Comments on: Did affirmative action work for Indian women?

By: Friday Connections 27-11-09

Friday Connections 27-11-09 — Sat, 28 Nov 2009 05:15:46 +0000

[...] Did affirmative action work for Indian women? In positive news, however, it looks like using affirmative action – i.e. quotas – requiring certain Indian districts to elect women leaders has led to an increase in the chances of a woman leader being elected in the same district after the quota ended. At least so far. [...]

By: Jean Joseph Leandre

Jean Joseph Leandre — Sun, 22 Nov 2009 04:05:19 +0000

Affirmative action , precisely is a policy designed (aim) to rectify ( redress) past discrimination against women and other minority groups through measures to improve their economic opportunities and in addition eliminate all forms of prejudice in their participation in the political and public life in their countriesâ€™ affairs. Thus Women should have had the same rights to participate in their countriesâ€™ political affairs. Still that has not been a proven cases at the exception of Rwanda where 30% gender quota have been mandated by the 2003 constitution. Actually Rwanda is the only country where women are in majority in the Legislative Assembly In the case of India; I think a mandate on gender quota would be the best solution. That would give the voters the possibility to observe the effectiveness of women leaders in office in some subset district. Thus potential voters, after a circle of observation, would be more willing to elect women for higher office.

By: Jean Joseph Leandre

Jean Joseph Leandre — Sun, 22 Nov 2009 04:01:25 +0000

Considering the fact that affirmative action has been contested in the past, one might argue that it still might be contested in the near future. Although the practice of law in the United States and India rest on the foundation of the English common law; the debate over the issue of affirmative action has been approached differently in both countries. Even though Congress in the United States has adopted legislation during the Reconstruction, right after the civil war, to protect Black; the Thirteen Amendment to the Constitution made slavery illegal; the Fourteen Amendment guarantees equal protection under the law; the Fifteen Amendment forbids racial discrimination in access to voting it was only until March 1961 after President Kennedy issued the executive order 10925 that employers were required to include in their contract that employee will not be discriminate on the basis of their color, race or religion. In India this problem has been tackle in a different manner. Indian has approached the affirmative action in a way to eradicate its enduring effects that women have been suffered for centuries on the form of segregation and humiliation. From this perspective one will argue that it is possible that Affirmative action has worked in India for women.

By: Ben Miller

Ben Miller — Fri, 13 Nov 2009 07:29:57 +0000

Once shattered, one hopes the glass ceiling is never rebuilt. Might these results lend empirical weight to the feminist pro-Hillary position?

By: Asif Dowla

Asif Dowla — Tue, 10 Nov 2009 03:20:00 +0000

I think in this case quota solves the problem of multiple equilibrium. A temporary quota allows the country to move from a bad equilibrium when women can not get elected in open seats to a good equilibrium where they can get elected freely.

By: Bart

Bart — Mon, 09 Nov 2009 23:22:14 +0000

I would think that the time effect of quotas would interact with party organization and political office structure. India is federal, meaning that opportunities exist for candidates to move onto high offices. Note that Bhavnani’s paper mainly concerns local elections in Mumbai. Indian parties are also highly centralized, meaning that the ability of candidates to stand for these higher offices depends on the electoral calculation of party bosses.

Saw Bhavnani present at APSA this year; he would be a sterling pick-up for Yale.

By: VDiCarlo

VDiCarlo — Mon, 09 Nov 2009 23:20:32 +0000

Thanks for this post, I was previously unaware of these politicalized gender efforts and I think this experiment raises really interesting questions. While I have mixed feelings on affirmative action, it appears that in this case the effect has been a great improvement in the way women are received in this traditionally male field. I am hard pressed to find a downside to this change in attitude toward women leaders. I second Michael’s question regarding mentorship: is anyone (local women, community organizations, or NGO’s?) pursuing a mentoring program to sustain this movement?

By: Michael

Michael — Mon, 09 Nov 2009 16:33:12 +0000

Why wouldn’t they recruit and mentor another generation of female leaders?