Contemporaneous and lasting effects of electoral gender quotas

Abstract

This paper examines several ways in which electoral gender quotas affect the political system. It uses data on reserved seat quotas for women in village councils in the Indian state of Jharkhand. Village council head positions subjected to gender quotas continue to elect more women even after the quotas are no longer binding. Gender quotas do not have spillover effects on other lower hierarchy positions in the council. They reduce electoral competitiveness, but only in the first round of elections and only at council member position. They do not affect the caste composition of the winning candidates. These results suggest that women’s representation may be achieved without large negative effects and that temporary electoral gender quotas can be an effective policy tool to increase long-run women’s political representation. The results are pertinent for affirmative action policies addressing other forms of discrimination.