Female Political Leadership in India

Abstract

This paper is a recognition and exploration of alternative accounts of female political leadership in India, other than dynastic succession. It explores the varied paths to power which female political leaders in India have followed in the past two decades within the changing institutional environment of electoral politics. The paper argues that gender is an important factor of the path to power as well as the exercise of leadership and the sources of legitimacy that leaders draw upon. The paper critiques essentialised accounts of behavioural styles of gendered leadership, focusing on the moral capital argument. Structural gender bias and gender-biased perceptions and expectations are understood to have a significant impact on assessments of behavioural style and performance. Yet these sources of gender power can be utilised by leaders, reinforcing and legitimising stereotypes in exchange for political power. These insights are applied to the cases of three prominent female political leaders in India.