Women in Democratic Governance: A South Asian Experience
Prof Susheela Kaushik (President, Centre for Development Studies and Action India)South Asia is a region where parliamentary democracy and monarchy have co-existed for quite a long time. Having been directly ruled by Great Britain, five of the seven countries have inherited democratic governance as a part of a set of values. Bhutan and Nepal were the only two countries with a monarchy. In subsequent decades, however, this record was broken by the recurrence of military rule, dictatorship and periods of emergency. However, democracy has always bounced back.
South Asia is also a region where women's leadership has been widely accepted. Historically, with long socio-political traditions and strong religious and patriarchal roots and forces, South Asia is definitely a very conservative region when it comes to women's rights and freedom. But the nationalist movements for their own reasons drew women out and made them politically aware and participating. This has resulted in a paradox for women - socially conservative and traditional, but politically outgoing. No wonder that electoral participation was not looked down upon; women could emerge as presidents, prime ministers, governors, ministers, MLAs and MPs. This is unlike the West, where women are socially more liberated and the society less conservative, but where women are emerging only slowly and sparingly in top political positions. However, when they do, whether in the West or South Asia, the women political leaders are powerful and not mere rubber stamps. Quite a few of the countries in the region have had able and powerful women as heads of state and governments- Srimavo Bandaranaike, Indira Gandhi, ... Read more>>
