Political Inclusion Research Articles

Local Body Election in Tamil Nadu - A View

This article examines the evolution and current structure of local governance and election practices in Tamil Nadu, tracing back to the historical Uravai system of village councils, where community-elected elders adjudicated local disputes. With roots in ancient Tamil society, local self-governance evolved significantly under the reign of Tamil kings, particularly during the Chola period, where the Kudavolai system—a forerunner to modern democracy—allowed villagers to select council members for self-administration. Following independence, the Indian government initiated reforms to decentralize governance, notably through the Balvantrai Mehta and Ashok Mehta Committees. These committees advocated for a three-tier rural governance model, later enshrined in the 73rd and 74th Constitutional Amendments. Tamil Nadu, aligning with these democratic principles, enacted the Panchayat Act in 1994, establishing a modern framework for local elections with distinct advancements, including reserved seats for women to enhance political inclusion. The article highlights how Tamil Nadu’s local governance structure, blending historical customs with contemporary democratic reforms, promotes public welfare through elected municipal bodies, demonstrating progressive strides in gender representation and local political participation.

SAJS and the politics of inclusion and exclusion: An editor’s reflections (2021–2024)

SAJS and the politics of inclusion and exclusion: An editor’s reflections (2021–2024)

How Civil Resistance Improves Inclusive Democracy

When do political transitions lead to greater inclusion for groups historically excluded from power? Scholars and policymakers often assume the answer is simple: a transition will result in more inclusion when it ends in democracy. Yet this answer is incomplete at best, since many democracies systematically exclude women, particular ethnic groups, or lower economic classes from power. Using data on political transitions around the world from 1945 to 2014, this study shows that a political transition’s initiating force critically shapes post-transition political inclusion. When transitions are initiated through unarmed civil resistance campaigns they achieve greater advances in inclusion relative to other types of transition. We propose three mechanisms to explain this effect: civil resistance leads to greater continued mobilization and civic activism among the historically excluded, provides greater opportunities for elites from historically excluded groups to rise to positions of leadership in new regimes, and forges more pluralistic norms of political behavior.

Unveiling layers of inclusion in political spaces

This study explores the intricate dimensions of inclusion within political spaces in Zimbabwe. It examines representation and intersectionality to explore how diverse perspectives among different interest groups in society contribute to a more comprehensive and equitable political landscape in Zimbabwe. Additionally, it investigates the role of digital inclusion, and community empowerment in fostering genuine participation. The study dissects the layers of inclusion required for a strong democratic system with an emphasis on youth involvement and the value of civic education. Through emphasising transparency, accountability, and a global perspective, this research article provides a holistic understanding of how political spaces can evolve to embrace diversity and ensure the active engagement of all citizens. The study is informed by the theory of intersectionality and offers a deep understanding of how multiple dimensions of identity, such as race, gender, class, and sexuality, intersect to influence individuals' experiences of political representation and participation. Through applying the intersectionality theory, the study examines how individuals with intersecting identities face unique barriers and challenges when it comes to accessing and engaging with political spaces. It reveals how privilege and power systems interact and function within political frameworks, influencing the opportunities and experiences that various groups have. To achieve the main goal, the study employs a qualitative approach to examine the dimensions of inclusion within political spaces in Zimbabwe. The qualitative constituent involved in-depth interviews and focus groups with diverse stakeholders, including politicians, community leaders, and purported relegated groups, to gather insights into their experiences and perceptions of inclusion. Additionally, a survey was conducted among a representative sample of the population to gather data on their attitudes toward political inclusion and their level of engagement in political processes. This enabled a broader understanding of the overall landscape of inclusivity.

Toward an Understanding of Economic Development in Post-2003 Iraq

Citizen inclusion in politics and voluntary organizations, a vibrant press and media, regular elections, or greater “political inclusion” more generally are often presented—both by international organizations as well as some researchers—as elements likely, even necessary, to promote “economic inclusion” and a more equitable distribution of material benefits. We avoid structural approaches that emphasize oil and instead utilize institutional analysis to understand Iraq’s post-2003 economic and social trajectory. Specifically, we analyze how Iraq’s post-2003 political settlement along with its already deteriorating economic institutions and unfavorable economic and social conditions have combined to shape poor economic outcomes. We show, using the World Bank’s World Governance Indicators as well as other data that the more inclusive political institutions that were established in Iraq post-2003 have worked to impede economic development and inclusion. That is, increased political openness and inclusion has not resulted in greater economic inclusion; instead, Iraq’s political institutions have worked to constrain economic inclusion and a more egalitarian distribution of oil income. This revisits a classic debate in development economics and casts doubt on the reliability of the often-promoted relationship between political pluralism and economic development.

Futures work: Liliana Doganova (2024) Discounting the future: The ascendency of a political technology (Zone Books)

This paper utilizes Liliana Doganova’s book (Discounting the future: The ascendancy of a political technology, 2024, Zone Books) to explore the provocations science and technology studies scholars have generated by engaging with futures politics. This includes politics of inclusion and exclusion, value composition, embodied constraints and efforts to challenge taken-for-granted future pathways. These politics and their extensions are then considered through Doganova’s work. The paper concludes with an exploration of the conflicting political and temporal domains of valuation built into discounted cash flow formulas.

The impact of democracy on peace in Africa: Empirical evidence

AbstractThe nexus between democracy and peace in Africa is examined by applying data to 42 sub‐Saharan African (SSA) countries between 2008 and 2020. The study used panel regression techniques that include Ordinary Least Squares, the Tobit regression to account for the limited range of the dependent variable, and the System Generalized Method of Moments to account for endogeneity bias. Using seven indicators of democracy, which include electoral democracy, liberal democracy, participatory democracy, deliberative democracy, egalitarian democracy, a total democracy index derived from principal component analysis, and the Polity2 score, and using the global peace index as a proxy for peace, our findings show that all the indicators of democracy, irrespective of the model, have a positive and significant influence on peace in SSA. The result has underscored the importance of advancing democratic practices and values to promote sustainable peace and stability in the region.Related ArticlesAntwi‐Boateng, Osman. 2015. “No Spring in Africa: How Sub‐Saharan Africa Has Avoided the Arab Spring Phenomenon.” Politics & Policy 43(5): 754–84. https://doi.org/10.1111/polp.12129.Asongu, Simplice A., Cheikh T. Ndour, and Judith C. M. Ngoungou. 2024. “The Effects of Gender Political Inclusion and Democracy on Environmental Performance: Evidence from the Method of Moments by Quantile Regression.” Politics & Policy, 52(1), 118–39. https://doi.org/10.1111/polp.12576.Ryan, Susannah. 2015. “White Gold and Troubled Waters in Southern Africa: Hydropolitical Policy's Effect on Peace in Lesotho and South Africa.” Politics & Policy 4(2): 239–55. https://doi.org/10.1111/polp.12114.

Beyond inclusion politics: A critical discourse analysis of sex and gender in medical education.

Medical training refers frequently to sex and gender, yet these terms are often used vaguely and interchangeably with little critical engagement. We aimed to better understand the key discourses around sex and gender in medical training. All verbal and written instances of gendered/sexed language, occurring in lectures, slides and provided written materials, within 1year of preclerkship medical education at a single institution in Canada were recorded autoethnographically by a medical student. We analysed these instances using critical discourse analysis informed by anticolonial, feminist and queer theoretical perspectives, particularly contrasting the concepts of governmentality and ungovernability to better understand how sex and gender are deployed in medical training. Despite the proliferation of ostensibly queer- and trans-positive content in medical curricula, sex and gender were frequently communicated inconsistently and imprecisely. In addition to, and perhaps as a result of, this inconsistent use, we uncovered three key discourses of (1) gender policing, (2) misogyny and (3) gender legibility. Collectively, these discourses can illustrate how medical education governs and reinforces gender norms. The repetitive and everyday use of ill-defined and uncritical gendered and sexed language can be seen to discursively uphold systems of cisheteropatriarchy and transphobia within medicine. Trans and intersex bodies cannot be considered addendums to be tacked on to a foundation of cisnormative and inaccurate teaching in medical education. Institutional attempts to improve curricula must go beyond the addition of new modules, which can be undermined by otherwise cisheteropatriarchal understandings of sex and gender.

Communities of exposure, community as exposure: Thinking collective life in the police abolitionist movement

The growing police abolitionist movement in the United States invokes the figure of community to bind various political claims, from shifting the arena of justice to fiscal restructuring. Geographic scholarship on community has yet to conceptualize its usage in this movement, and existing literature tends to critique conceptualizations of community-as-political-resistance by demonstrating a given community’s exclusionary practices and reasserting a liberal politics of inclusion. This article combines analysis of activist literatures from the liberatory harm reduction and transformative justice movements with elements of Jean-Luc Nancy’s philosophy to offer an understanding of community as a shifting and provisional spectrum of relations at once structural and intimate, thus challenging its prevailing figuration as a form of enclosure mediated by the terms of inclusion and exclusion. Drawing on archival work into informally circulated, praxis-based ephemera from movements under the umbrella of police abolition, I conceptualize an abolitionist understanding of community at the juncture of ‘communities of exposure,’ formed along a structurally-produced spectrum of exposure to the harms of white supremacy, settler colonialism, and cis-heteropatriarchy, and ‘community as exposure,’ the condition of relationality that resists enclosure and, in understanding our essential vulnerability to one another as a resource for care, refuses the notion that police could sanitize community of its risks.

Whose Upward Mobility?: Evaluating Intersectional Effects of Gender Quotas

ABSTRACT Existing research shows that gender quotas implemented at the lowest level of government can have positive spillover effects on enhancing women’s representation at higher levels of government where gender quotas are not in place. Yet it is unclear whether this carry-over effect varies for different subgroups of women. I theorise why gender quotas may support the career progression of some women but not others. Analyzing India’s 40 years of state-level election data, I find that more women from privileged groups have run for higher-level political office with exposure to 50% gender quotas implemented at the village level political office. A closer look at the overall institutional context shows that women from traditionally disadvantaged groups benefit in higher-level elections in the presence of electoral quotas for subordinate groups. Had there been no quotas for marginalised groups at the higher level, the upstream effect of exposure to gender quotas would have been skewed toward women from dominant groups. This research contributes to our understanding of sustainable representation through an intersectional lens and emphasizes the importance of carefully designing institutional reforms in achieving political inclusion.

Weaknesses of Federalism in Somalia and Required Reforms

This study critically examines the federal governance system in Somalia, identifying significant areas of weakness that undermine its efficiency and effectiveness. These include an unclear definition of the type of federalism practiced, ineffective dispute resolution mechanisms between the federal government and member states, limited federal capacity and resources, lack of consensus on key issues prior to federalism’s adoption, and poor coordination between the federal government and member states. The lack of clarity regarding the federal system, exacerbated by constitutional contradictions, ambiguous processes, and incomplete definitions, poses substantial challenges in implementing and assessing federalism. Ineffectual mechanisms for resolving disputes have been further compromised by an “un-federalized” legal framework and a paralyzed democratization process influenced by the 4.5 clan representation system. Resource mismanagement and role duplication between federal and member states have led to resource wastage. The study suggests key areas for reform to address these issues, including enhancing political inclusion, completing constitutional review, clarifying roles and powers, establishing transparent state creation processes, and strengthening institutional capacities. Implementing these reforms is crucial for harnessing federalism’s potential to contribute to Somalia’s political, social, and economic development

Beyond the obvious: a Nordic tale of the raveled relationship between political inequality and indigenous people’s satisfaction with democracy

ABSTRACT Over the last decades, many democracies progressed in the political inclusion of Indigenous people and the recognition of their rights. Does this contribute to how satisfied Indigenous people are with how democracy works? Prior empirical evidence suggests it does. As yet, there is, however, little study of the underlying mechanisms and we should not assume a categorically positive correlation between political equality and satisfaction with democracy. Instead, Indigenous affairs need to be sufficiently politicized to matter for Indigenous people's satisfaction with democracy. I test this argument in the case of the Sámi people in Norway and Sweden. While political inequality is comparatively higher in Sweden, Sámi issues are less politicized. Using novel original survey data, I find that here, satisfaction with democracy is not correlated with Sámi ethnicity. Satisfaction levels among Norwegian Sámi, though, are significantly lower than among their non-Indigenous compatriots and strongly shaped by considerations of political inequality.

Changing patterns of inclusion into old age protection in the Ottoman Empire and the Republic of Turkey (1865–2020)

Who is protected by social security? This article explores this question by tracing the chronological sequence of inclusion into old age protection in the Ottoman Empire and Turkey. The focus lies on how legislation defines the groups that are covered by old age pensions. We argue that the old age protection system transformed from being aimed at protecting people working for the state, towards covering diverse societal groups and aspiring to universal social protection. The Ottoman Empire institutionalised its centuries-old system of protection of elderly state employees surprisingly early, through pension funds in the late nineteenth century. The Republic of Turkey maintained this approach for several decades, pointing to continuities between the late Ottoman Empire and the early Republic. From the mid-twentieth century onwards, the state transformed old age protection with new schemes for mostly employment-based groups. The analysis reveals intriguing parallels between political inclusion and inclusion in old age protection, with key expansions in the scope of old age protection mirroring shifts in the political regime.

Analisis Dampak Sistem Presidential Threshold dalam Pemilihan Presiden dan Wakil Presiden di Indonesia Terhadap Inklusivitas Politik dan Representasi Demokratis

Article 222 of Law Number 17 of 2017 concerning Presidential and Vice Presidential Elections states that "Candidate pairs are proposed by political parties or combinations of political parties participating in the election who meet the requirements to obtain seats of at least 20% of the total number of seats in the DPR or obtain 25% of the valid national votes in election of members of the DPR. With these regulations there are inconsistencies, on the one hand this country adheres to democracy, but on the other hand there are restrictions on the rights of citizens who wish to run for president and/or vice president. Research on the presidential threshold system is important to understand its impact on the political system and democracy in Indonesia. So that we can understand how this system influences community political participation, the diversity of presidential and vice presidential candidates, and the representation of community interests. The method used is normative legal research. These provisions reduce political inclusivity by limiting the variety of options for voters and restricting access for various groups of society. And influence democratic representation by suppressing votes for minority candidates or those representing special interests.

Keterlibatan Orang dengan Gangguan Jiwa dalam Proses Pemilu: Tinjauan Hukum Perdata terhadap Kewenangan dan Batasan

The involvement of people with mental illness in elections is an important issue in the context of civil law, human rights and political participation. In Indonesia, although the 1945 Constitution and related laws provide equal rights for all citizens, including people with mental disabilities, there is still debate about their eligibility to participate in elections. Several articles in the Civil Code state that people with mental illness are not legally competent, while electoral laws allow their participation if they are not permanently mentally impaired. This research examines the legal basis and limitations of the authority of persons with mental disabilities in elections, and analyzes the existing legal uncertainties. It is hoped that the results of this research can provide recommendations to improve political inclusion for people with mental disabilities in Indonesia.

The challenges of coeliac disease at work: A contestation of the politics of inclusion.

By focusing on the experiences of employees living with coeliac disease as evidenced in UK employment tribunal cases, this paper interrogates the way practices of exclusion are performed in legal and organisational contexts that purport to promote values of inclusion. In paying attention to how differences are constructed and negotiated, the paper unpacks the way organisational practices mobilise an array of workplace mechanisms to produce complex dynamics of exclusion. Applying Laclau and Mouffe's logics of equivalence and difference, we show how questionable impulses and practices emerge in a workplace environment characterised by unclarity and vagueness. One impulse, for example, involves privatising and individualising the condition of employees with coeliac disease, giving rise to patronising and stigmatising attitudes that can turn them into victims. However, we also identify workplace mechanisms countering these tendencies, which can underpin forms of collective support in the struggle for recognition. Our study thus contributes to the body of sociological literature that pays attention to health-related workplace injustices by challenging the purported promotion of health-based inclusion through a focus on tribunal cases, leading to suggestions for further research into the way medical conditions are theorised and 'lived' at work.

Critically unlearning about madness and distress: Reflections on social work education and activism in Ireland

This article draws from my involvement in critical social work education and my position as an aspiring ally of the Mad movement in the Irish context. I use a reflexive auto-critique as a methodology to consider a significant shift in my engagement with Mad matters which has led to new ways of (un)learning critically about madness and distress in education and activism. This is a shift from celebrating criticality and inclusion strategies, and in particular service-user involvement in education, to problematising criticality and its potential to perpetuate power inequalities within mental health and education systems. It is a shift from viewing critical education as a process of knowing about distress and Mad people to a process of knowing with and from Mad people, service-users, and survivors. The emerging field of Mad Studies provides a conceptual framework to inquire about knowledge and knowers, to consider issues of co-option and epistemic injustice, to focus on pedagogies for unlearning, to ask questions about representational politics and the complexities of being an engaged academic and Mad positive ally. Guided by Mad Studies as a mode of analysis, I recognise that inclusion of madness in university curricula can work in ways that continue to pathologise and subjugate Mad people. This is an unsettling recognition that leads to an interrogation of my own praxis as an academic and an aspiring ally of the Mad moment. I propose that prefigurative politics are central in these considerations as genuine engagements with mental health matters need to model the changes we aim to achieve. Engaging with the tensions of inclusion politics, the complexities of madness, and the unsettledness this engagement generates, can be a source of knowing through epistemic humility and a resource for networks of solidarity.

Intersecting inequalities in women’s political inclusion in Kenya

ABSTRACT Sub-Saharan Africa has become known for its growing number of women political decision makers, and its progressive policies and laws such as gender quotas. Yet we still do not know enough about how politically active women themselves perceive the challenges and opportunities of being women in politics, and how their experiences differ because of intersecting inequalities. Inspired by the intersectional approach and literature on women and politics in Africa, this article examines politically active women’s perceptions and experiences of electoral politics in Kenya. Through their own stories, it describes how diverse Kenyan women experience political inclusion and exclusion not only as women, but also simultaneously through the complex combinations of such intersecting identities and structural social positionalities as ethnicity and class. Taking party nominations, political campaigning, and electoral violence as examples, the article illustrates how intersecting patterns cross-cut electoral processes. By identifying barriers to their political inclusion, politically active women explain how things should not be, and in doing so, they participate in imagining and outlining new ways of conducting politics in Kenya.

Decolonially speaking, sensing, and thinking: Racialized tuition-based family therapists learning without teaching.

We address the ethical implications of training and becoming family therapists in the United States when considering the colonial control and management of knowledge by the westernized institutionalized university. We do so decolonially. Through the work of decolonial thinkers, doers, and sensers, we center our discussion on the heteropatriarchal Eurocentric institutionalization of knowledge linked to the development and sustainability of structures of family therapy training through racialization and monetization. We discuss a decolonial understanding of race in relation to the liberalized politics of diversity, equity, and inclusion and upward mobility of family therapy education. Most importantly, we reflect upon the possibilities of reexistence within family therapy, fissuring the colonial structures of training tuition-based family therapists. We locate those possibilities through practices of crack-making, epistemic insurgence, and mischief. Our discussions and reflections are developed throughout by thinking, sensing, and speaking decolonially, storying our racialized incarnated lives from the saberes, ज्ञान, rhythms, vapors, or tastes of our communities, displaced by the European cannon. We embrace a decolonial pedagogy of learning without teaching, positioning family therapy education as a site for sociopolitical struggle and action toward possibilities of reexistence.

Inequality in Africa: Does injustice matter?

AbstractThe following study aims to investigate the impact of injustice on income inequality in Africa between 2000 and 2020. Both male and female injustice levels are evaluated using gender‐specific scores to indicate the injustice suffered by both genders. The study utilized the Gini and Palma ratios as proxies for income distribution inequality. After addressing error term‐related problems with the Newey‐West Standard Corrected Error approach, the findings indicate that injustice is a significant contributor to inequality in Africa, especially for females, with little evidence of male injustice. The results are consistent for both middle and low‐income countries that adopted the French civil law and English common law systems to govern their institutions. Additionally, the study found that educational development and basic welfare maintenance contribute to reducing inequality in Africa, which is exacerbated by many barriers to political inclusion. To address the gender bias in income distribution, policymakers in Africa should design policies that provide equal access to justice for both male and female populations. The study also suggests adopting policies that enhance human capital accumulation and political inclusion in‐state activities to create a safe, just, and equal environment.