Given the persistent gender gap in political participation in India despite several decades of targeted policy interventions, I propose to evaluate a new mechanism aimed at increasing women’s political participation. The proposed RCT – which draws upon significant pilot work – evaluates (1) the role of political information and exposure and (2) integration in social networks in mobilizing women politically and reducing the gender gap in political participation. Through a gender and politics training intervention with the NGO PRADAN, women will receive information about the political system and their rights and entitlements within this system and will be directly exposed to existing political institutions, with the aim of reducing informational barriers to political participation. The RCT further tests the necessity of social networks for women’s political participation and the ability for the gender and politics training to activate existing social networks and further generate political engagement.
External Link(s)
Citation
Prillaman, Soledad. 2016. "Disconnected and Uninformed: Dissecting and Dismantling India’s Gender Gap in Political Participation." AEA RCT Registry. August 27. https://doi.org/10.1257/rct.1552-1.0.
Individual-Level Outcomes:
Direct political participation (Voting; Attendance at Gram Sabha meeting; Attend rally or party meeting; Contacted Sarpanch/Janpad; Filed application for government service; Claimed government benefit; Run for election/ held office)
Interest in politics (Stated interest; Frequency of discussion about politics)
Political Efficacy (Comfort speaking up in community; Believe government is responsive to demands; Believe opinion matters)
Policy Preferences
Trust in government
Non-political Empowerment (Household decision-making dynamics; Domestic violence; Self-ecacy and well-being; Labor market status; Income and consumption; Desires for daughters (marriage, education, children))
GP-Level Outcomes:
Attendance at Gram Sabha
Gram Sabha meeting minutes (who spoke up)
Number/Type of applications led to Sarpanch/Janpad
Voter Turnout
Vote Share by Party
Elected office and committee composition
NREGA registration
Number of domestic violence cases filed in court
Primary Outcomes (explanation)
Secondary Outcomes (end points)
Secondary Outcomes (explanation)
Experimental Design
The treatment will provide women with exposure to the political system through a series of gender and politics trainings and events, which will provide information about the political process, the rights and entitlements of citizenship, and the under-representation of women in politics and will expose women to the state through visits during training to political institutions. This treatment will be randomly assigned across villages within Pradan's catchment areas.
Experimental Design Details
Randomization Method
Randomization done in office using R script
Randomization Unit
Villages
Was the treatment clustered?
Yes
Sample size: planned number of clusters
225 villages
Sample size: planned number of observations
3,375 women
Sample size (or number of clusters) by treatment arms
75 villages control, 150 villages treated
Minimum detectable effect size for main outcomes (accounting for sample design and clustering)