The Political Economy of Gender & Caste in Contemporary India

• In Event: Women, Governance, and Changing Gender Norms in MENA and South Asia

Abstract

When can groups facing multiple forms of discrimination take advantage of descriptive representation? Countries around the world have implemented electoral quotas to benefit historically marginalized groups, however the benefits for ``minorities within minorities" are uncertain. Advocates believe that quotas are effective vehicles for groups traditionally excluded from politics to secure representation. Critics assert that quotas are ineffective, at best benefiting a narrow elite. We leverage two sets of exogenously applied electoral quotas ``reserving" the elected head of local government for two traditionally marginalized groups in India: women and members of Scheduled Castes (SCs). Quotas enable us to identify the impact of descriptive representation for doubly-disadvantaged groups (Scheduled Caste women) as well as for each group separately (all women or all members of Scheduled Castes). We investigate two fundamental domains of governance: the ability to make claims upon the state and amelioration of caste polarization (particularly for conflicts over public goods). Evidence suggests that women's reservations and reservations for SCs are particularly effective at increasing transfers towards SC women. These two categories of elected representatives, however, also increase discrimination towards SC women. Descriptive representation for SC women, on the other hand, fails to increase SC women’s monetary benefits, but it reduces discrimination faced by this group. We interpret this as evidence of those elected by ``partial’’ reservation failing to internalize the psychological costs of higher levels of redistribution. Overall, these findings confirm the power of quotas to increase welfare, while highlighting the potential for groups who experience multiple forms of social stigma to be further marginalized by ``partial'' descriptive representation.

Authors

• Aliz Toth, Stanford University

• Rachel E. Brule, Boston University