Paper short abstract:

This paper revisits and questions the concept of empowering women through reserved seats and electoral quotas without first addressing social restrictions that severely limit their political participation.

Paper long abstract:

In this paper I question the concept that women's political participation and representation can be increased through quotas and reserved seats for women in political institutions (parliaments, parties, local government councils). I use research and data on women's social and political participation from three different projects conducted in rural Pakistan between 2004 and 2008 to point out that quotas can play only a limited role in empowering women and increasing their participation because of the presence of severe social restrictions on women's mobility and social engagement. These restrictions have two main impacts on women's political participation. First, it restricts their ability to play an active or effective role within local political institutions when elected or nominated to electoral seats. Second, the restricted mobility and participation of female voters means that women representatives are unable to build a critical support base within these voters. Instead, they continue to interact with and represent the concerns of male voters, so that even though the number of female representatives may increase, women's concerns and issues do not get built into political agendas and manifestos. Making women's political participation effective, therefore, requires more than simple quotas and reservations where severe social restrictions on their mobility exist.