Women's political empowerment will enhance governance and boost the economy

Many social researchers specifically link these gains to India’s 33% reservation of seats in local representative bodies, as well as grassroots self-help group movements. Some attribute it to the influence of development schemes that “recognize women’s agency." However, a women’s rights activist rued that “despite being a significant mass, the importance accorded to women is transactional"—i.e., a “your-vote-for-my-scheme approach." Other researchers have opined that women are yet to emerge as a “distinct voting bloc for any particular party." As for an observed spike in rural women voters, a political economist views it through the “prism of economic conditions": hence, “in the post-covid era, men got back to working in bigger cities, but a large number of women didn’t, and thus, it is the absence of men who can vote in their homes."

Despite Indian women’s better balanced share of the political franchise, various institutional and structural challenges stand in their way to the electoral battlefield. Apart from an ‘internalised patriarchy’ that restricts engagement in a full-fledged political career, political parties often fight shy of fielding a fair share of women as contestants. “A large section of women who do get party tickets have family political connections," said a study. In 2019, 41% of all women candidates and 30% of those who got elected were ‘dynasts.’ A growing need for money and muscle in the field also makes an electoral contest hard-going for women. In the 2019 Lok Sabha elections, there were only 719 women contestants, 9% of the total, and 78 won, making up under 14.4% of all seat winners, a proportion that is below the South Asian average of 18.9% (World Bank). As a 2023 UNDP report underscores, women’s political empowerment (WPE) leads to “responsive and transparent governance, reduces risks of civil war and political violence, and breaks down gender stereotypes." It has economic benefits too. A recent data-analysis over an extended time-span (from 1830) across 182 countries has assessed that “there have been clear differences in the annual GDP per capita growth rates between countries with low and high rate of WPE, and increased WPE also brings in technological change and innovation and [productivity] growth, particularly in non-Western nations, with the infusion of new and efficient ideas into economy." It recommends promoting WPE “more as an instrumental business case" (Dahlum, et al, 2022). A regional study in Europe and Central Asia (ECA) estimated that a “10%-point increase in women’s representation in parliament is likely to yield a 0.74%-point rise in GDP growth." Studies have also shown that women-led policies have positive implications for labour productivity, market participation, entrepreneurship and reduction in gender wage gaps. A meta analysis of a global data-set (2015-2019) said that increased WPE also contributes to the realization of Sustainable Development Goals. Nevertheless, evidence from developing countries has also demonstrated that a lack of financial resources and specific historical legacies, apart from an absence of party support, could hinder the effective participation of women in parliamentary activity (Prodip, 2021).

Looking at India, a study revealed that “women legislators perform better in their constituencies on economic indicators than their male counterparts… are less likely to be criminal and corrupt, more efficacious, and less vulnerable to political opportunism" (Thushyanthan Baskaran, et al). A 2013 study found that WPE over a period of time can augment women’s presence in the economy and labour market (Ghani, Mani and O’Connell), while a 2020 field study in 163 villages to evaluate the uptake of India’s rural jobs scheme where women helm local bodies found “it raised women’s demand for work and access to financial resources."

Globally, only 26.5% of members in single or lower parliamentary houses are women, with an increase of just 0.4 percentage points in six years. In bicameral cases, only six countries have 50% or more women in either house. In the US, women are 28% of all members of its 118th Congress, the highest in its history. In Europe, proportional representation rules, party-driven gender quotas and public campaign financing raised this proportion to 32.7% of all seats in national parliaments across the EU in 2022. In India, only 10.5% of all Members of Parliament in 2021 were women, while state assembly representation stands at an average of 9%. The much awaited Women’s Reservation Bill has come through, but it’s linkage with a seat delimitation process makes its coming into force uncertain in the near future.

The pursuit of gender equality in politics isn’t merely for justice and fair play, but foremost for a more stable and sustainable economy. Trends suggest that goal is almost 130 years away (UN Women). For accountable governance, be it in India or elsewhere, women must pitch in as voters, poll workers, candidates and lawmakers.