This article uses a unique data set to investigate the determinants of political participation in India. In particular, the data from the 1981 census of India are coupled with electoral returns from 1979-80 to examine the factors influencing participation of both genders. Differential impact is explored empirically. Many of the same influences found to be important in developed countries are relevant in India, including income, education, and constituency culture. In addition, labor force participation and familial obligations have an effect, though in the opposite direction from that predicted in the United States. A lack of government-provided resources devoted to health and education also influences participation. A second investigation uses the same census data with 1977-78 election returns to estimate government response to female political participation in India. Regarding the causes of child mortality, no effect of female participation on health outcomes was found. This may result from the aggregation necessary to match census districts and voting constituencies.
Get full access to this article
View all access options for this article.
References
1.
Anderson, Kristi.1975. Working Women and Political Participation, 1952-72 . American Journal of Political Science19(Aug.):439-54.
2.
Aviel, JoAnn Fagot.1981. Political Participation of Women in Latin America . Western Political Quarterly34(1): 156-73.
3.
Baxter, Craig.1987. Government and Politics in South Asia. Boulder, CO: Westview Press.
4.
Betancourt, Roger and Suzanne Gleason . In press. The Allocation of Publicly-Provided Goods to Rural Household in India: On Some Consequences of Caste, Religion and Democracy. World Development.
5.
Braithwaite, R.L. and N. Lythcott.1989. Community Empowerment as a Strategy for Health Promotion for Black and Other Minority Populations. Journal ofthe American Medical Association261:282-83.
6.
Butler, David, Ashok Lahiri , and Prannoy Roy, eds. 1992. India Decides: Elections 1952-1991. New Delhi: UM Books.
7.
Cain, Mead, Syeda Rokeya Khanam, and Shamsun Nahar.1979. Class, Patriarchy, and Women's Work in Bangladesh. Population and Development Review5(3):405-38.
8.
Costantini, Edmond.1990. Political Women and Political Ambition: Closing the Gender Gap. American Journal of Political Science34(Aug.):741-70.
9.
Crook, Richard C. and James Manor.1999. Democracy and Decentralization in South Asia and West Africa: Participation, Accountability and Performance. New York: Cambridge University Press.
10.
Darcy, R. and Sarha Slavin Schramm .1977. When Women Run Against Men . Public Opinion Quarterly41(Spring):1-12.
11.
Dixon-Mueller, Ruth and Adrienne Germain .1994. Population Policy and Feminist Political Action in Three Developing Countries. Population and Development Review20(supp.): 197-219.
12.
Downs, Anthony.1957. An Economic Theory of Democracy. New York: Harper & Row.
13.
Elazar, Daniel.1972. American Federalism: A View from the States. New York: Thomas Y. Crowell.
14.
Fowler, Linda L.1993. Candidates, Congress, and the American Democracy . Ann Arbor: University of Michigan Press.
15.
Frey, Bruno S.1971. Why Do High Income People Participate More in Politics ? Public Choice11:101-5.
16.
—. 1972. Political Participation and Income Level. Public Choice13:119-22.
17.
Gleason, Suzanne.1996. Female Well-being and Public Goods: The Case of India. Ph.D. diss., University of Maryland, College Park.
18.
—. In press. Publicly-Provided Goods and Intrafamily Resource Allocation: Female Child Survival in India. Review of Development Economics.
19.
Greene, William H.1993. Econometric Analysis. 2d ed. New York: Macmillan.
20.
Hill, David B.1981. Political Culture and Female Political Representation . Journal of Politics43(Feb.):159-68.
21.
Karnig, Albert K. and B. Oliver Walter .1976. Election of Women to City Councils. Social Science Quarterly56(Mar.):605-13.
22.
LaVeist, Thomas.1992. The Political Empowerment and Health Status of African-Americans: Mapping a New Territory. American Journal of Sociology97(4):1080-95.
23.
—. 1993. Segregation, Poverty, and Empowerment: Health Consequences for African Americans. Milbank Quarterly71(1):41-64.
24.
Leighley, Jan E.1995. Attitudes, Opportunities and Incentives: A Field Essay on Political Participation. Political Research Quarterly48(Mar.):181-209.
25.
Leighley, Jan E. and Jonathan Nagler .1992. Individual and Systemic Influences on Turnout: Who Votes? 1984. Journal of Politics54(Aug.):718-40.
26.
Manikyamba, P.1986. The Participatory Predicament: Women in Indian Politics. In The Changing Division of Labor in South Asia, ed. James Warner Bjorkman.Riverdale, MD: Riverdale.
27.
—. 1989. Women in Panchayati Raj Structures. New Delhi: Gian Publishing House.
28.
Matland, Richard E. and Donley T. Studlar .1996. The Contagion of Women Candidates in Single-Member District and Proportional Representation Electoral Systems: Canada and Norway. Journal of Politics58(Aug.): 707-33.
29.
McKnight, J.L.1985. Health and Empowerment. Canadian Journal of Public Health76(supp.):37-8.
30.
Medoff, Marshall H.1986. Determinants of the Political Participation of Women. Public Choice48:245-53.
31.
Murthi, Mamta, Anne-Catherine Guio, and Jean Dreze.1995. Mortality, Fertility and Gender Bias in India: A District-Level Analysis. Population and Development Review21(Dec.):745-82.
32.
National Committee on the Status of Women in India (NCSWI).1975. Status of Women in India: A Synopsis of the Report of the National Committee on the Status of Women (1971-74). New Delhi: Indian Council on Social Science Research .
33.
Nelson, Barbara J. and Najma Chowdhury, eds. 1994. Women and Politics Worldwide . New Haven, CT: Yale University Press.
34.
Palmer, Norman D.1975. Elections and Political Development: The South Asian Experience . Durham, NC: Duke University Press .
35.
Paolino, Phillip.1995. Group-Salient Issues and Group Representation: Support for Women Candidates in the 1992 Senate Elections. American Journal of Political Science39(May):294-313.
36.
Pomper, Gerald.1975. Voters' Choice. New York: Dodd Mead.
37.
Rajalakshmi, V.1985. The Political Behaviour of Women in Tamil Nadu . New Delhi: Inter-India.
38.
Rosenzweig, Mark and T. Paul Schultz .1982. Market Opportunities, Genetic Endowments, and the Intrafamily Allocation of Resources: Child Survival in Rural India. American Economic Review72:803-15.
39.
Rule, Wilma.1981. Why Women Don't Run: The Critical Contextual Factors in Women's Legislative Recruitment. Western Political Quarterly34(1): 60-77.
40.
—. 1987. Electoral Systems, Contextual Factors and Women's Opportunity for Election to Parliament in Twenty-Three Democracies. Western Political Quarterly40(3):477-98.
41.
Schlozman, Kay Lehman, Nancy Burns, and Sidney Verba.1994. Gender and the Pathways to Participation: The Role of Resources. Journal of Politics56(Nov.):963-90.
42.
Schlozman, Kay Lehman, Nancy Burns, Sidney Verba, and Jesse Donahue.1995. Gender and Citizen Participation: Is There a Different Voice?American Journal of Political Science39(May):267-93.
43.
Sen, Amartya.1987. The Standard of Living. New York: Cambridge University Press.
44.
Shapiro, Robert Y. and Harpreet Mahajan.1986. Gender Differences in Policy Preferences: A Summary of Trends from the 1960s to the 1980s. Public Opinion Quarterly50(Spring): 42-61.
45.
Srinivas, M.N.1977. The Changing Position of Indian Women. Man12(Aug.):221-38.
46.
Swarup, Hem Lata, Niroj Sinha, Chitra Ghosh, and Pam Rajput.1994. Women's Political Engagement in India: Some Critical Issues. In Women and Politics Worldwide, ed. Barbara Nelson and Najma Chowdhury.New Haven, CT: Yale University Press.
47.
Thomas, Sue.1991. The Impact of Women on State Legislative Policies . Journal of Politics53(4):958-76.
48.
Thomas, Sue and Susan Welch.1991. The Impact of Gender on Activities and Priorities of State Legislators. Western Political Quarterly44(2):445-55.
49.
Uhlaner, Carole Jean.1995. What the Downsian Voter Weighs: A Reassessment of the Costs and Benefits of Action. In Information, Participation, and Choice: An Economic Theory of Democracy in Perspective, ed. Bernard Grofman.Ann Arbor: University of Michigan Press.
50.
Vanneman, Reeve and Douglas Barnes.1993. Indian District Data, 1961-1981: Electronic Data File and Codebook. College Park, MD: Center on Population Gender and Social Inequality.
51.
Verba, Sidney1965. The Civic Culture. Boston: Little, Brown.
52.
Welch, Susan.1977. Women as Political Animals? A Test of Some Explanations for Male-Female Political Participation Differences. American Journal of Political Science21(4):711-30.
53.
—. 1980. Sex Differences in Political Activity in Britain . Women & Politics1(Summer):29-46.
54.
Welch, Susan, Margery M. Ambrosius, Janet Clark , and Robert Darcy .1991. The Effect of Candidate Gender on Electoral Outcomes in State Legislative Races. Western Political Quarterly44(2):464-73.
55.
Zipp, John F. and Eric Plutzer.1985. Gender Differences in Voting for Female Candidates: Evidence from the 1982 Election. Public Opinion Quarterly49(Summer):179-97.
