Women, Civil Society, and Institutions: A Quasi-Experiment from Rural Bangladesh

• In Event: Women's Political Participation in Developing Countries

Abstract

Political scientists have long recognized the importance of civil society associations in engendering institutional change. But are civil society’s effects inclusive or limited to members and their personal networks? This paper uses quasi-experimental research to track how the effects of one women’s development program diffuses through space. I study the work of Polli Shomaj (PS), a rural women’s civil society organization implemented by the development agency, Brac, in Bangladesh. I argue that poor women in PS areas push back against traditional informal institutions that marginalize them – for example, patronage politics, dowry, and child marriage – and hold state and nonstate decision-makers accountable for implementing formal institutions that exist, but are weak and otherwise unenforced.
The paper draws on 2,800 household-level surveys conducted in four randomly selected wards – a collection of villages – across Bangladesh. PS groups operate at the ward-level, and the data capture every household in these wards, making it possible to trace how far PS’s influence diffuses through space. I use difference-in-difference (DiD) estimation to study differences between PS members and non-members, in PS neighborhoods and other neighborhoods of the ward. I capture formal and informal institutions through citizens’ behaviors in two areas – public goods provision and rule of law – and control for individual and household-level demographic variables, such as income, education, and household size.
I find that rural women are pushing for adherence to formal institutions, and they are doing so by approaching a range of decision-makers beyond the traditional rural elite. This behavior is likely made possible by the extensive service delivery networks that non-governmental organizations (NGOs) have created in Bangladeshi villages. In rural Bangladesh, NGOs deliver services alongside the government. They claim to empower, uplift, and represent the rural poor, some operating as a shadow state. At the same time, they have built new participatory avenues for poor women, creating new relationships and networks. While women from both PS and non-PS households embrace the above practices, treatment effects are stronger in PS neighborhoods. Findings highlight a need for studies that explore civil society's effects beyond the meso level. Individual-level studies can help scholars understand how influential and inclusive civil society organizations are in their communities.

Author

• Nayma Qayum, Manhattanville College