Who Becomes a Local Politician? Evidence from Rural India

• In Event: Localizing Gender and Minority Politics in India

Brief Overview

This paper examines whether local democracy affects leadership composition, using the case of Bihar. It uncovers a trade-off between competence and representativeness, with educated elites more likely to contest and win absent political quotas.

Authors

• Apurva Bamezai, University of Pennsylvania

• Siddharth Eapen George, National University of Singapore

• M. R. Sharan, University of Maryland

• Borui Sun, University of Maryland-College Park