Bureaucratic Discretion and Downstream Effects: Evidence from India

• In Event: Gender and Politics in the Global South 1

Abstract

Literature on gatekeeping in women's political advancement has primarily examined the role of political parties in understanding women's persistently low descriptive representation. In this paper, I examine a particularly understudied institution that is central to policy implementation: the bureaucracy. I argue that how bureaucrats react to the entry of new groups, particularly those that are perceived as inexperienced and ill-prepared to lead, is essential to understanding when minorities are successful. Using survey data from 252 bureaucrats in the state of Telangana, India, I show that bureaucrats who directly work with grassroots politicians have negative biases—both implicit and explicit—about women's effectiveness as leaders. I combine this data with survey and network analysis data from over 1,000 village-level politicians to show that women face bureaucratic discretion, and are unable to overcome it due to limited networks. This paper elucidates how an oft-understudied institution in gatekeeping, the bureaucracy, can have consequential effects for women ability to govern in their constituencies.

Author

• Bhumi Purohit, University of California, Berkeley