Francesca R Jensenius | University of Oslo (original) (raw)

Papers by Francesca R Jensenius

Social Politics: International Studies in Gender, State & Society, 2018

Recent years have seen widespread advances in women's legal rights in many countries. In other pl... more Recent years have seen widespread advances in women's legal rights in many countries. In other places, restrictions on women's autonomy remain entrenched. This study explores crosscountry patterns in the association between genderdiscriminatory legislation and various indicators of women's economic agency. We find that restrictions on legal capacity predict women's asset ownership and labor force participation, while discrimination in wage work and parental leave are associated with the size and direction of wage gaps. These findings highlight the importance of conceptualizing and measuring legal rights and their potential effects as multidimensional.

The Journal of Politics, 2022

It is well established that countries' institutional features can weaken economic voting by diffu... more It is well established that countries' institutional features can weaken economic voting by diffusing responsibility for policy outcomes. We argue that local-level party system institutionalization similarly mediates the link between the economy and vote choice. We focus on one dimension of party system institutionalization: the strength of party-candidate linkages in elections, measured by manually tracing the rerunning patterns of some 80,000 candidates in Indian state elections 1986-2007. Using rerunning patterns to measure party-candidate linkages and rainfall data to measure the state of the economy, we show that voters are more likely to reward incumbent parties for economic performance when parties and candidates are aligned in consecutive elections. We address concerns of endogeneity in rerunning patterns by showing that the results are robust to alternate measures of local-level party system institutionalization. They are also robust to alternative measures of the state of the economy, and using individual-level survey data.

Perspectives on Politics, 2021

In the study of electoral politics and political behavior in the developing world, India is often... more In the study of electoral politics and political behavior in the developing world, India is often considered to be an exemplar of the centrality of contingency in distributive politics, the role of ethnicity in shaping political behavior, and the organizational weakness of political parties. Whereas these axioms have some empirical basis, the massive changes in political practices, the vast variation in political patterns, and the burgeoning literature on subnational dynamics in India mean that such generalizations are not tenable. In this article, we consider research on India that compels us to rethink the contention that India neatly fits the prevailing wisdom in the comparative politics literature. Our objective is to elucidate how the many nuanced insights about Indian politics can improve our understanding of electoral behavior both across and within other countries, allowing us to question core assumptions in theories of comparative politics.

Qualitative & Multi-Method Research, Mar 31, 2018

Comparison is, directly or indirectly, the defining characteristic of political science. Comparis... more Comparison is, directly or indirectly, the defining characteristic of political science. Comparison enables us to discover what is unusual about any given individual, event, group, process, or context. Comparing sharpens our awareness of assumptions that underlie our theoretical thinking, makes it clearer how concepts should be defined and operationalized, and may change what questions we ask. How do we choose what to compare and how can we defend our decisions? As the introduction to this symposium points out, methodological texts have focused overwhelmingly on designing controlled comparisons aimed at testing causal theories across a small number of cases. But comparative studies often have other goals, such as developing theoretical arguments, particularly so if they form part of a multi-method project. There is a discrepancy between the types of research designs scholars typically teach and the type of research they actually conduct (George and Bennett 2005, 10).

World Politics, 2022

We know more about why laws on violence against women (vaw) were adopted than about how much and ... more We know more about why laws on violence against women (vaw) were adopted than about how much and in what ways these laws affect society. The authors argue that even weakly enforced laws can contribute to positive social change. They theorize the expressive power of vaw legislation, and present evidence for a cautiously optimistic assessment of current trends on violence against women and the ways that vaw laws affect social norms. Focusing on a time of major legal change related to vaw in Mexico, this article explores trends in behavior and attitudes related to violence by analyzing four waves of the National Survey on the Dynamics of Household Relations (endireh), which include detailed interviews with thousands of Mexican women. The authors find that over this period, the share of women experiencing intimate-partner abuse declined, attitudes condoning violence shifted, reporting rates rose, and most women learned about legislation to protect their rights. These changes are consist...

can be found at:Comparative Political StudiesAdditional services and information for

University of Southern California Center for Law & Social Science (CLASS) Political Science Research Paper Series, 2016

Most literature on criminal deterrence in law, economics, and criminology assumes that people who... more Most literature on criminal deterrence in law, economics, and criminology assumes that people who are caught for a crime will be punished. The literature focuses on how the size of sanctions and probability of being caught affect criminal behavior. However, in many countries entire groups of people are “above the law” in the sense that they are able to evade punishment even if caught violating the law. In this paper we argue that both the perceived probability of being punished if caught and the cultural acceptance of elites evading punishment are important parts of theorizing about deterrence, particularly about corruption among political elites. Looking at data on parking violations among diplomats in New York City 1997–2002, we explore how diplomats from different rule-of-law cultures respond to sudden legal immunity. The empirical observations provide clear evidence of both the stickiness and the gradual weakening of cultural constraints.

Scholars studying developing democracies have been puzzled by high levels of electoral instabilit... more Scholars studying developing democracies have been puzzled by high levels of electoral instability. An often overlooked factor in studies of voting behavior is the strength of party-candidate linkages: the extent to which parties and candidates maintain stable alliances in consecutive elections. In this paper we argue that weak linkages split voters’ loyalties between parties and candidates and diffuse the responsibility for who is to be held accountable for the performance in office, resulting in higher levels of anti-incumbency, higher electoral volatility, and weaker economic voting. We show evidence for our claims using constituency-level electoral data from Indian state assembly elections between 1987 and 2007 as well as individual-level survey data from the Indian National Election Study from 2004. These results suggest that given stable electoral alternatives, voters in a developing democracy make their vote choice on the basis of the performance of the incumbent in much the ...

SSRN Electronic Journal, 2020

Who gets elected to political office? The negative selection hypothesis posits that the inherentl... more Who gets elected to political office? The negative selection hypothesis posits that the inherently dishonest run for office, expecting to earn political rent. Alternatively, the positive selection hypothesis suggests that individuals join politics to make a difference. Developing country politicians are frequently stereotyped as embodiments of the negative selection hypothesis. Using survey and experimental data covering village councils in rural West Bengal, we find that inexperienced village council politicians are less dishonest and more pro-social than ordinary citizens. Our findings also suggest that this idealism wears off with time.

Commonwealth & Comparative Politics, 2021

never deeply anti-business (p. 4), the political and economic elite always had a working relation... more never deeply anti-business (p. 4), the political and economic elite always had a working relationship (ibid.), Nehru was no antibusiness ideologue (p. 6) and similar views can be found scattered around in the book. Even the often-used example of the nationalisation of the largest private banks in 1969 (p. 284) is not by definition an example of socialist policies. This, finally, also raises the question of the concept of ‘power’ in the book. The way power is conceptualised seems to be as a zero-sum relationship between state and business power. The overall conclusion then is that business power has increased, and state power has declined. But is this really the only and the best way of conceptualising what has happened? It can be argued that both state power and the power of business has expanded, or that business power has increased compared to the power of other social forces, but that state power is an altogether different matter. In the end, the editors conclude that the Indian state will remain an activist state that promotes private-sector-led growth, and especially growth by national capital (p. 284). I fully agree!

Studies in Indian Politics, 2017

There has been a data revolution in the study of Indian politics in recent years. Indian politics... more There has been a data revolution in the study of Indian politics in recent years. Indian politics has always been a fascinating field, in comparative perspective and in its own right. Accounts of fieldwork in India have challenged and informed discussions about democracy in the developing world for decades. Since the 1990s, the National Election Studies conducted by Lokniti, CSDS, have enabled informed quantitative analyses of political patterns across the country. More recently, technological innovations and the increasing availability of online data sources have opened the door to new ways of studying Indian politics quantitatively. Scholars can now create and merge a wide range of large-scale datasets, making it possible to establish new empirical trends, fact check commonly held political narratives and test hypotheses developed in other democratic contexts. In this research note, we first describe some techniques and tools used for creating and merging largescale datasets. Next, we introduce two datasets we have developed: constituency-level datasets of Indian State Elections and General Elections from 1961 until today.3 We describe the process of creating these datasets, the efforts involved in cleaning the data and how the data can be utilized. In conclusion, we offer some reflections on the limitations of over-relying on quantitative data in research on Indian politics. We hope to get more scholars and practitioners interested in using the publicly available datasets developed by ourselves and others, and to inspire students and scholars to invest in the quantitative skills needed to develop new quantitative datasets.

Oxford Scholarship Online, 2017

The distributive effects of quotas have been much debated. Using census data merged to the state ... more The distributive effects of quotas have been much debated. Using census data merged to the state assembly constituency level, chapter 4 examines changes in the overall level of development, and the distribution of resources between SCs and others, in SC-reserved and nonreserved constituencies 1971--2001. Comparison of matched pairs of constituencies shows that the quotas had no detectable constituency-level effect on development patterns. These findings are robust across multiple model specifications, and across constituencies and villages with varying proportions of SCs. It emerges that SC politicians have not distributed more resources to SC voters than have other politicians; further, the quotas for SCs have not negatively affected overall development patterns.

Oxford Scholarship Online, 2017

Chapter 9 summarizes the empirical findings and argues that quotas for SCs have played an importa... more Chapter 9 summarizes the empirical findings and argues that quotas for SCs have played an important role in breaking down the social barriers associated with the caste system. This success is only partial, as SC politicians are still perceived as weaker than other politicians, and they still experience subtle forms of discrimination. However, important achievements have been made: members of this large community that probably would have been excluded from politics have had the opportunity to gain political experience and know-how, and it now appears less socially acceptable to treat SC elites disrespectfully in public. How, then, do these findings speak to other cases? The findings from India demonstrate that institutional design is important in shaping the behavior of political parties, politicians, and voters—but also that a policy that incentivizes integration rather than group representation may produce important effects.

Government and Opposition, 2016

Quotas for women and ethnic minorities are implemented to increase diversity in political institu... more Quotas for women and ethnic minorities are implemented to increase diversity in political institutions, but, as they usually target only one group at a time, they may end up increasing the inclusion of one under-represented group at the cost of another. Recent work has emphasized the institutional underpinnings of the variation in such outcomes. In this article I show how the intersectional effects of quotas may also vary within the same institutional context, as changes in the pressure to include excluded groups interact with the informal opportunity structures within political parties. Looking at the nomination of female candidates across India over time, I show that, as the efforts to include more women in politics intensified, much of the increase in female candidates occurred in constituencies reserved for ethnic minorities. This pattern may in part be the result of parties resisting changes to existing power hierarchies by nominating women at the cost of the least powerful mal...

State, Party and Family in Contemporary Indian Politics

American Economic Journal: Applied Economics, 2015

This paper estimates the constituency-level development effects of quotas for the Scheduled Caste... more This paper estimates the constituency-level development effects of quotas for the Scheduled Castes (SCs) in India, using a unique dataset of development indicators for more than 3,100 state assembly constituencies in 15 Indian states in 1971 and 2001. Matching constituencies on pretreatment variables from 1971, I find that 30 years of quotas had no detectable constituency-level effect on overall development or redistribution to SCs. Interviews with politicians and civil servants in 2010 and 2011 suggest that these findings can be explained by the power of political parties and the electoral incentives created by the quota system. (JEL D72, J15, O15, O17, Z13)

The Journal of Asian Studies, 2014

Since independence, India has had electoral quotas for Scheduled Castes (SCs, Dalits, “untouchabl... more Since independence, India has had electoral quotas for Scheduled Castes (SCs, Dalits, “untouchables”). These quotas have been praised for empowering members of a deprived community, but have also been criticized for bringing to power SC politicians who are mere tools in the hands of the upper castes. Tracing the history of these quotas through four critical junctures, I show how a British attempt to strengthen their own control of India eventually resulted in one of the world's most extensive quota systems for minorities. The quota system was in the end a compromise between several political goals, and was not strongly supported by anyone. Also, while the quotas were designed to integrate SC politicians into mainstream politics, there was a subtle and gradual shift in the debate about them, to being about development for the SC community as such. This created a disjuncture between the design of the quota system and the expectation of what it would achieve. The case of quotas in ...

Asian Survey, 2015

Tracing activity in 15 Indian state assemblies from 1967 to 2007, we find that overall legislativ... more Tracing activity in 15 Indian state assemblies from 1967 to 2007, we find that overall legislative activity declined but there was also considerable variation across states. States with large electoral constituencies and politically fragmented assemblies showed the worst performance, which suggests a link between political fragmentation and institutional performance.

Pradeep Chhibber, Chair Many countries make special institutional arrangements to guarantee the p... more Pradeep Chhibber, Chair Many countries make special institutional arrangements to guarantee the political representation of minorities. This is usually justified as a way of reducing ethnic tensions and improving the quality of democratic representation. In addition, it is often assumed that minority representatives will act in the interest of their group. India has had reserved seats for the Scheduled Castes (SCs, the former 'untouchables') in their state assemblies since independence. Reserved constituencies are single member districts where only SCs can run for election, while the whole population votes for them irrespective of their caste group. In this dissertation I explore the effects of these quotas between 1974 and 2007. I am able to control for the selection bias inherent in quotas being non-randomly assigned in the 1970s by matching more than 3,000 constituencies on pre-treatment variables from 1971. Using unique new data at the constituency-level for 15 Indian states, I show that the quotas have been effective at guaranteeing the political presence of SCs and integrating them into mainstream politics. Contrary to the bias often reported against SC politicians, they are not much different from other politicians: they represent similar parties, have similar rerunning patterns, and hold many cabinet positions. In fact, rather than being spokespersons of the SC community, SC politicians seem to be agents of their parties rather than agents of their group. The presence of SC politicians seems to have had positive effects on caste bias in society at large, though, with voters in reserved areas reporting less caste discrimination than voters in non-reserved areas. Considering how strong the social boundary of untouchability used to be in Indian society, this can be seen as a huge achievement in itself. But the integration of SC politicians, and the fact that they are answerable to mostly non-SC voters, also means that their presence has not done much to improve the substantive representation of SC interests. This can therefore serve as a reminder that there are clear trade-offs in institutional design and that an electoral system might work well to reduce social bias and prevent conflict without improving the substantive representation of minority groups. i To my family Contents Contents ii List of Figures iv List of Tables vi vii 6.6 Percent respondents who were satisfied with the work of the politicians in their area (NES 2004, reduced sample of matched constituencies

Social Politics: International Studies in Gender, State & Society, 2018

Recent years have seen widespread advances in women's legal rights in many countries. In other pl... more Recent years have seen widespread advances in women's legal rights in many countries. In other places, restrictions on women's autonomy remain entrenched. This study explores crosscountry patterns in the association between genderdiscriminatory legislation and various indicators of women's economic agency. We find that restrictions on legal capacity predict women's asset ownership and labor force participation, while discrimination in wage work and parental leave are associated with the size and direction of wage gaps. These findings highlight the importance of conceptualizing and measuring legal rights and their potential effects as multidimensional.

The Journal of Politics, 2022

It is well established that countries' institutional features can weaken economic voting by diffu... more It is well established that countries' institutional features can weaken economic voting by diffusing responsibility for policy outcomes. We argue that local-level party system institutionalization similarly mediates the link between the economy and vote choice. We focus on one dimension of party system institutionalization: the strength of party-candidate linkages in elections, measured by manually tracing the rerunning patterns of some 80,000 candidates in Indian state elections 1986-2007. Using rerunning patterns to measure party-candidate linkages and rainfall data to measure the state of the economy, we show that voters are more likely to reward incumbent parties for economic performance when parties and candidates are aligned in consecutive elections. We address concerns of endogeneity in rerunning patterns by showing that the results are robust to alternate measures of local-level party system institutionalization. They are also robust to alternative measures of the state of the economy, and using individual-level survey data.

Perspectives on Politics, 2021

In the study of electoral politics and political behavior in the developing world, India is often... more In the study of electoral politics and political behavior in the developing world, India is often considered to be an exemplar of the centrality of contingency in distributive politics, the role of ethnicity in shaping political behavior, and the organizational weakness of political parties. Whereas these axioms have some empirical basis, the massive changes in political practices, the vast variation in political patterns, and the burgeoning literature on subnational dynamics in India mean that such generalizations are not tenable. In this article, we consider research on India that compels us to rethink the contention that India neatly fits the prevailing wisdom in the comparative politics literature. Our objective is to elucidate how the many nuanced insights about Indian politics can improve our understanding of electoral behavior both across and within other countries, allowing us to question core assumptions in theories of comparative politics.

Qualitative & Multi-Method Research, Mar 31, 2018

Comparison is, directly or indirectly, the defining characteristic of political science. Comparis... more Comparison is, directly or indirectly, the defining characteristic of political science. Comparison enables us to discover what is unusual about any given individual, event, group, process, or context. Comparing sharpens our awareness of assumptions that underlie our theoretical thinking, makes it clearer how concepts should be defined and operationalized, and may change what questions we ask. How do we choose what to compare and how can we defend our decisions? As the introduction to this symposium points out, methodological texts have focused overwhelmingly on designing controlled comparisons aimed at testing causal theories across a small number of cases. But comparative studies often have other goals, such as developing theoretical arguments, particularly so if they form part of a multi-method project. There is a discrepancy between the types of research designs scholars typically teach and the type of research they actually conduct (George and Bennett 2005, 10).

World Politics, 2022

We know more about why laws on violence against women (vaw) were adopted than about how much and ... more We know more about why laws on violence against women (vaw) were adopted than about how much and in what ways these laws affect society. The authors argue that even weakly enforced laws can contribute to positive social change. They theorize the expressive power of vaw legislation, and present evidence for a cautiously optimistic assessment of current trends on violence against women and the ways that vaw laws affect social norms. Focusing on a time of major legal change related to vaw in Mexico, this article explores trends in behavior and attitudes related to violence by analyzing four waves of the National Survey on the Dynamics of Household Relations (endireh), which include detailed interviews with thousands of Mexican women. The authors find that over this period, the share of women experiencing intimate-partner abuse declined, attitudes condoning violence shifted, reporting rates rose, and most women learned about legislation to protect their rights. These changes are consist...

can be found at:Comparative Political StudiesAdditional services and information for

University of Southern California Center for Law & Social Science (CLASS) Political Science Research Paper Series, 2016

Most literature on criminal deterrence in law, economics, and criminology assumes that people who... more Most literature on criminal deterrence in law, economics, and criminology assumes that people who are caught for a crime will be punished. The literature focuses on how the size of sanctions and probability of being caught affect criminal behavior. However, in many countries entire groups of people are “above the law” in the sense that they are able to evade punishment even if caught violating the law. In this paper we argue that both the perceived probability of being punished if caught and the cultural acceptance of elites evading punishment are important parts of theorizing about deterrence, particularly about corruption among political elites. Looking at data on parking violations among diplomats in New York City 1997–2002, we explore how diplomats from different rule-of-law cultures respond to sudden legal immunity. The empirical observations provide clear evidence of both the stickiness and the gradual weakening of cultural constraints.

Scholars studying developing democracies have been puzzled by high levels of electoral instabilit... more Scholars studying developing democracies have been puzzled by high levels of electoral instability. An often overlooked factor in studies of voting behavior is the strength of party-candidate linkages: the extent to which parties and candidates maintain stable alliances in consecutive elections. In this paper we argue that weak linkages split voters’ loyalties between parties and candidates and diffuse the responsibility for who is to be held accountable for the performance in office, resulting in higher levels of anti-incumbency, higher electoral volatility, and weaker economic voting. We show evidence for our claims using constituency-level electoral data from Indian state assembly elections between 1987 and 2007 as well as individual-level survey data from the Indian National Election Study from 2004. These results suggest that given stable electoral alternatives, voters in a developing democracy make their vote choice on the basis of the performance of the incumbent in much the ...

SSRN Electronic Journal, 2020

Who gets elected to political office? The negative selection hypothesis posits that the inherentl... more Who gets elected to political office? The negative selection hypothesis posits that the inherently dishonest run for office, expecting to earn political rent. Alternatively, the positive selection hypothesis suggests that individuals join politics to make a difference. Developing country politicians are frequently stereotyped as embodiments of the negative selection hypothesis. Using survey and experimental data covering village councils in rural West Bengal, we find that inexperienced village council politicians are less dishonest and more pro-social than ordinary citizens. Our findings also suggest that this idealism wears off with time.

Commonwealth & Comparative Politics, 2021

never deeply anti-business (p. 4), the political and economic elite always had a working relation... more never deeply anti-business (p. 4), the political and economic elite always had a working relationship (ibid.), Nehru was no antibusiness ideologue (p. 6) and similar views can be found scattered around in the book. Even the often-used example of the nationalisation of the largest private banks in 1969 (p. 284) is not by definition an example of socialist policies. This, finally, also raises the question of the concept of ‘power’ in the book. The way power is conceptualised seems to be as a zero-sum relationship between state and business power. The overall conclusion then is that business power has increased, and state power has declined. But is this really the only and the best way of conceptualising what has happened? It can be argued that both state power and the power of business has expanded, or that business power has increased compared to the power of other social forces, but that state power is an altogether different matter. In the end, the editors conclude that the Indian state will remain an activist state that promotes private-sector-led growth, and especially growth by national capital (p. 284). I fully agree!

Studies in Indian Politics, 2017

There has been a data revolution in the study of Indian politics in recent years. Indian politics... more There has been a data revolution in the study of Indian politics in recent years. Indian politics has always been a fascinating field, in comparative perspective and in its own right. Accounts of fieldwork in India have challenged and informed discussions about democracy in the developing world for decades. Since the 1990s, the National Election Studies conducted by Lokniti, CSDS, have enabled informed quantitative analyses of political patterns across the country. More recently, technological innovations and the increasing availability of online data sources have opened the door to new ways of studying Indian politics quantitatively. Scholars can now create and merge a wide range of large-scale datasets, making it possible to establish new empirical trends, fact check commonly held political narratives and test hypotheses developed in other democratic contexts. In this research note, we first describe some techniques and tools used for creating and merging largescale datasets. Next, we introduce two datasets we have developed: constituency-level datasets of Indian State Elections and General Elections from 1961 until today.3 We describe the process of creating these datasets, the efforts involved in cleaning the data and how the data can be utilized. In conclusion, we offer some reflections on the limitations of over-relying on quantitative data in research on Indian politics. We hope to get more scholars and practitioners interested in using the publicly available datasets developed by ourselves and others, and to inspire students and scholars to invest in the quantitative skills needed to develop new quantitative datasets.

Oxford Scholarship Online, 2017

The distributive effects of quotas have been much debated. Using census data merged to the state ... more The distributive effects of quotas have been much debated. Using census data merged to the state assembly constituency level, chapter 4 examines changes in the overall level of development, and the distribution of resources between SCs and others, in SC-reserved and nonreserved constituencies 1971--2001. Comparison of matched pairs of constituencies shows that the quotas had no detectable constituency-level effect on development patterns. These findings are robust across multiple model specifications, and across constituencies and villages with varying proportions of SCs. It emerges that SC politicians have not distributed more resources to SC voters than have other politicians; further, the quotas for SCs have not negatively affected overall development patterns.

Oxford Scholarship Online, 2017

Chapter 9 summarizes the empirical findings and argues that quotas for SCs have played an importa... more Chapter 9 summarizes the empirical findings and argues that quotas for SCs have played an important role in breaking down the social barriers associated with the caste system. This success is only partial, as SC politicians are still perceived as weaker than other politicians, and they still experience subtle forms of discrimination. However, important achievements have been made: members of this large community that probably would have been excluded from politics have had the opportunity to gain political experience and know-how, and it now appears less socially acceptable to treat SC elites disrespectfully in public. How, then, do these findings speak to other cases? The findings from India demonstrate that institutional design is important in shaping the behavior of political parties, politicians, and voters—but also that a policy that incentivizes integration rather than group representation may produce important effects.

Government and Opposition, 2016

Quotas for women and ethnic minorities are implemented to increase diversity in political institu... more Quotas for women and ethnic minorities are implemented to increase diversity in political institutions, but, as they usually target only one group at a time, they may end up increasing the inclusion of one under-represented group at the cost of another. Recent work has emphasized the institutional underpinnings of the variation in such outcomes. In this article I show how the intersectional effects of quotas may also vary within the same institutional context, as changes in the pressure to include excluded groups interact with the informal opportunity structures within political parties. Looking at the nomination of female candidates across India over time, I show that, as the efforts to include more women in politics intensified, much of the increase in female candidates occurred in constituencies reserved for ethnic minorities. This pattern may in part be the result of parties resisting changes to existing power hierarchies by nominating women at the cost of the least powerful mal...

State, Party and Family in Contemporary Indian Politics

American Economic Journal: Applied Economics, 2015

This paper estimates the constituency-level development effects of quotas for the Scheduled Caste... more This paper estimates the constituency-level development effects of quotas for the Scheduled Castes (SCs) in India, using a unique dataset of development indicators for more than 3,100 state assembly constituencies in 15 Indian states in 1971 and 2001. Matching constituencies on pretreatment variables from 1971, I find that 30 years of quotas had no detectable constituency-level effect on overall development or redistribution to SCs. Interviews with politicians and civil servants in 2010 and 2011 suggest that these findings can be explained by the power of political parties and the electoral incentives created by the quota system. (JEL D72, J15, O15, O17, Z13)

The Journal of Asian Studies, 2014

Since independence, India has had electoral quotas for Scheduled Castes (SCs, Dalits, “untouchabl... more Since independence, India has had electoral quotas for Scheduled Castes (SCs, Dalits, “untouchables”). These quotas have been praised for empowering members of a deprived community, but have also been criticized for bringing to power SC politicians who are mere tools in the hands of the upper castes. Tracing the history of these quotas through four critical junctures, I show how a British attempt to strengthen their own control of India eventually resulted in one of the world's most extensive quota systems for minorities. The quota system was in the end a compromise between several political goals, and was not strongly supported by anyone. Also, while the quotas were designed to integrate SC politicians into mainstream politics, there was a subtle and gradual shift in the debate about them, to being about development for the SC community as such. This created a disjuncture between the design of the quota system and the expectation of what it would achieve. The case of quotas in ...

Asian Survey, 2015

Tracing activity in 15 Indian state assemblies from 1967 to 2007, we find that overall legislativ... more Tracing activity in 15 Indian state assemblies from 1967 to 2007, we find that overall legislative activity declined but there was also considerable variation across states. States with large electoral constituencies and politically fragmented assemblies showed the worst performance, which suggests a link between political fragmentation and institutional performance.

Pradeep Chhibber, Chair Many countries make special institutional arrangements to guarantee the p... more Pradeep Chhibber, Chair Many countries make special institutional arrangements to guarantee the political representation of minorities. This is usually justified as a way of reducing ethnic tensions and improving the quality of democratic representation. In addition, it is often assumed that minority representatives will act in the interest of their group. India has had reserved seats for the Scheduled Castes (SCs, the former 'untouchables') in their state assemblies since independence. Reserved constituencies are single member districts where only SCs can run for election, while the whole population votes for them irrespective of their caste group. In this dissertation I explore the effects of these quotas between 1974 and 2007. I am able to control for the selection bias inherent in quotas being non-randomly assigned in the 1970s by matching more than 3,000 constituencies on pre-treatment variables from 1971. Using unique new data at the constituency-level for 15 Indian states, I show that the quotas have been effective at guaranteeing the political presence of SCs and integrating them into mainstream politics. Contrary to the bias often reported against SC politicians, they are not much different from other politicians: they represent similar parties, have similar rerunning patterns, and hold many cabinet positions. In fact, rather than being spokespersons of the SC community, SC politicians seem to be agents of their parties rather than agents of their group. The presence of SC politicians seems to have had positive effects on caste bias in society at large, though, with voters in reserved areas reporting less caste discrimination than voters in non-reserved areas. Considering how strong the social boundary of untouchability used to be in Indian society, this can be seen as a huge achievement in itself. But the integration of SC politicians, and the fact that they are answerable to mostly non-SC voters, also means that their presence has not done much to improve the substantive representation of SC interests. This can therefore serve as a reminder that there are clear trade-offs in institutional design and that an electoral system might work well to reduce social bias and prevent conflict without improving the substantive representation of minority groups. i To my family Contents Contents ii List of Figures iv List of Tables vi vii 6.6 Percent respondents who were satisfied with the work of the politicians in their area (NES 2004, reduced sample of matched constituencies

Across the world, governments design and implement policies with the explicit goal of promoting s... more Across the world, governments design and implement policies with the explicit goal of promoting social justice. But can such institutions change entrenched social norms? And what effects should we expect from differently designed policies? This book is an empirically rich study of one of the most extensive electoral quota systems in the world: the reserved seats for the Scheduled Castes (SCs, the former “untouchables”) in India’s legislative assemblies. Combining evidence from extensive quantitative datasets, archival work, and in-depth interviews with politicians, civil servants, activists, and voters across India, the book explores the long-term effects of electoral quotas for the political elite and the general population. It shows that the quotas for SCs have played an important role in improving social justice for SCs in some ways, primarily by weakening the status hierarchy associated with the caste system. The extent and nature of the gains in social justice have not, however, been what all advocates of these quotas had expected or hoped for. This is a study of India, but the findings and discussions have broader implications. Policies such as quotas are usually supported with arguments about various assumed positive long-term consequences. The nuanced discussions in this book shed light on the trade-offs inherent in how these policies are designed, and lays the groundwork for a comparative research agenda on the politics of inclusion.