Social Justice through Inclusion: The Consequences of Electoral Quotas in India (Modern South Asia)

"Across the world, governments design and implement policies with the explicit goal of promoting social justice. But can such institutions change entrenched social norms? And what effects should we expect from differently designed policies? Francesca R. Jensenius' Social Justice through Inclusion is an empirically rich study of one of the most extensive electoral quota systems in the world: the reserved seats for the Scheduled Castes (SCs, the former "untouchables") in India's legislative assemblies. Combining evidence from quantitative datasets from the period 1969-2012, archival work, and in-depth interviews with politicians, civil servants, and voters across India, the book explores the long-term effects of electoral quotas for the political elite and the general population. It shows that the quota system has played an important role in reducing caste-based discrimination, particularly at the elite level. Interestingly, this is not because the system has led to more group representation - SC politicians working specifically for SC interests - but because it has made possible the creation and empowerment of a new SC elite who have gradually become integrated into mainstream politics. This is a study of India, but the findings and discussions have broader implications. Policies such as quotas are usually supported with arguments about various assumed positive long-term consequences. The nuanced discussions in this book shed light on how electoral quotas for SCs have shaped the incentives for politicians, parties, and voters, and indicate the trade-offs inherent in how such policies of group inclusion are designed."-- Provided by publisher Content: Cover page Half title page Editorial page Title page Copyright page Contents List of Figures List of Tables Abbreviations Acknowledgments A Note on Terminology 1 The Effects of Political Inclusion 1.1 Disaggregating the effects of quotas 1.2 The importance of institutions 1.3 Empirical approach 1.4 Overview 2 From Representation to Integration 2.1 Who are the Scheduled Castes? 2.2 The history of electoral quotas in India 2.3 Conclusions 3 Whose Representative? 3.1 Group representation 3.2 The daily life of Indian MLAs 3.3 Agents of their parties 3.4 Reservations and political parties3.5 Conclusions 4 Quotas and Development 4.1 SCs and development 4.2 Redistributional effects of quotas 4.3 Conclusions 5 A New Political Elite 5.1 Reservations and competitiveness 5.2 Reservations and political experience 5.3 Cabinet membership 5.4 Conclusions 6 Quotas and Political Participation 6.1 Inclusion and electoral turnout 6.2 Who stopped voting? 6.3 Feeling represented 6.4 Capacity to mobilize voters 6.5 A lack of "glamour" 6.6 Conclusions 7 Status and Recognition 7.1 The socioeconomic profile of MLAs 7.2 Relations with other elites7.3 Relations with voters 7.4 Conclusions 8 Chipping Away at the Caste Hierarchy 8.1 A changing caste system 8.2 SC quotas and changes in intergroup relations 8.3 Exploring mechanisms 8.4 Conclusions 9 Trade-Offs in Institutional Design 9.1 Main findings 9.2 An alternative quota system 9.3 Concluding thoughts Appendix A Data A.1 The sample A.2 Election data A.3 Census of India data A.4 Cabinet data A.5 Education data A.6 NES survey data from 1971 and 2004 A.7 Gujarat Survey A.8 Uttar Pradesh Voter Survey A.9 Interview material Appendix B Matching approachB.1 Balance statistics for the matched pairs Bibliography Index India has one of the most extensive quota systems in the world: the reserved seats for the Scheduled Castes (SCs, the former “untouchables”) in the country’s legislative assemblies. Combining evidence from quantitative datasets from the period 1969–2012, archival work, and in-depth interviews with politicians, civil servants, and voters across India, this book explores the long-term effects these quotas have had for the political elite and for the general population. It finds that the quotas have played an important role in reducing caste-based discrimination, particularly at the elite level. Contrary to what one might expect, this is not because the quota system has led to more __group representation__—SC politicians working specifically for SC interests—but because it has created and empowered a new SC elite who have gradually become integrated into mainstream politics. The findings and discussions have broader implications beyond the case of India. Policies such as quotas are often implemented with the explicit goal of changing society and are supported with arguments that assume various positive, long-term consequences. The nuanced discussions in this book shed light on how the quotas for SCs have shaped the incentives for politicians, parties, and voters, noting the trade-offs inherent in how such policies of group inclusion are designed.