Women's Political Participation in Bangladesh Parliament : a Case Study Analysis of Women's Substantive Representation

Abstract

This dissertation examines the case of women legislators in Bangladesh parliament (Jatiya Sangsad).It seeks to develop a deeper understanding of the relationship between descriptive representation of women and their ability to represent on behalf of women (substantive representation of women). In this dissertation, a novel approach to categorizing womena s issues was used - distinguishing strategic and practical issues - to contextualise women issues in the context of Bangladesh. This dissertation first addresses the assumption that women legislators raise more strategic women issues (pertinent to womena s rights and wellbeing) whilst representing women in parliament, whereas men are more inclined to speak about practical women issues. This dissertation then focuses on the assumption that women can make difference in bringing women related policy changes even within a system where women legislators have limited influence on the process of policy making. The analysis of the case of the Domestic Violence Prevention Act 2010 reveals three lines of connection between womena s presence and the extent of their involvement in supporting women-friendly policy change (a proxy for enactment of substantive representation). The three paths are direct, indirect, and intervening influence. Direct influence occurs when a woman legislator, as an individual, is involved directly in policy-making through womena s increased access to political leadership positions, whereas indirect influence emerges over policy representation when womena s ability to contribute to the process is limited by the formal procedures. The intervening influence is based on the observation that the link between womena s presence and policy representation can be the result of different factors, i.e. shaped by their executive position, the role of external actors, and a women-friendly political atmosphere. This dissertation explored what makes some women legislators promote a greater level of advocacy for women than other women. Acknowledging variation among women legislators, this dissertation theorises the relationship between descriptive and substantive representation assuming that the presence of women in parliament does not automatically translate into substantive representation. Rather, a variety of macro and micro level factors can explain the variation in womena s ability to act for women. Based on its analysis of empirical data obtained from parliament records and interviews, this dissertation offers insights into a number of constraining and facilitating factors on the micro and macro level which can help explain some women legislatorsa ability to intervene on women issues. Such factors include the individual choice dimension, socio-democratic characteristics, relations with external actors, different pathways to parliament, formal and informal institutional rules, electoral aspects and political circumstances.