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
Citation
JOSHI, Devin K..(2015). The Inclusion of Excluded Majorities in South Asian Parliaments: Women, Youth, and the Working Class. Journal of Asian and African Studies, 50(2), 223-238.
Available at: https://ink.library.smu.edu.sg/soss_research/1930
Additional URL
https://doi.org/10.1177/0021909614521414