungspositionen von der Nachkriegszeit his heute (Frankfurt/M. & New York: Campus, 1997).
36. Exception: L. v. Assendelft and K. O'Connor, 'Backgrounds, Motivations and Interests: A Comparison of Male and Female Local Party Activists', Women and Politics, 3 (1994), 77-92.
37. More research was done on the question of how local female politicians cope with the different tasks in politics and their family lives (S. Benzler, I. Annies, G. Peterman and C. Pfaff, 'Frauen in der Kommunalpolitik. Politikerinnen im Landkreis Gießen' (unpublished manuscript, Gießen, 1995);
38. I. Grolle and R. Bake, Ich habe Jonglieren mit drei Bällen geübt. Frauen in der Hamburgischen Bürgerschaft 1946 bis 1993 (Hamburg: Dölling und Galitz Verlag, 1995).
39. K. v. Beyme, 'Politikverdrossenheit und Politikwissenschaft', in C. Leggewie (ed.), Wozu Politikwissenschaft? Über das Neue in der Politik (Darmstadt: Wissenschaftliche Buchgesellschaft, 1994), 21-33.
40. M. Kaase, 'Politische Beteiligung/Politische Partizipation', in U. Andersen and W. Woyke (eds.), Handwörterbuch des politischen Systems der Bundesrepublik Deutschland (Bonn: Bundeszentrale für politische Bildung, 1997), 444-9.
41. D.E. Fowlkes, White Political Women. Path from Privilege to Empowerment (Knoxville: The University of Tennessee Press, 1992).
42. Geissel and Penrose, Dynamiken der politischen Partizipation;
43. M. Leijenaar, 'How to Create a Gender Balance in Political Decision Making. A Guide to Implementing Policies for Increasing the Participation of Women in Political Decision Making' (Brussels: Document of the European Commission, 1996).
44. E.g., B. Hoecker (ed.), Handbuch politische Partizipation von Frauen in Europa (Opladen: Leske und Budrich, 1998).
45. D. Rucht (ed.), Research on Social Movements. The State of the Art in Western Europe and the USA (Frankfurt/M: Campus & Boulder, CO: Westview Press, 1991).
46. The 74th Amendment secured this for the municipalities, for detailed information see, for example, P.S. Chaudhary, 'Indian Quota System for Women for the Local Elections', World Congress of IPSA, Quebec, 1-5 Aug. 2000.
47. GoI (Government of India), Report of the Team for the Study of Community Projects and National Extension Service, 3 vols. (Balwantrai Mehta Report) (New Delhi, 1957), 1:127;
48. GoI (Government of India), Report of the Committee on Panchayati Raj Institutions (Ashok Mehta Report) (New Delhi, 1978), 179f.
49. GoI (Government of India), Towards Equality. Report of the Committee on the Status of Women in India (New Delhi, 1974), 303.
50. GoI (Government of India), National Perspective Plan for Women, 1988-2000 A.D. (New Delhi, 1988), 164f.
51. The main problem was that non-Congress state governments felt that the Bill vested too many powers in the Governor and the National Government (B.K. Chandrashekhar, 'Panchayari Raj Bill: The Real Flaw', Economic and Political Weekly, 1 July 1989, 1433-5).
52. E.g., M. Nandivadekar, 'Reservation for Women. Challenge of Tackling Counter-Productive Trends', Economic and Political Weekly, 11 July 1998, 1815-19.
53. S. Rai, 'Democratic Institutions, Political Representation and Women's Political Empowerment: The Quota Debate in India', Democratization, 6/3 (1999), 84-99.
54. This has been aptly captured in Mukta Banetjee, 'Women in Local Governance. Macro Myths, Micro Realities', Social Change, 28/1 (1998), 87-100.
55. The variations in the status of women, economic set-up, kinship structures and political equations in India are enormous. Roughly sketched, the situation in the north is rather detrimental to women's empowerment whereas the situation in the south (esp. in the state of Kerala or Karnataka) seems to be more conducive, but also there problems persist. For various studies undertaken in different states of the Indian Union, e.g., see M. Bhaskar, 'Women Panchayat Members in Kerala: A Profile', Economic and Political Weekly, 26 April 1997, WS13-WS20;
56. on Kerala see D.K. Ghosh, 'Women Panchayat Members as Head of Offices. A Study in West Bengal', Journal of Rural Development, 14/4 (1995), 357-66;
57. on West Bengal see D.K. Ghosh, 'Grassroot Women Leaders. Who are They? A Study in a West Bengal District', Journal of Rural Development, 16/ 2 (1997), 291-311;
58. S.G. Gowdan, M.S. Dhadave and M.V.S. Gowda, 'Developmental Role of Women Members of Panchayati Raj Institutions. A Study in Karnataka', Journal of Rural Development, 15/2 (1996), 249-59;
59. and N. Kudva, 'Engineering Elections. The Experiences of Women in Panchayad Raj in Karnataka, India', International Journal of Politics and Society, 16/3 (2003), 445-63;
60. on Karnataka see S. Kaushik, Women Panches in Position. A Study of Panchayati Raj in Haryana (New Delhi, Centre for Development Studies and Action, 1997);
61. MARG (Multiple Action Research Group), They Call Me Member Saab. Women in Haryana Panchayati Raj (New Delhi: MARG, 1998);
62. on Haryana see T. Honour, J. Barry and S. Palnitkar, 'The Quota Innovation, Gender and Indian Politics: Experiences and Prospects', Equal Opportunity International, 18/7 (1999), 1-16 (about Mumbai).
63. For a more detailed bibliography, please refer to Hust, Women's Political Representation and Empowerment.
64. In less populous states, it is a two-tier system only.
65. This rule is not uniform for all Indian states; in west Bengal, e.g., elections to all the local bodies take place with political parties. The question of which role political parties should play in the local government was very controversial right from the beginning of the Indian Republic. Bhargava distinguishes two positions: the Sarvodaya (welfare for all) school, following the ideas of M.K. Gandhi, V. Bhave and J.P. Narayan, which argues for a 'partyless, communitarian or participating democracy', and the other school of thought that argues for the participation of political parties in local government (B.S. Bhargava, Panchayati Raj System and Political Parties (New Delhi: Ashish Publishing House, 1979), 7-21).
66. On the national level, Germany has a dual electoral system in which two ballots are cast. On one ballot, German citizens choose a single candidate from each political party. But on the other ballot they select a party and by selecting the party they vote for the party list. In local elections the dual system is not used, only a system of proportional representation. But there is another specialty: in a few 'Bundesländer' (states), citizens can vote in local elections for the person they want, no matter what his/her place is on the party list.
67. In countries with a gender equality-oriented political culture any kind of sanctions are less necessary (e.g., Finland). But few countries fulfil this condition.
68. See, for example, the situation in Slovenia, Finland, Iraq or Afghanistan, described in European Political Science, 3/3 (2004).
69. B.G. Glaser and A.L. Strauss, The Discovery of Grounded Theory. Strategies for Qualitative Research (Chicago: Aldine, 1967).
70. According to research desiderata, the empirical material is furthermore not to be analysed by a previously decided theory in order to avoid inappropriately imposing preconceived analytic constructs on the data. Rather, the approach is developed in the process of the empirical research by oscillating between theoretical reflections and the empirical data (H. Bude, Deutsche Karrieren. Lebenskonstruktionen sozialer Aufsteiger aus der Flakhelfer-Generation (Frankfurt/M.: Suhrkamp, 1987), 107).
71. M. ul Haq, Human Development in South Asia (Karachi et al.: OUP, 1997), 32.
72. A. Devi, 'Women in the Local-Self Government Administration in Orissa', Orissa Review (Sept. 1988), 43-8, proportional calculations by Hust.
73. It is often said that women rarely reveal ambitions, because it does not fit into the social stereotype of women: K. Flaake, 'Frauen und öffentlich sichtbare Einflussnahme. Selbstbeschränkung und innere Barrieren', Feministische Studien, 1 (1991), 136-42. However, this was not true for the interviewees. They admitted very openly ambitions developed during their participation.
74. A study on the effects of local quota rules in four Panchayat Samities in Alwar showed similar results: '[M]any [of the female Panchayat members] had discovered their own talents and abilifies and developed self-confidence.' Chaudhary, 'Indian Quota System', 32.
75. See also Kudva, who writes 'in a number of instances, women members participated and governed through PR institutions because of their experience of being in office' (Kudva, 'Engineering Elections', 454; emphasis added).
76. This seems to confirm the theory of a critical mass being important for minorities to overcome inhibitions (D. Dahlerup, 'From a Small to a Large Minority: Women in Scandinavian Politics', Scandinavian Political Studies, 11/4 (1988), 275-98).
77. A study on the effects of local quota rules in four Panchayat Samities in Alwar showed similar results: 'Interest for participation was created through participation.' Chaudbary, 'Indian Quota System', 31.
78. F. Schwarting, 'Manchmal hast Du das Gefühl, du stimmst nicht ganz'. Erfahrungen von Frauen in Parlamenten (Münster: Agenda Verlag, 1995), 41f.;
79. B. Schaeffer-Hegel et al., Frauen mit Macht: Zum Wandel der politischen Kultur dutch die Präsenz von Frauen in Führungspositionen (Pfaffenweiler: Centaurus, 1995), 101;
80. B. Meyer, '"Hat sie denn heute schon gekocht?" Frauen in der Politik von der Nachkriegszeit his heme', in M. Brückner and B. Meyer (eds.), Die sichtbare Frau. Die Aneignung der gesellschaftlichen Räume (Freiburg: Kore, 1994), 369-409.
81. See ibid.
82. E.g., V. Mino, 'Access to and Exercise of Power', paper presented at the World Congress of the International Political Science Association, Quebec, 1-5 Aug. 2000.
83. Similarly Fowlkes, White Political Women.
84. For detailed information, see E. Hust, Political Representation and Empowerment: Women in the Institutions of Local Government in Orissa after the 73rd Amendment to the Indian Constitution, Heidelberg Papers in South Asian and Comparative Politics (South Asia Institute, Department of Political Science, University of Heidelberg, 2002), http:// archiv.ub.uni-heidelberg.de/volltextserver/volltexte/2003/4098/pdf/ hpsacp6.pdf;
85. and Hust, Women's Political Representation and Empowerment in India.
86. This has not necessarily happened everywhere. Many reports confirm the pattern of the 'beti-biwi-bahu brigade' (daughter, wife, daughter-in-law), especially in numerous newspaper reports but also in studies on Karnataka (see Kudva, 'Engineering Elections'). However, there are up to now no systematic comparisons between male and female incumbents.
87. B. Geissel, Politikerinnen. Politisierung, 165-67.
88. One possible reason for this might be an enhanced feeling of competence, which women from non-elite backgrounds often lack. Not surprisingly, only women presenting themselves as very competent were able to be successful in parties without quotas. Other studies confirm this finding. For example, in the local party units of the German CDU, those members who were fully convinced of their own competence were more likely to be promoted (W.P. Bürklin, V. Neu and H.-J. Veen, Die Mitglieder der CDU (Interne Studie der Konrad-Adenauer-Stiftung, Sankt Augustin, 1997), 140).
89. Those members without any doubt regarding their own competence were the ones who were being considered when putting together the party list (I. Reichart-Dreyer, Fünf Methoden, Frauen aus der Politik herauszuhalten - und was dagegen zu tun ist (Berlin: Manuskript, 1994), 3).
90. This result might be comparable to the importance which Tarrow and others attach to structural changes, captured in the term 'Political Opportunity Structure'.
91. C. Pateman, Participation and Democratic Theory (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1970), 105.