Write a 2 page (double-spaced) paper addressing the following questions. Be sure to use information presented in the article to support your answers.
Michelle_Michy
20200527153452exploring_the_effect_of_women_in_government_in_india.docx1
Running head: EXPLORING THE EFFECT OF WOMEN IN GOV. IN INDIA
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EXPLORING THE EFFECT OF WOMEN IN GOV. IN INDIA
Exploring the Effect of Women in Government in India
Wenye Liang
Quantitative Methods and Statistics for Evaluators
Nicole Gilbert Cote
05/23/2020
Exploring the Effect of Women in Government in India
The federal constitution of India was amended in 1992 to devolve power. The local government was brought into the forefront in determining administration at the village levels (Abdul Latif Jameel Poverty Action Lab, n.d). These administrative units are governed by the village councils (gram panchayats), that prepare the budget and choose the development programs that need to be implemented. The constitutional amendment also provided for women engagement in leadership and policymaking. All states are required to reserve a third of all council seats for women in a rotational allotment. Despite this constitutional requirement, the quota system has only achieved marginal success, with India recording 10 percent of women in government compared with the global average of 17 percent. In evaluating the matter from a research perspective, the proposed study would be guided by the overarching question: to what extent has the constitutional women representation quota in India affected representative policymaking in the country? By answering this question, the research would evaluate the developmental impact of the quota system in India’s grassroots by comparing development in areas with relatively higher women representation in areas with little to no women representation. The research would create valuable knowledge that determines the impact of women in leadership on grassroots development and understands the significance of the 1992 constitution amendment of India towards the representation of women in policymaking.
To perform this research, the researcher would require information on the number of women in leadership across different localities in India and development statistics or reports for those areas. This report would be dependent on the availability of development reporting in India’s grassroots as well as historical records of women representation since the enactment of the 73rd Amendment. Depending on the availability of data, a suitable research design would be selected. To provide a representative sample, the researcher may consider selecting several regions that provide both rural and urban localities. Local councils could represent several villages. Selecting a sample that represents the average local council in India would be suitable for the research, thus keeping the size and scope of the research manageable. At least ten villages could be selected to provide baseline characteristics.
This research should incorporate a mixed-methods design. Mixed-methods designs are conventionally used to evaluate complex interventions, such as gender quotas in governments that are implemented differently across different regions (Capstick & Pidgeon, 2014). The effect of women in governance is a complex phenomenon since it is dependent on multiple social, political, and economic factors for its implementation. The researcher may apply a convergent approach, allowing the study to review both quantitative and qualitative resources (Capstick & Pidgeon, 2014). In this way, the researcher could gather data from women in government. They will be asked about the timeline for their political careers, investments in public goods, education levels, and political experiences. The researcher would assess public reports that measure the implementation of gender quotas. These sources could validate each other and provide the research with a strong foundation for reaching conclusions regarding gender policy. The researcher would collect the number of female representatives (quantitative data) and descriptions and highlights of the gender quota policy (qualitative data) for analysis, and then demonstrate the success of the gender quota policy in village-level development.
The findings would present gender quota differences across different regions and compare development outcomes in those regions. Items such as gender representation, literacy levels, quality of public infrastructures such as healthcare, schools, and roads would be considered. In effect, the outcomes of the research will evaluate whether gender representation in grassroots leadership influences the quality of life for constituents. The findings would then be presented using both graphical and tabular results. Graphical results enable the audience to quickly and summarily understand the effect of women in government, while the tabular results could present the extensive results of the proposed study through the various data analysis methods applied. Alternatively, the proposed study could provide an executive summary that captures its main findings.
The potential clients for this research are policymakers at the federal government of India and the local governments (Panchayat Directorates) who may be interested in establishing if it has achieved its goal of increasing the participation of women in politics and understanding the effect of (greater) gender representation at the government by assessing the current effects of this legislation. The stakeholders are political leaders, special interest groups like women rights activists, and the public.
Finally, the research is expected to take at least two years. This time will be sufficient to plan for the study, recruit the required teams, pilot test, collect data, and analyze the findings. Most of time would be appropriate for reconnaissance studies into the dynamics of local government leadership in India’s rural areas. The researcher need time to familiarize themselves with the recordkeeping techniques that this leadership structures keep, thereby determining how the mixed-methods approach will best be applied. Based on these factors and the fact that the total budget of the research is estimated at $28,000. The fixed costs will be $16,000 and cater for the enumeration of the research teams, equipment, and services such as data storage and publication costs. The indirect cost will amount to $12,000 and cater to consultation costs, office supplies, and travel expenditures.
References
Abdul Latif Jameel Poverty Action Lab. (n.d). Case study 1: Women as policy makers.
Capstick, S. B., & Pidgeon, N. F. (2014). What is climate change skepticism? Examination of the concept using a mixed-methods study of the UK public. Global Environmental Change, 24, 389-401.
