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Can Mandated Political Representation Increase Policy Influence for Disadvantaged Minorities? Theory and Evidence from India

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Rohini Pande
Abstract

A basic premise of representative democracy is that all those subject to policy should have a voice in its making. However, policies enacted by electorally accountable governments often fail to reflect the interests of disadvantaged minorities. This paper exploits the institutional features of political reservation, as practiced in Indian states, to examine the role of mandated political representation in providing disadvantaged groups influence over policy-making. I find that political reservation has increased transfers to groups which benefit from the mandate. This finding also suggests that complete policy commitment may be absent in democracies, as is found in this case. (JEL D72, D78, H11, H50)

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File URL: http://hdl.handle.net/10.1257/000282803769206232
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Article provided by American Economic Association in its journal American Economic Review.

Volume (Year): 93 (2003)
Issue (Month): 4 (September)
Pages: 1132-1151
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Handle: RePEc:aea:aecrev:v:93:y:2003:i:4:p:1132-1151

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Please report citation or reference errors to , or , if you are the registered author of the cited work, log in to your RePEc Author Service profile, click on "citations" and make appropriate adjustments.:
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  4. Osborne, Martin J & Slivinski, Al, 1996. "A Model of Political Competition with Citizen-Candidates," The Quarterly Journal of Economics, MIT Press, vol. 111(1), pages 65-96, February. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
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  5. Besley, Timothy & Case, Anne, 2000. "Unnatural Experiments? Estimating the Incidence of Endogenous Policies," Economic Journal, Royal Economic Society, vol. 110(467), pages F672-94, November. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
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  6. Timothy Besley & Robin Burgess, 2000. "Land Reform, Poverty Reduction, And Growth: Evidence From India," The Quarterly Journal of Economics, MIT Press, vol. 115(2), pages 389-430, May. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
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  7. Lena Edlund & Rohini Pande, 2002. "Why Have Women Become Left-Wing? The Political Gender Gap And The Decline In Marriage," The Quarterly Journal of Economics, MIT Press, vol. 117(3), pages 917-961, August. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
  8. Besley, Timothy & Coate, Stephen, 1997. "An Economic Model of Representative Democracy," The Quarterly Journal of Economics, MIT Press, vol. 112(1), pages 85-114, February.
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  9. Husted, Thomas A & Kenny, Lawrence W, 1997. "The Effect of the Expansion of the Voting Franchise on the Size of Government," Journal of Political Economy, University of Chicago Press, vol. 105(1), pages 54-82, February.
  10. Rohini Pande, 1999. "Minority Representation and Policy Choices: The Significance of Legislator Identity," STICERD - Development Economics Papers 16, Suntory and Toyota International Centres for Economics and Related Disciplines, LSE. [Downloadable!]
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(explanations, Please report citation or reference errors to , or , if you are the registered author of the cited work, log in to your RePEc Author Service profile, click on "citations" and make appropriate adjustments.)

  1. Chen, Li-Ju, 2009. "Do Gender Quotas Influence Women’s Representation and Policies?," Research Papers in Economics 2009:3, Stockholm University, Department of Economics. [Downloadable!]
  2. Axel Dreher & Nathan Jensen, 2009. "Country or Leader? Political Change and UN General Assembly Voting," Working papers 09-217, KOF Swiss Economic Institute, ETH Zurich. [Downloadable!]
  3. Prakash, Nishith & Chin, Aimee, 2009. "The Redistributive Effects of Political Reservation for Minorities: Evidence from India," MPRA Paper 13571, University Library of Munich, Germany. [Downloadable!]
  4. Masayuki Kudamatsu, 2007. "Has Democratization Reduced Infant Mortality in Sub-Saharan Africa? Evidence from Micro Data," ISER Discussion Paper 0685, Institute of Social and Economic Research, Osaka University. [Downloadable!]
  5. Orana Bandiera & Iwan Barankay & Imran Rasul, 2005. "Cooperation in Collective Action," Natural Field Experiments 0013, The Field Experiments Website. [Downloadable!]
    Other versions:
  6. Geys, Benny & Revelli Federico, 2009. "Decentralization, competition and the local tax mix: evidence from Flanders," Department of Economics Working Papers 200902, University of Turin. [Downloadable!]
  7. Ebonya Washington, 2006. "How Black Candidates Affect Voter Turnout," NBER Working Papers 11915, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
  8. Irma Clots-Figueras, 2007. "Are female leaders good for education? : Evidence from India," Economics Working Papers we077342, Universidad Carlos III, Departamento de Economía. [Downloadable!]
  9. Kaivan Munshi & Mark Rosenzweig, 2008. "The Efficacy of Parochial Politics: Caste, Commitment, and Competence in Indian Local Governments," NBER Working Papers 14335, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
  10. Yann Bramoullé & Sanjeev Goyal, 2009. "Favoritism," Cahiers de recherche 0941, CIRPEE. [Downloadable!]
  11. Washington, Ebonya, 2007. "Female Socialization How Daughters Affect Their Legislator Fathers' Voting on Women's Issues," Working Papers 15, Yale University, Department of Economics. [Downloadable!]
  12. Sarmistha Pal & Sugata Ghosh, 2008. "The Elite and the Marginalised: an Analysis of Public Spending on Mass Education in the Indian States," CEDI Discussion Paper Series 08-15, Centre for Economic Development and Institutions(CEDI), Brunel University. [Downloadable!]
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  13. Chen, Li-Ju, 2009. "Women in Politics: A New Instrument for Studying the Impact of Education on Growth," Research Papers in Economics 2009:2, Stockholm University, Department of Economics. [Downloadable!]
  14. Kaivan Munshi & Mark Rosenzweig, 2008. "The Efficacy of Parochial Politics: Caste, Commitment, and Competence in Indian Local Governments," Working Papers 964, Economic Growth Center, Yale University. [Downloadable!]
  15. Siddique, Zahra, 2008. "Caste Based Discrimination: Evidence and Policy," IZA Discussion Papers 3737, Institute for the Study of Labor (IZA). [Downloadable!]
  16. Ebonya Washington, 2006. "Female Socialization: How Daughters Affect Their Legislator Fathers' Voting on Women's Issues," NBER Working Papers 11924, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
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