The Inclusion of Excluded Majorities in South Asian Parliaments: Women, Youth, and the Working Class

Publication Type

Journal Article

Publication Date

4-2015

Abstract

This article provides a new perspective on parliamentary representation in South Asia, focusing on the collective under-representation of population majorities based on the macro-demographic categories of age, class, and gender. Situating this analysis within debates on descriptive representation, it presents the first comparative analysis of the contemporary demographic characteristics of members of parliament (MPs) in Bangladesh, Bhutan, India, Nepal, Pakistan, and Sri Lanka. Highlighting three major gaps in parliamentary representation, it finds quotas, proportional representation electoral systems, and leftist parties to have positively impacted the descriptive representation of South Asian women, the working class, and young adults.

Keywords

parliament, representation, South Asia, women, working class, youth

Discipline

Asian Studies | Political Science | Politics and Social Change

Research Areas

Political Science

Publication

Journal of Asian and African Studies

Volume

50

Issue

2

First Page

223

Last Page

238

ISSN

0021-9096

Identifier

10.1177/0021909614521414

Additional URL

https://doi.org/10.1177/0021909614521414

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