Indicators of Women’s Electoral Participation in India

Abstract

This contribution makes the 22nd part of Social Change Indicators series, in which we explore women’s electoral participation across India.

Political participation of women is counted as one of the important dimensions of gender equality. The equal participation of women in political life is regarded as essential to achieving the sustainable development goals (SDGs) by 2030. The SDG Target 5.5 necessitates women’s full and effective participation and equal opportunities for leadership at all levels of decision-making in political, economic, and public life. However, the data evidence reveals that women are underrepresented at all levels of decision-making, and gender parity in political life seems remotely possible at the world level. Women’s leadership in political spheres is argued to be socially beneficial and is a matter of women’s right to equal opportunity. There has been a noticeable gender gap in electoral participation for decades in India, and not much research findings are available on this topic. In the Indian context, it is maintained that the participation of women in formal politics signified some progress in voting turnout or election campaigning, but women continue to remain under-represented in legislative bodies or in political parties.

In this part of the Social Change Indicators series, we first examine the data on percentage of women household populations (age: above six years) with no schooling in different states/union territories, 2019–2021 in Figure 1 . Subsequently, Figure 2 explores the median number of years of schooling completed by women household populations (age: above six years) in states/union territories. Women’s exposure to mass media in different states/union territories is examined in Figure 3 . The rankings of states based on percentage of women electors in 2019 over total electors are provided in Figure 4 . Similarly, we furnish the ranking of states based on percentage of women voters in 2019 over total voters in Figure 5 . It may be mentioned that voters are people who actually vote, while the electorate is the group of people who have the right to vote. Although there are people who have the right to vote, not all of them exercise that right, so not everyone in an electorate is necessarily a voter. Accordingly, the proportions of women voters over total electors in the state in 2029 are ranked in Figure 6 . As a final point, the performance of women candidates is presented in Figures 7–9.

Figure 1.

Source: International Institute for Population Sciences (2022).

Figure 2.

Source: International Institute for Population Sciences (2022).

Figure 3.

Source: International Institute for Population Sciences (2022).